Rams prepare for soaring Vikings

While Reidsville will be in familiar surroundings Friday night for the 2-AA Eastern Regional championship game, it’s new territory for the Rams’ opponent.
Kinston has achieved a school record with 12 wins and this is the Vikings’ first ever trip to a regional final. Reidsville, on the other hand, will be making its eighth straight appearance in the final four. Kickoff time at Community Stadium is set for 7:30.
At stake is a trip to the state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 12, at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. Reidsville, currently on a 46-game winning streak, is seeking a third straight 16-0 state championship season.
Kinston qualified for the playoffs as the third-place team from the Eastern Plains Conference, finishing behind SouthWest Edgecombe and Tarboro. Reidsville handed SouthWest its only loss, 22-20 last week, while Tarboro has rolled to the fourth round of the 2-A division with 49-6, 45-7 and 41-0 wins.
Kinston’s only two losses were to SouthWest and Tarboro, leaving them as a No. 9 seed. With the higher seeds getting the home games, the Vikings have been forced to travel for all of its playoff games. They’ve already visited High Point Andrews, East Duplin and Pittsboro Northwood in the post-season, logging about 650 miles in round trips. The journey to Reidsville will add approximately 330 to that.
Reidsville first-year coach Doug Robertson said the Rams know they will face a formidable challenge.
“They seem to be getting better every week,” Robertson said after Monday’s practice in wet conditions. “That’s what concerns us. We need to make sure we’re getting better every week too.”
The Vikings run a wing-T based offense and have a superb quarterback in Dory Hines (6-0, 180) and two fast runners in Josh Benoit (5-8, 175) and Chris Brown (5-6, 165). All three are seniors.
“They are very athletic at all the skill positions,” Robertson said. “They are similar to us as far as their size up front but the linemen really move well and they are dangerous at the skill positions.”
In last week’s 34-21 victory over Northwood, the Vikings piled up 349 yards of rushing offense with Brown carrying 23 times for 135 yards and Benoit adding 128 yards on 17 carries. Hines ran for two TDs and was 6-of-11 for 126 yards passing.
“The quarterback does a good job of throwing the ball but I still think they’re a run-first team for sure,” Robertson said. “But they do make an effort to throw the ball in their offense.”
Robertson said he was also impressed with Kinston’s character.
“They’re not going to quit,” he said. “I’ve been real impressed with the sticktoitiveness. Winning on the road like that and coming from behind to beat some good, quality football teams in the fourth quarter.”
The Vikings opened the playoffs with a 21-20 victory over High Point Andrews and then knocked off No. 1 seed East Duplin 17-14, both with late scores. That win over East Duplin was what ultimately determined that Reidsville would be home this week if they could get past SouthWest.
The Rams showed some grit and determination of their own after their three-hour trip to Pinetops in a game that was decided by a two-point conversion and wasn’t decided until SouthWest botched an unlikely 37-yard field goal attempt in the final minute.
Robertson said his team has avoided any major injuries but is banged up.
“That was a physical game,” he said. “I’m glad we don’t have any major injuries.”
Senior Tyrell Houghton directs the RHS shotgun attack. He has completed 88 of 145 passes against three interceptions for 1,638 yards and 24 touchdowns. Houghton has also rushed for 760 yards and 11 scores. He threw TD passes to Lyshod Graves and E.J. Foster last week and ran for a TD. He also ran a two-point conversion and passed to tight end Steve Williams for another.
Kenzel Doe caught six passes last week and now has a team-high 51 receptions for 866 yards and 12 touchdowns while Lyshod Graves has caught 25 passes for 618 yards and 10 TDs. Denzel Blackwell complements that duo with 16 receptions for 309 yards and three scores.
Foster leads the rushing attack with 1,198 yards and 24 touchdowns on 149 carries.
Graves has returned three kicks and five punts for TDs this season as well.
Up front, center Jamie Jackson, guards Gabriel Hildebrand and Josh Wagner and tackles Danye Gorrell and Bryron Johnson pave the way for a RHS offense that is averaging 166 yards passing and 231 yards rushing per game.
The Rams will see a 4-3-4 Kinston defense. Robertson noted that its different than most defenses the Rams have seen this season in that there are four defensive backs.
Assigned the task of slowing down the Kinston offense is a RHS defense that has allowed 84.9 yards rushing and 74.1 yards passing per game.
Inside linebacker Steve Williams is the leading tackler with 130 stops while fellow linebacker Dashawn Crews has 85 stops and defensive end Johnson has 78.
Ryan Broadnax will start at the opposite end and sophomores Mike Lee and Marcus Paschal will start inside with freshman Donnie Blackwell also seeing action.
Foster and Deron Barnett are the outside linebackers and Doe, Graves and Lavert Butchee make up the secondary.
Kinston is directed by second-year head man Battle Holley, who has the Vikings’ program headed in the right direction. After going 1-10, 2-9 and 3-8 from 2005 to 2007, Kinston got on track with a 10-3 mark last year and have achieved the school’s best-ever mark this season.
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of the Western Regional final between Newton-Conover (13-1) and Salisbury (10-4).

GAME NOTES

• COMMON OPPONENTS: Reidsville beat Wilson Beddingfield 58-7 and SouthWest Edgecombe 22-20 while Kinston defeated Beddingfield 48-12 and lost to Southwest 28-13.
• BASKETBALL FAME: While Kinston is enjoying its finest football season ever, the school is well known for basketball. The Vikings have six state championships (as recently as 2008) and are favored to win this year. Reggie Bullock, a 6-7 senior headed to UNC Chapel Hill, awaits returning starters Hines and Benoit to finish football. Hines is being recruited as a point guard by several D-1 programs.
• HIGH SCORING: Reidsville is averaging a state-best 49.3 points per game despite scoring a season-low 22 last week. The Rams allow 9.0 points per game. Kinston is averaging 32.9, allowing 15.3.
• HOME IN REGIONALS: The Rams have been home in 28 of their last 30 regional playoff games.
• WIN STREAK: Reidsville’s 46-game winning streak is fourth best in state history, trailing only Charlotte Independence (109), Albemarle (50) and Thomasville (48). Reidsville’s streak is the second longest current streak in the country.
• SCORING STREAK: The Rams also have the state’s longest streak without being shutout. They’ve scored in 176 straight games.
• ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORD: The Rams are 52-17 all-time in post-season with 24 appearances in 41 years. The last time Reidsville missed the playoffs was 1999.
• THE UNDEFEATED: Reidsville is one of 10 teams still undefeated this season with 32 teams in eight classifications still in the running for state titles.
• ADM: The numbers used to classify teams 2-AA or 2-A had Kinston with 923 and Reidsville with 957.
• RANKINGS: Fantastic 50 has Reidsville first and Kinston fifth in the 2-A class. Massey Ratings lists Reidsville first and Kinston sixth.
• NFL ALUMS: Na Brown (Philadelphia Eagles 1999-2001) and Jerome Simpson (Cincinnati Bengals 2008-current) are Reidsville grads. Lin Dawson (New England Patriots, 1981-90) and Ron Wooten (New England Patriots, 1982-88) played high school football at Kinston.
• NO BASKETBALL: Reidsville was scheduled play its Mid-State 2-A Conference basketball opener Friday night at Eastern Randolph but that game has been postponed. No make-up date has been set.