Rams headed for another semifinal appearance

PINETOPS – It’s on to the final four for the Reidsville Rams for the eighth straight year, but this time they had to muster every bit of resolve they had to get there.
A 22-20 victory over previously undefeated SouthWest Edgecombe Friday was the Rams’ 14th straight this season and 46th in a row over three seasons. Their last loss came in the regional finals of 2006 at Burlington Cummings. That was also their last road trip in the regionals until making the three-hour journey to Edgecombe County Friday.
“It took everything we had,” said RHS first-year head coach Doug Robertson. “We played a heck of a football team. Both teams played great and refused to lose, but somebody had to lose and that’s a shame.”
A two-point conversion ultimately decided the outcome. Reidsville converted after taking the lead with 8:22 left in the game and SouthWest didn’t after closing the margin to 22-20 with 3:02 on the clock.
But the game wasn’t decided until the final minute when the Cougars – facing fourth-and-10 from the Reidsville 20, lined up for a 37-yard field goal. That was a stunning development in that SouthWest hadn’t kicked a field goal or extra point all season.
But Chris Ellerbe, also the SWE quarterback, didn’t get a chance to test his strong leg as the snap rolled back to holder Pierce Sturgill and he had nowhere to go.
“It scared me to death because I knew it could beat us,” said Robertson. “But I felt it was a kind of a desperation thing for them. But their coach did what he thought was best.”
Veteran SWE Edgecome coach Raymond Cobb said he had confidence in Ellerbe.
“We practice it every week,” he said of place kicks. “I’m sure field conditions played a huge part of what happened down there on that snap. We work for this opportunity but it just didn’t work out our way. He’s a good kicker and he had the wind with him. I felt good about it.”
The Cougars’ final drive started at their own 32, but with just 1:46 remaining Cobb was forced to forgo his bread-and-butter wishbone attack in favor of the shotgun.
“We felt like we had them where we wanted them in a spread offense,” Robertson said. “We’ve got good athletes in the skill positions but they just moved the ball right down the field on us.”
Ellerbe converted a third-and-10 with a 21-yard pass to Javelle Jenkins and one play later, he hit Javon Brown for 33 yards on second-and-16. That left the Cougars with a first down at the RHS 20 but three passes sailed incomplete, setting the stage for the do-or-die field goal attempt.
The Rams, who won their previous two playoff games by a combined score of 126-16, knew this one was going to be tough, but even then they grabbed a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. On Reidsville’s second possession, RHS senior quarterback Tyrell Houghton directed an 85-yard, 13-play drive that featured completions of 11 and 16 yards to Kenzel Doe and 20 yards to Lyshod Graves. Houghton, who finished with 197 yards passing on 13-of-22 accuracy, scored the TD from a yard out.
Two plays later, SouthWest fumbled and Bryron Johnson came up with loose ball at the SWE 42. The Rams needed just four plays to score again. A 28-yard first-down pass to Denzell Blackwell was the key play but the Rams had to convert a third-and-15 for the TD. Houghton connected with Graves at about the 5-yard line but Graves broke a tackle and fought he way into the end zone. Houghton then added the two-pointer with 8:06 left before halftime.
The Rams were up 14-0 but – unlike previous games – the rout wasn’t on.
The Cougars came right back with two touchdowns of their own, the wishbone offense chewing up chunks of the muddy turf. Ellerbe’s 31-yard run keyed a 78-yard drive that made it 14-6 with 4:04 on the clock and then Javon Brown broke away on a 40-yard TD run two minutes later and also added the two-pointer to tie the score at 14.
“We would hit them at the line of scrimmage and just couldn’t tackle them,” Robertson said. “Give them a lot of credit. They’re good and it was everything we could do to stop them.”
Brown, an 181-pound senior, ended with 130 yards on 17 carries and bruising 215-pound junior fullback Quandre Pittman added 87 yards on 13 carries.
There was plenty of action remaining in the final two minutes of the half. The Rams, backed up to their own 12 after a penalty on the ensuing kickoff, faced a fourth-and-5 from the 17. But SouthWest was drawn offside with RHS in punt formation.
With new life, the Rams went to work and Houghton hit Doe for 15, 17 and 12 yards in a march that took the ball to a first down at the SWE 27. But, then in a key play of the game, Houghton’s sideline pass was intercepted by Kenneth Dupree. He looked to have nothing but muddy turf in front of him but Houghton cut him off and made the saving tackle at the 25 as time expired.
Reidsville got its go-ahead touchdown with a ball-control drive that began with 4:32 in the third quarter and ended with 8:22 in the fourth. E.J. Foster, finally finding some running room, gained 33 of his 73 yards during the 14-play drive and then came out of the backfield to haul in a 9-yard TD pass.
“We ran that play earlier this year against Northeast when we took the lead on them,” Robertson said, remembering a 28-16 come-from-behind victory back in September. “It’s a delay with him and he kind of gets lost. We’re fortunate that they bit on it. He was wide open and Tyrrell made a nice throw.”
The decisive two-point conversion came on Houghton’s pass to tight end Steve Williams, who was alone in the end zone.
“Coach had faith in me catching the ball,” Williams said. “I knew they were going to bite on the run. Fake and just throw the little dump out there.”
The Cougars again had the answer. Behind the running of Brown and Pittman, they marched relentlessly down the field and Pittman covered the last 14, carrying Ram tacklers with him into the end zone.
But the crucial two-point conversion run by Brown was swarmed under by Graves, Williams and Johnson and the Rams managed to hang on.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t send it to overtime,” Cobb said. “We moved our best two linemen over the same side and we had everything we wanted there. You’ve got to give them credit, we put the ball in our horse’s hands and they made the stop.”
Reidsville is now two wins away from a third straight state championship.
“This was a state championship type football game,” Robertson said. “It was more than X’s and O’s. Our players made the difference. They’re a heck of a football team. We’re just glad to get out of here with a win.”