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Athelete-of-the-Week

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Dominic Payne

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Trinity | Boys Basketball | Sophomore 

Payne produced a couple of strong outings as the Bulldogs split two Piedmont Athletic Conference games.

It began with the sophomore guard’s 20-point effort in a 53-46 decision against rival Wheatmore. That pushed the Bulldogs’ record to 8-0.

Later in the week, Payne racked up 18 points in a 61-54 loss to Uwharrie Charter Academy. Ashton Troutman, a previous winner of the honor this season, had 27 points in that game for UCA.

 

 

ER_lilly

Eastern Randolph’s Lilly wants to make most of showcase game

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RAMSEUR — Na’heim Lilly is glad to be playing in a football game this weekend. He just wishes it was a different game.

But the Eastern Randolph standout said he’ll aim to make the most of his opportunity in the Carolina Bowl Senior Showcase on Sunday in Gaffney, S.C.

“I had a good year,” Lilly said. “Didn’t get as far as I wanted. I didn’t get the job done.”

Lilly is one of the running backs for the North Carolina team, which takes on a South Carolina team.

For Lilly, who says he likely won’t sign with a college this month, this is a chance to showcase his skills.

“Hopefully, I get way more exposure,” he said.

He has been in contact with coaches from Charleston Southern and Mercer, but he said there might be other possibilities.

The all-star event replaces the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, which was scrapped for the second year in a row because of the pandemic. It had been played in Spartanburg, S.C.

Sunday’s game will include players from public and private schools. Because North Carolina’s state finals are slated for this weekend, selected players from teams in those four games won’t be able to compete in the showcase event. That means players from Greensboro Dudley will have to skip the game as the Panthers play in the Class 3-A state final.

Lilly has trained with quarterback Alonza Barnett of Greensboro Grimsley, so he’ll have some familiarity with a member of the roster.

Eastern Randolph was the West Region’s top seed in Class 1-A with an undefeated record. The Wildcats exited with a third-round loss to Murphy.

Coach Burton Cates of Eastern Randolph said Lilly put together a stellar season despite limited playing time in some situations because the Wildcats blew out several opponents.

Lilly racked up 1,600 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns, with 33 coming on the ground. He said his favorite play was something simple.

“Dive right up the middle and I’d read the nose guard (and make a move),” he said.

Lilly had a four-year career with the Wildcats, though he was mostly an outside linebacker as a freshman. He moved to running back as a sophomore. For his career, he amassed almost 5,900 rushing yards and 85 rushing touchdowns.

“That makes me proud that I tried to do my part,” Lilly said.

Those numbers came with a reduced schedule for his junior season because of the reconfigured season based on the pandemic. This year, the Wildcats had a regular-season game cancelled and then had a first-round bye in the state playoffs.

Lilly, who turns 18 years old next week, also plays basketball and is a member of the track and field team at Eastern Randolph. Players were to report to Gaffney by midweek for practices, so he’ll miss some basketball activity in advance of the football all-star game.

Eastern Randolph’s Elias Alston at cornerback and John Maness at defensive end were listed as alternates but they hadn’t been added for the game by the beginning of the week.

SWR_BrysonReid

Reid picked for honor at Panthers game

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ASHEBORO – Two members of Southwestern Randolph’s football team will go from the state playoffs to the pros this weekend.

That’s because senior receiver Bryson Reid of the Cougars was selected as a recipient of a Carolina Panthers Community Captain Award.

As part of the program that honors players who excel in the classroom and the community, Reid has been invited by the Panthers for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

“My teammates were so excited for me,” Reid said.

He selected Cougars quarterback Keaton Reed to be his guest for the NFL game-day experience.

Reid is part of the Beta Club at school and he’s involved in youth mission programs with First Baptist Church of Asheboro. Because Reid is a recipient of the award, the Panthers will make a $500 donation to the Southwestern Randolph athletics department.

“His character is what separates him,” football coach Seth Baxter said. “A great leader, and one of those kids you want representing your school.”

Baxter said Reid also made an impact on youngsters when he has been a counselor for youth camps at the school.

Reid, 17, said this will be the first time he attends a Panthers game.

Before that, he’ll be suiting up at least one more time for the Cougars. He’s also a cornerback and is involved on punt and kickoff returns.

Southwestern Randolph (8-2), which has compiled a school-record win total this year, is set to open the Class 2-A playoffs with Friday night’s home game against Polk County.

