HS football Saturday morning rewind

Big games last night and some lively discussion in our LIVE scoring box from last night…..

Mark mentioned the comparison of James Summers the Page QB to Vince Young and Mark is on the money. Summers, just a sophomore is big like Young and he even runs a lot like Young. Summers and Drew Rogers, both just 10th graders, will be something special before they leave Page.

There’s something special going on in Jamestown right now, today, September 12, as we speak…..The Ragsdale Tigers are the county’s only unbeaten team at (4-0) and they have “Cool Hand Luke” Heavner running the show at QB……This kid is smooth and he is surrounded by some kind of talent. Anderson, Sonnricker, Romer, Smith and others are making this a peak-type year for the Tigers with Stone, Sparks, Armwood, Ellison, McNeil and crew carrying the load on defense and we hardly ever mention their offensive line, but how many times has Heavner been taking down behind the line this year, not many, and he misses on very few passes going something like 13-14 or 14-15 and the “O” line has a lot to do with that……(And don’t forget, Kasey the Kicker!)

Ragsdale next week has Roxboro on the road and then they are at WS Parkland, home versus East Forsyth, at Southwest Guilford, home vs. Northwest, OPEN date Oct. 23, then home for Glenn and they close it out with High Point Central at Simeon Stadium in High Point.

What was the score of that game again last night?(42-21) Soak it up for a short while and then it’s back to work in preparation for next Friday….As mentioned previously the Tigers have a solid coaching staff and what is their regular season record over the past couple of years????? At least 15-0 maybe more and that has to be the best around too…

More from last night and looking ahead to next week. Six touchdowns from Aaron Jones of Western Guilford. Big night for Mr. Jones and the Hornets and I remember be a part of the blocking crew that lead the way for Herbert Presley to get 7TD’s versus Randleman back in 1973 and I was at the game the night Anthony Saunders ran for 7 scores for WG back when Charlie Griffin was coaching the Hornets. I saw the former Western great, probably their all-time great QB, Mark Guenther up in the press box at the Ragsdale-Page game last evening.

Big-time game though for Mr. Jones, with the WG win at EG, and I heard Mr. Lee, from N.C. A&T, was at that game, taking in kids like Jones, QB Josh Thompson and the Eastern super return-man/DB Josh Morehead and others…..

Keenan Allen and the NG Nighthawks put an end to NWG’s unbeaten run and as others have stated, Northern has talent in addition to KA, but he just happens to be the best player on the field every Friday night, no matter who Northern is playing….Allen had a hand in 5 of the 6 NG scores last night with 4TD’s(Three running/one receiving) and one TD pass.

The only big question now is will it be Alabama or Oregon for KA with Chris McCain and James Scales III locked in and locked on now at the Ducks home page….Congrats by the way to James and the Scales family. Great people and good luck as you head out West and the same to Chris and his folks as he makes the move. We have to remember we are talking about Guiflord County kids and we want to see them all do well….

Southwest fell last night and Southeast won and NEG haD the game won at Reidsville, but the wrong Rams came back to take it…..Grimsley was in it against a fine Durham Jordan team and Dudley did enough to top Wakefield out of Raleigh……

Next week is looking hot again with:
NEG at Page….There will be runningbacks all over the place and we look forward to seeing Darius White of NEG again for the first time in about a year….

Durham Hillside at Dudley….Vad Lee and Hillside=’s tough opposition…

Thursday night:Smith at Charlotte Waddell

Grimsley at NWG

High Point Central vs. High Point Andrews at Simeon Stadium

Southern Guilford at Western Guilford

Ragsdale at Roxboro Person

Eastern Randolph at Southeast Guilford

Northern, Eastern, and Southwest all have OPEN dates….

26 thoughts on “HS football Saturday morning rewind

  1. Hey Andy,

    That’s 21 regular season wins in a row for Coach Norwood and Ragsdale. That goes back two years when Luke’s brother Matt was the QB.

  2. Ragsdale is a well coached team. They play well together as a unit. I was impressed by offense, defense, and special teams. The only thing strange about the Tiger game last night was that their kickoff team actually had to tackle someone. It looked like they may have beem trying to keep the ball away from Thuc Phan of Page which seemed odd because all the Ragsdale Pk does is boot the ball through the end zone. Maybe Redfern (?) slipped.

