Rams roll despite season-high turnovers

RAMSEUR – Without their starting quarterback and victimized by a season-high five turnovers, one might figure it wouldn’t be a typical night for the Reidsville.
Not quite. It was business as usual for the Rams as they rode the 283-yard passing performance from junior Lavert Butchee and a superb defensive effort to a 50-7 romp over Eastern Randolph.
The win clinched at least a tie for the Mid-State 2-A Conference championship for Reidsville. The Rams are now 10-0 this season with the three-year winning streak now at 42.
“Lavert did a great job of stepping up and making plays when he had to and the offensive line did a good job of pass protection for him,” RHS coach Doug Robertson said.
Meanwhile, Eastern Randolph went nowhere. Star senior running back Khyri Crawford entered the game with more than 1,200 yards rushing but he was only able to add 18 more yards to his total on 15 attempts.
“I can’t be happier about our defense,” Robertson said. “What we did tonight is what it’s going to take to win it all. If we can play like we did tonight, we have a chance to make a run at this thing (another state championship). I’m just tickled with what we had to do to stop No. 20 (Crawford) because he a heck of a football player.”
Sophomore nose tackle Mike Lee had perhaps his best game of the season with nine tackles, including three for loss. Linebacker Steve Williams had 10 tackles and Bryron Johnson notched eight, including four for loss.
Sophomore Marcus Paschal, promoted from the junior varsity this week, also turned in a solid performance on the defensive front.
When the Wildcats attempted to pass, the Rams got a good pass rush and Johnson, Ryan Broadnax and E.J. Foster all notched sacks.
“Reidsville’s defense really handed it to us,” Eastern coach Seth Baxter said after watching his team fall to 7-3 on the season. “I was very impressed with the way they played. If I wasn’t coaching against them, it would have been fun to watch.”
Reidsville entered the game with a 31-6 margin in the takeaway/giveaway category but lost three fumbles and Butchee was intercepted twice.
One of the Ram fumbles was on a muffed punt after they had stuffed the Wildcats’ opening possession. Eastern took over at the RHS 20 and on the next play Crawford slipped out of the backfield unnoticed and snagged a pass from Tucker Coward, setting a single season school record of 26 touchdowns in the process. Adrian Flores’ extra point gave the home team a 7-0 lead.
Falling behind on an early touchdown is nothing new for the Rams, however. They did it against Western Alamance and scored the next 53 points. They did it against Morehead and answered with 52 straight. Jordan Matthews jumped ahead 8-0 in a 42-8 game and Burlington Cummings also got on the board first and gave up the next 46.
Reidsville has now scored 50 or more points in six of their 10 wins and is averaging 48.9 per game.
“As fast as they were on tape, they were faster on the field,” said Baxter.
The Rams’ track meet began immediately after Eastern’s opening score as Lyshod Graves returned the kickoff 84 yards. It was his third kickoff return TD for a touchdown this season to go with two punt return TDs.
The Rams’ first offensive play didn’t come until after three Eastern possessions and it was another lightning bolt. Butchee hit Graves with a screen pass on the left sideline and he was off on a 77-yard sprint.
RHS offensive play number two came moments later and Butchee hooked up with Doe, this time for a 49-yard TD.
The Rams were successful on their first three two-point conversion attempts and with 6:44 left in the opening quarter, they were up 24-7 having run only two offensive plays.
They didn’t score again until the third quarter.
Butchee, after going 3-for-3 for 140 yards in the first quarter, was just 1 for 10 with two interceptions in the second and the Rams were held scoreless.
Undeterred, Butchee bounced back in the second half and completed 8 of 9 passes for 139 yards, including a 53-yard TD strike to Doe. The senior receiver finished with seven catches for 166 yards. It was his third straight 100-yard receiving game and he now has 34 catches for 576 and nine touchdowns on the season.
The Rams’ running game also got untracked in the second half and Butchee and Foster scored on 4-yard runs.
Reidsville’s final TD came with 5:12 left as third-team quarterback D.J. Foster directed a five-play, 50-yard drive. The key plays were a 12-yard run by William Welch, a 31-yard Jumper-to-Travis McLean pass and Mike Allen’s 7-yard TD run.
Reidsville senior quarterback Tyrell Houghton was in uniform but didn’t play because of a high ankle sprain.
The Rams return home this Friday to host Providence Grove, a 55-14 winner over Graham Friday night. The Patriots improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, setting up a showdown for the conference’s number one playoff seed.
“They’re coming in here with one loss so we’ve got to be ready to go,” Robertson said. “It seems like we’re playing for a conference championship every week.”