HS Football tonight and the AM950 call

Round two of the playoffs tonight and it seems like we are in the middle of January and it should be time for the conference finals in basketball with the way the old snowman came to town last night.

It is round number two and last year in round one we had two Guilford County teams go at it with Eastern Guilford at Southern Guilford and this year in round one we had High Point Central at Page and Southeast Guilford at Ragsdale.

Last year in round two we had Dudley at Northeast Guilford where the Panthers knocked off the higher seeded Rams on their way to the State 3-AA Championship. The big play was when Ricky Lewis Jr. was injured and had to leave the game and Dudley bypassed backup QB Dennis Jenkins and sent in the third-stringer, Kenny Okoro, and he completed a pass on fourth and 20 from the 35 and he completed it all the way down to the three yard line on a hook-up with Panther wide receiver Julian Alford and from there Dudley took it in for the TD and then the rest is history, as they say.

This year in round two we have Western Guilford at Ragsdale and both teams are (1-0) for the post-season, or least that’s what LB’s Walt Sparks(Ragsdale) and Mustaffa Stinson(WG) were telling me last night. The playoffs are a new animal and the Tigers(12-0) and the Hornets(7-5) are set to turn it up another notch tonight.

I was with a Western team that went over to play Ragsdale back in November of ’73 and the wind chill that Friday night was right at 13 degrees. That was the coldest game I have ever been around in my life. We were tied at 14-14 at the half, and then Ragsdale came rolling out in the second half and won the game 35-14 and they went on to win the State 3-A title that year(Tigers actually tied with East Bladen 16-16 in ’73 and beat Ahoskie 24-0 to be sole Champs in ’74)) and our squad headed home and went to bed for the winter.

The defenses will be the key to this game, as both clubs have stout offenses and I do feel the blocking up front by the “O” line will determine the outcome of this game and I am leaning toward Ragsdale, because of guys like Joey Finison and Tyler Ritter, who get off the ball well and pack a real mean blow when they pop the opposing “D”. Let’s take Ragsdale and send them over to Dudley with the Tigers over the Hornets, 28-13.

We will have this game for you on AM950 and at wpetam950.com with the Pre-game at 7pm and the kickoff at 7:30. We will also have updates on Wilson Fike at Dudley, Fayetteville Westover at Page and Northeast Guilford at Harnett Central. Jim Modlin will be on board with commentary on the WG-Ragsdale game, Paul Lambeth will have a post-game radio wrap on the Page-Westover contest, Joe Barile will have the GREENSBOROSports.com write-up on the Page-Westover game, and again we will have updates on the games involving Dudley and NEG.

If someone can get a score for us on High Point Andrews at South Point down in Belmont, call it in to Jimmy Fulmer at 275-9738, again that’s 275-9738. Remember to listen to the Ragsdale-Western game on AM950 radio and if you are having any problems with static and you have a computer, just go to wpetam950.com for the clear signal and keep it around www.greensborosports.com for all the scores later in the evening.

On the other games, I will try and pull the Panthers through, and look for Dudley to take out Wilson Fike, 24-6. Three Dudley TD’s and three two-point conversion runs. Two touchdowns by Ricky Lewis and one from Fred Overby. Fike at (9-3) brings in a strong running game, but the Panthers(12-0) are one of the best defensive teams in the state.

I feel Page(8-4) may have the easiest game of the night with Westover(6-6) still celebrating their upset win over Chapel Hill last Friday night. Let’s take the Pirates, with a Rick Mosley boat-load of seniors stepping up, winning at home, 31-14.

Northeast Guilford(6-6) is on the road to Harnett Central(12-0) and the gut feeling is that the magical ride finally comes to an end as the Rams find the visiting side tough, falling to HC, 28-7.

High Point Andrews(8-3) heads down 85-South to face the always tough South Point Red Raiders(11-1) in Belmont which is just below Charlotte. HPA will come away upset, as South Point puts up too many(points) and eliminates Tony Washington and company, 21-6.

Ragsdale(13-0) at Dudley(13-0) next Friday night?????? Page(9-4) at Mount Tabor(12-1) next Friday evening?????