  3. yeah I thinbk Redfern just got under it a little bit. I’m sure they wanted to keep it away from Phan and all his kicks but one were touchbacks. Redfern’s punts were big too – he kept them high which resulted in fair catches usually.

    I am little anxious about kickoff coverage for Ragsdale – not because they can’t do it but they just don’t get to practice it much with all the touchbacks.

  4. Emily,
    Unfortunately, many colleges, even D1, do not offer scholarships to kickers until their 2nd or 3rd year of college. Many kickers are walkons.

  5. Has anyone heard were eastern superstar josh Morehead is going. I’ve seen the kid play and he can play now

  6. I didnt’ get the comment about Chris McCain and how we have to remember that these are GC kids and want to see them all do well………..was that a dig? It was like love the Scales Family, but since Chris is from Guilford County, we will wish him well also.

  7. Andy, I was told about your site. I have visited a couple of times in the spring, but I was so disgusted with what I read. I read your entry on James Scales and I have to tell you that from what I remember about him, he is not a D1 player. I am not giving you my opinion like alot of people on this site does, but I am giving you fact. I used to coach him at Northeast. Now, I have to say that I have not coached him since 06, so I can not tell you how he is now. He has not received the coaching and conditioning that will make him a better ball player. He was in a “program” over at Northest that would help develop him physically, but I guess the Scales were not interested in how he would develop, just in what he could get. I spoke with his father several times and he questioned me about James’ future, and all I could tell him was “if he works hard and matured he could help us. I thought his father was a good man who was just concerned about how he could help his son get better, what I did not know was he was questioning me in order to decide if he wanted to send his son to another school. When he did not get the answer that he wanted, he sent his son to Grimsley. That is the part that disappoints me. I am happy that maybe he will get a free education, and that is fine, but he has been dishonest with me and other coaches at NE who wanted to help make him a great ball player. We knew that James “could” be a good player, but he had players in front of him that were really good…all james had to do was use that time to learning from the kids we had on the Varsity, as well as lifting to get strong, and running track to work on speed and quickness. Instead, he took the easy way out and left to avoid all of that. What did that get him? He has yet to get any quality coaching and conditioning to be ready for the next level. I wish him wel lat Oregon or wherever he goes, but ask Remene Alston from Page High about Oregon or big-time college football. James is 1/16 the player Remene was .
    The sad part in all of this is we are trying to teach an unselfish game in a very selfish world. It takes character to play this sport of ours. I wish him well. Like I told his father 3 years ago, “If he works hard and matures, he will help Oregon”.

    Good luck to him.

  8. I say love all the kids and wish them all well…..

    Any kid from the county is one of us and they carry a piece of the County where ever they go.

    We all have a little of Lindley Park, Lewis Center, and all the county school fields in our blood…

    Playing teams from Lewis Center and Windsor Center those were the best games and walking out on the Ragsdale field, that was the place to be if you wanted to beat the best….

    Let’s continue to pull for the County and the county kids….In the earlier times it was all about the city and county and now we are all in the same boat together….

    Keep the County Kids coming and let’s see how far they can go……

  9. Street,
    I agree with what you are saying. I don’t know the Scales kid but I’m around many fathers that all they are concerned about is their kid playing at the next level and not about their education. 90% of these kids will end up in low paying jobs and working as rec. coaches going through the same cycle with their own kids.

  10. To Mark…I was joking with the guys around me about Ragsdale’s kickoff team when the kicked failed to go into the endzone. “I don’t think they’ve had to tackle anyone in 2 years.” I’m sure Coach Norwood has to ask Redfern to kick it short in practice just to work on coverage and tackling.

