ASHEBORO — Four Randolph County girls’ basketball teams advanced to the second round of the state playoffs with wins Tuesday night, while two others saw their seasons end.
Uwharrie Charter Academy, Randleman, Southwestern Randolph and Wheatmore cruised in their first-round playoff games.
UCA, a No. 3 seed in Class 1-A in the West Region, topped No. 30 seed Bradford Prep 54-38. Also in Class 1-A, Eastern Randolph fell short in a 65-62 loss to Cherokee.
Randleman, the top seed in the Class 2-A, dominated No. 32 seed Shelby Burns with a 64-17 victory.
No. 11 seed Southwestern Randolph was a 49-38 winner against No. 22 seed Bandys with a home win at Castelloe Gym.
No. 14 seed Wheatmore won 61-42 against No. 19 seed Monroe. Meanwhile, Providence Grove suffered a 71-25 road loss to Shelby.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — After “Wide Right” and “Music City Miracle,” the Buffalo Bills begin the offseason adding a new entry into their history of playoff heartbreak: “13 Seconds.”
That’s how much time separated the Bills from securing the next step in their Super Bowl aspirations. Instead came a stunning 42-36 overtime loss at Kansas City in a divisional playoff game on Sunday.
While some on Buffalo’s sideline were spotted laughing after Josh Allen completed his fourth touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis — an NFL playoff record — to go ahead 36-33 with 13 seconds remaining, the quarterback sat in stone-faced silence knowing the game was far from over.
“I’m thinking it’s Pat Mahomes on the other side,” Allen said.
Sure enough, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a near-improbable victory in a showdown of two of the league’s top quarterbacks, sending the Bills packing following yet another one of the franchise’s infamous collapses.
Wide Right earned its name when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt with 4 seconds left in a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants in the 1991 Super Bowl. The Music City Miracle — or “Home-run Throw Forward,” as it’s known in Buffalo — was the result of Frank Wychek’s video-reviewed lateral, setting up Kevin Dyson’s 75-yard kickoff return in the final seconds of Tennessee’s 22-16 win in an AFC wild-card playoff on Jan. 8, 2000.
It didn’t take long following the loss to the Chiefs for the second-guessing to begin.
One question was whether the Bills should have kicked off into the end zone and instead force the Chiefs to return the ball to potentially eat up some of the remaining seconds. A bigger concern focused on how the NFL’s top-ranked defense turned into a sieve in allowing the Chiefs to score twice in the final 1:54 in regulation before losing on the opening drive of overtime.
An emotionally drained coach Sean McDermott declined to get into specifics by saying: “There’s things we talked about, and we can just execute better, and that starts with me and goes all the way around.”
While center Mitch Morse declined to point fingers, safety Jordan Poyer accepted responsibility.
“Man, offense did everything they had to do,” Poyer said. “Defense, we had to go out there and make a stop, weren’t able to do it. It’s just a tough feeling.”
It’s also not the first time Poyer and the defense came up short in a season in which it became abundantly clear the unit padded its production against subpar opponents.
In finishing 12-7, Buffalo went a combined 3-5 against opponents who made the playoffs, with two of those wins against rookie Mac Jones and the New England Patriots.
In seven losses, Buffalo combined to allow 196 points, forced three turnovers and generated just eight sacks. In 12 wins, Buffalo allowed a combined 142 points, forced 29 turnovers and generated 39 sacks.
And the loss to the Chiefs highlighted an inability to win close games, with Buffalo finishing 0-6 in one-score outings, a year after going 6-1.
RAMSEUR — A week off prior to opening the state playoffs might be a good omen for Eastern Randolph’s football team.
When that happened during the past spring for the state playoffs, it worked out.
“We really played our best game against Clinton,” coach Burton Cates said. “You’ve got to look at the positives.”
The situation is different, though, this season. That was an upset victory for the Wildcats several months ago.
Now, Eastern Randolph (9-0) opens the postseason as the top-seeded Class 1-A team in the West Region. The Wildcats are set for Friday night’s game against No. 16 seed Draughn (6-5), which also uses Wildcats as its nickname.
Eastern Randolph’s bye came because the Class 1-A bracket wasn’t full. Last season, a COVID-related situation allowed the team to advance through the opening round.
“We were able to get a jump on (studying) Draughn a little bit,” Cates said.
Draughn sophomore running back Nigel Dula set a Burke County record with 478 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a 56-9 first-round romp past visiting Elkin on Friday.
“He has got our attention,” Cates said of Dula.
Draughn’s only other postseason victory came 10 years ago.
Eastern Randolph’s stiffest test to date probably came in the season opener in August. That came with a home victory against Eastern Alamance, which hasn’t lost since and is the Class 3-A East Region’s top seed.
Eastern Randolph went on to win the Piedmont Athletic Conference.
“Our kids were focused down the stretch,” Cates said. “They wanted to be undefeated and win the conference outright.”