“It has been a great season,” Reid said. “We’ve been together since middle school. We’ve never really had a winning season.”

Other than when he was on the sideline as a ball boy several years ago, Reid said he has never been part of a football playoff game.

Reid’s junior season was cut short because of torn ankle ligaments. That caused him to miss a couple of baseball games in the spring.

This season, he said his favorite experience was the 42-30 home victory against Starmount because of the atmosphere — a “Blue-Out” with fans wearing school colors. He said he was most fond of teammate Adam Cole chasing down a Starmount ball carrier and causing a fumble – and then the reaction from the Cougars defenders as they blocked for a big return.

Reid said he’s still assessing his college options. He intends to major in political science.

WHS_Hamilton

Prep Football Roundup: Cougars keep it going with strong offense

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Southwestern Randolph’s football team kept the big offensive numbers coming.

The Cougars topped visiting Starmount 42-30 on Friday night in a non-league game.

The matchup was a late schedule addition when Southwestern Randolph’s scheduled matchup with Albemarle was nixed. The Cougars have scored more than 40 points in their last three games.

Southwestern Randolph has boosted its record to 4-0.

Keaton Reed accounted for 250 yards of total offense in the Starmount game. He rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another, with the pass going to Bryson Reid.

Adam Cole scored touchdowns on a punt return and an interception return. He also forced a fumble and came up with a fumble recovery. Easton Clapp scored a touchdown, but made a big impact on defense with 10 tackles (three of those for losses).

The Cougars overcame Luke Kimmer’s two touchdown passes and Zack Dezern’s 180 rushing yards for Starmount (1-3), which racked up more points than in its first three games combined.

Southwestern Randolph heads to Asheboro for Friday night’s game to conclude its non-conference schedule.

“Being unbeaten coming to us, they’re going to have a lot of confidence,” Asheboro coach Blake Brewer said.

Friday night’s games

Randleman at Montgomery Central, 6:30

Southwestern Randolph at Asheboro, 7:30

West Stanly at Eastern Randolph, 7:30

Ledford at Wheatmore, cancelled

Wheatmore 34, Asheboro 32: At Asheboro, Reece Linton’s pass to Jonathan Kelly for 31 yards resulted in the winning points with 25 seconds remaining.

Linton, normally a wideout, made the key pass. Starting quarterback Ben Walker exited with a knee injury earlier.

“We knew coming in it probably was going to be a shootout,” Wheatmore coach Philip Yarbrough said. “We got to stop them one more time than they stop us. We’ve got to score one more time than they score. I guess they made me a prophet.”

A potential winning touchdown catch for Asheboro was nullified by an offensive interference penalty.

Wheatmore (3-1), which pulled off several fourth-down conversions, also was boosted on offense by Walker’s three touchdown passes, with Dylan Weil catching two of those and Porter Grimes grabbing the other. Grimes also returned a fumble for a touchdown.

For Asheboro (1-3), Michael Brady and Khyland Hadley-Lindsay ran for two touchdowns apiece, while Tony McRae scored a touchdown on a reception.

“I thought this was a game we really had to win, looking at our schedule,” Brewer said. “I’m broken hearted for (our players).”

Ledford 34, Providence Grove 14: At Climax, the Patriots lost the home game in non-league play, unable to set a school record for most wins to begin a season.

Ledford (4-0) erased a 14-7 halftime deficit by posting 20 points in the third quarter. Alex Sanford rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Caleb Rogers had 110 yards of total offense and Zane Cheek rushed for 73 yards for Providence Grove (4-1). Luke Thomas was intercepted three times, but threw for 112 yards. Chase Whitaker returned an interception for a Providence Grove touchdown.

Randleman 31, North Stanly 28: At New London, the Tigers pulled out their first victory of the season on Christian Long’s 18-yard go-ahead pass to Jozey Akines.

Thomas Dobias ran for touchdowns from 8 and 3 yards for Randleman (1-3), which was in a road game for the first time. Ervodd Cassady had a 3-yard scoring run and Chris Gentry kicked a 42-yard field goal.

Randleman’s defense intercepted three passes, two of those by Akines and the other by Micah Thurston. North Stanly fell to 1-3.

Trinity 48, Carrboro 8: At Trinity, the Bulldogs are 3-1 after the convincing home victory.

Trinity has won its past two games by a combined score of 96-14. The Bulldogs won a total of one game the past two seasons.