Rams wrap up conference title; win streak now at 43

Reidsville proclaimed itself ready for a little post-season football Friday night by trouncing Providence Grove 56-14 at on senior night at Community Stadium.
The one-sided romp could have been worse but RHS coach Doug Robertson and staff gave their starters the second half off after building an insurmountable 46-7 halftime lead.
“We feel very confident,” RHS senior sensation Lyshod Graves said after returning two punts for touchdowns and hauling in a tipped pass for another TD just 35 seconds before halftime. “We’ve just got to keep working hard and executing.”
The win capped an 11-0 regular season for the Rams, who have now scored 50 or more points in three straight games and in seven of their 11 wins. Reidsville has now won 43 consecutive games over three seasons. The Rams haven’t lost a conference game since 2004 and they were clearly the class of the Mid-State 2-A Conference that boasts of four teams with at least seven wins.
Providence Grove, a second-year school, was one of them and the Patriots will enter the 2-A playoffs with an 8-3 mark.
“They’re a great team,” Providence Grove coach Todd Shuping said. “They’ve got a tremendous tradition here and coach (Doug) Robertson has done a great job in the transition year after coach (Jimmy) Teague left. I’m really proud of that team. They’re going to represent the conference well, I believe, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to do the same on our end of it.”
Reidsville, the 2007 and 2008 undefeated 2-AA state champions, will not be seeing any of its Mid-State Conference adversaries in the playoffs as Jordan-Matthews (9-2, 5-1); Providence Grove (8-3, 4-2) and Eastern Randolph (7-4, 3-3) will be in the smaller division of 2-A schools. Burlington Cummings, with four overall wins, could also get a 2-A invitation as an at-large team.
Despite all its impressive work, Reidsville left the field Friday night not knowing if it would have a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Two other Eastern Regional teams – Southwest Edgecombe and East Duplin – also completed 11-0 regular seasons and a draw Saturday will determine the top three seeds.
“I don’t care who we play or where we play,” Robertson said. “We’re just going to show up where we’re supposed to play and get after it.”
Providence Grove arrived at Community Stadium with plenty of confidence after rolling over Graham 55-7 last week. The Patriots won the toss and elected to give Reidsville the ball first.
Big mistake.
Reidsville needed only five plays to march 58 yards. Tyrell Houghton, who sat out last week’s RHS victory nursing an ankle injury, completed a key 31-yard pass to Kenzel Doe to convert a third-and-three and then took care of the remaining seven yards on a keeper around right end.
The Patriots coughed up the ball on their first possession and Ryan Broadnax recovered near midfield. Senior E.J. Foster ran up the gut for 43 yards on the next play and scored from the eight on the next snap. Foster added the two-point conversion.
Foster, who finished with 145 yards on 14 carries, went right back to work on the next RHS possession, a 17-yard burst making it 20-0 with 3:29 left in the first quarter.
“E.J. is really playing well for us,” Robertson said. “He’s a llittle guy but he’s got a big heart and he continues to be a leader on our football team.”
Foster benefited from some huge holes opened by center Jamie Jackson, guards Gabriel Hildebrand and Josh Wagner and tackles Danye Gorrell and Bryron Johnson.
“Coach (Joe) Beckelheimer and coach (Phil) McLaughlin really worked hard with those guys this week on staying with their blocks and being accountable for who they had to block and I thought the line did an excellent job tonight,” Robertson said.
Down three touchdowns, the Patriots saw a glimmer of hope when they punched in a touchdown with four seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Blayne Dixon scored on a 10-yard burst to cap a seven-play drive that was set up by Zeb Milliner’s tackle-shredding 47-yard kickoff return.
“We knew they were going to get some playoff off the option,” Robertson said. “That series started with a poor kickoff cover and it seems when we have a poor kickoff cover we have a poor defensive series.
“But for the most part, the rest of the night, we did a real good job. Against the option, you’ve got to play disciplined defense and responsibility football and I think we did that.”
Senior defensive end Bryron Johnson was one of the RHS defensive leaders.
“We had the game plan and we were ready to come out and play,” Johnson said. “Stopping the run was the key.”
After Providence Grove cut it to 20-7, Reidsville broke it open with a 28-point second quarter.
Foster scored his third and fourth TDs of the game on 11- and 2-yard TD runs, the second coming one play after Houghton hooked up with tight end Steve Williams on a 49-yard pass.
Then it was time for the real RHS fireworks. Graves returned a punt 72 yards to make it 40-7 and with the clocking winding down before the half, Houghton rifled a pass down field that a Providence Grove player tipped into the hands of Graves for a 48-yard score. Lavert Butchee’s two-point run make it 48-7.
Reidsville’s first-team offense never saw the field in the second half.
Providence Grove was forced to punt on their opening possession and Graves was off to the races again, this time going 52 yards to the end zone. Graves credited his teammates.
“I appreciate everything they do,” he said. “They tell me which way to go and I just follow the lead blocking.”
Graves, who had a kickoff return TD called back later in the game, now has seven touchdowns on returns this season – four on punts and three on kickoffs. Four others have been shortchanged by penalties.
“He’s a weapon back there that people are having to account for,” Robertson said. “I think a couple of times they tried to kick out of bounds and it didn’t get it out of bounds and he brings it back all the way across the field. It’s tough. You’re giving up field position or you’re kicking to him. It puts you in a bind as a head coach.”
Shuping said plans were to kick away from Graves.
“But we didn’t do a very good job of it,” he said. “He’s a pretty special player with that kind of speed, talent and obviously a lot of heart.”
That touchdown with 9:44 left in the third quarter ended the scoring for Reidsville. Providence Grove added a second TD with 3:44 left in the game, quarterback Richard Shuping scoring from two yards out.

RAM NOTES
• Reidsville is now averaging 49.5 points per game and allowing 8.5.
• Reidsville scored on all seven of its first-half possessions but was forced to punt three times in the second half. The Rams have now punted only 10 times all season.
• Houghton surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in passing by going 5-of-6 for 157 yards Friday. He’s now 58 for 100 for 1,061 yards and 16 touchdowns and just one interception.
• Foster is closing in on 1,000 yards rushing. He has 919 on the year while averaging 8.2 yards per carry and 21 of his 112 attempts have resulted in touchdowns.
• Sophomore Marcus Pascal, starting his second game at defensive tackle since being promoted from the junior varsity, led the Rams with seven tackles.
• Broadnax had a sack to go with his fumble recovery and Johnson also had a sack. Those two defensive ends lead the team with four sacks each.