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Max DeNamur scores a goal against Avery County during the first round of the Class 1-A state playoffs at Asheboro. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
ASHEBORO — For all the good that Asheboro and Eastern Randolph did during the regular season in boys’ soccer, it was gone in a flash.
Asheboro’s Julio Ruiz Enciso, front, and Diego Gutierrez cover their faces after an emotional loss to North Lincoln in the first round of the Class 3-A state playoffs at Lee J. Stone Stadium in Asheboro on November 1, 2021. Asheboro lost 2-1 in overtime. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Both teams were upset in the first round of the state playoffs Monday night.
There was better news for Trinity and Uwharrie Charter Academy as both teams moved to the second round.
In Class 3-A, Asheboro fell 2-1 in double-overtime to visiting No. 29 North Lincoln in the West Region.
The Blue Comets entered the postseason as the No. 4 seed. They finished the season with a 14-2-3 record.
Asheboro scored in the first half on Daniel Gutierrez Resendez’s goal. North Lincoln (10-12) tied the game on a penalty kick in the second half.
Asheboro gained the top spot for seeding out of the Mid-Piedmont Conference after it tied with Ledford in the regular season. Both teams had 8-0-2 records, though the Blue Comets won a postgame shootout after last week’s tie to determine a seeding tiebreaker should one be necessary. It turned out to be necessary after each team completed its regular season by winning again.
Asheboro and Ledford tied 1-1 in two overtimes last week with each team scoring second-half goals. Jose Cortes scored for the Blue Comets, who then won the next night.
Asheboro defeated visiting Montgomery Central 5-0 in last Wednesday’s regular-season finale, with two goals from Diego Valdez Plata and one each from Julio Ruiz, Gutierrez Resendez and Cortes. That put the Blue Comets at 8-0-2 in league play.
In Class 2-A, No. 9 seed Trinity topped visiting North Surry 1-0 to open the state playoffs.
Trinity improved to 12-6-1.
No. 28 seed Wheatmore’s season ended with a 6-1 loss at North Forsyth. The Bulldogs ended up with a 9-9 record.
In Class 1-A, No. 6 seed UCA wiped out No. 27 seed Avery County 5-0 behind two goals from Danny Palma. Brady Mowers, Max DeNamur and Carlos Parroquin also scored for the Eagles. Mowers had two assists.
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Danny Palma shoots on goal and scores against Avery County during the first round of the Class 1-A state playoffs at Asheboro on November 1, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
UCA (11-3-1) and Eastern Randolph tied in Piedmont Athletic Conference play, splitting two meetings. Eastern Randolph won 3-1 and UCA claimed the rematch by 5-1.
But No. 12 seed Eastern Randolph didn’t follow that success in the postseason. The Wildcats suffered a home upset to Cornerstone Charter, falling 5-4 in double overtime.
Despite the setback, Eastern Randolph (10-5-2) reached the four-goal mark for the 10th time in its last 12 games.
Eastern Randolph lost for the first time this season in a home game after a 6-0-1 mark in the regular season.
NCCSA
At Walkertown, Faith Christian suffered a 3-1 loss to host Gospel Light on Oct. 22 in the first round of the state playoffs in the North Carolina Christian School Association.
That outcome snapped a two-game winning streak for the Eagles (7-7-1).
Faith Christian had completed a NCCSA AA District 2-West Region season with a second-place season with a 6-4 league mark.
After the NCCSA loss, the Eagles took part in the NCSSA national tournament in Xenia, Ojio. They fell 4-0 to Life Center Academy of Burlington, N.J.
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Carter Duggins spikes the ball against Andrews’ Rylie McDonald in the first set in the Class 1-A West state playoffs in Asheboro on October 23, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
ASHEBORO — Coming off of a conference tournament championship, Uwharrie Charter Academy volleyball coach Lee Kennell hoped his team would maintain its momentum in the the first round of the Class 1-A state playoffs.
The Eagles did just that with a three-set victory against Andrews on Saturday, winning 25-8, 25-9, 25-14.
The third-seed Eagles were tied at 12-12 in the third set before turning up the tempo to clinch the outcome.
Uwharrie Charter Academy players cheer after their victory in straight sets against visiting Andrews in the Class 1-A West state playoffs in Asheboro October 23, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Kennell said he was worried early that some post-season jitters were affecting his team. “I figured there would be a little bit of nerves early,” he said. “We had a lot of momentum coming from the conference tournament, beating three really good teams.”
In the third set, Andrews called a timeout trailing 16-12. Kennell said he rallied his team and told them to focus on their serving. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes,” he said. “I thought we did really good serving.”
The Eagles will play host to Cornerstone Charter on Tuesday in the second round. No. 14 seed Cornerstone Charter defeated No. 19 seed Cherokee in four sets in the first round.
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Dacia Lowery blocks the ball against Andrews’ Brooke Phillips in the Class 1-A West state playoffs in Asheboro on October 23, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