  11. Street,KC

    First of all you must not have kids of your own, if so you would not get up here and try to put down a young man or his father. First James Scales has a 3.6 gpa and well over a 1200 sat score that math and verbal. Second street you acted as if the college coaches didnt watch film of young scales so just maybe they may be a little bit more qualified to guage if he could play there or not. KC before you talk about something that you know nothing about, the kid has a great family that will support him. I have never seen a group of men or so call men try to downgrade a young man. Maybe Tommy Pursley ran him away like he did Maurice Harris trying to tell parents what he can do for his own kid. Just the facts!!!!! James Scales III will be just fine. Please stop hating own all these kid remember they could represent Guilford County very well. (Zach Maynard his coach said the he was not a D-1 player also(Mark Sanders) and look at him 1week Directv player of the game and 2nd week all he did was broke the single game record for the University of Buffalo. So street and KC i hope that James Jr. and III read the bs that you put up here and use this to prove of of you wrong. And may God Bless you .

  12. Damon, that is exactly my worry – not having to cover many kicks. I know Ragsdale has the gunners to do it and I’m sure they practice it but kick coverage takes a certain kamikaze mentality, blowing people up, not just the ball carrier but the blockers too. I’m sure they practice it but I wonder how hard they go at it. You certainly don’t want kids getting hurt practcing kick coverage.

    And then there is the whole discipline aspect of satying in your lanes. I know on Armwood’s return most of the Page coverage bunched up right in the middle – three players even knocked each other down at the point of contact. Once Armwood got through that pile he was gone.

    all in all though I’ll take Redfern’s end zone kick offs whenever we can get them.

  13. Mark, Ragsdale has plenty of speed on kick coverage, and guys DYING to make a hit. Not saying someone won’t have a return on them because sometimes the other guy wins but they are ready. I think they’ll get their chance as fall approaches with colder weather and wind. The colder it gets the tougher it is to kick it deep (even though the air is usually lighter). If you remember last year when Kasey’s kick’s did not go in the end zone the coverage team usually tackled the return man before the 20. Plus, the coaches spend lots of time on special teams and it shows. You have kids dying to be on special teams. I’m sure you remember the Ashworth twins. They could really hit. Now all the kids talk about is putting an “Ashworth” on somebody. When you have kids dying to make a great block or a great hit you’ve got some special building. They take pride in it. We miss the Ashworth twins (Josh and Jon) but their fierce play instilled a spirit that lives on beyond their years of eligibility.

  14. I have 2 say, I am upset with what I am hearing. Can we as ADULTS grow up and let these kids do what they want. James Scales hasn’t harmed anyone. I hope he does well in oregon. When he gets to Oregon, they will get him faster. He has great work techniques, he brakes on the ball well and will knock you out if you take a play off. Young James, I hope you go out west and take care of business. I bet as soon as you start being a great player, all these coaches will try to change and be happy for you. You will be fine. Keep your head up and I wish you the best of luck. “QUACKING LIKE THEM DUCKS”.

  15. It is good to see some of these area guys headed to a D1 school.
    But what is the connection to Oregon and the West Coast.
    I would think if they are being recruited by Oregon that some of our in state schools like
    Wake, NC St, UNC would also be after them as well.
    This way we could see them in action on Sat.

  16. I can’t speak on Allen, KIng, Scales, but McCain was being recruited locally as a DE. Oregon, Michigan, Auburn, West Virginia, Syracruse, Califorina, were all going to use him as a will Line Backer. Thats not the only reason. The McCain family like Wake Forest, And NC State. UNC was out of the picture months ago.

  17. I just wanted to make 1 comment and 1 comment only on this site.

    “Tarheel”, You did not read all of my post. I don’t wish James any bad luck at all. I am qualified to comment on
    James because I coached him. The only thing I said was I was disappointed to find out what Mr. Scales intentions
    were. He came to me as if he was my friend. I was very nice and cordial to him..He had other things on his mind.
    “Tarheel”, I see that this issue with the players over at Northern is personal to you. I have a son, and when he
    gets to the point where he can get a scholarship, I will help him all I am allowed to do. I will, however, not undermine
    the integrity of High School Athletic to help him obtain it.

  18. In reading these coments about III(James Scales), I tend to sense some personal jealousy because the young man didn’t stay and play at Northeast.First of all,these are kids,not a “piece of meat “as so many of you seem be about.Second of all,he’s a great kid with a great family support system,if he had stayed at NE (Harris as well) you wouldn’t even be having this discussion , everything would’ve been fine because he’d been a product of NE to brag about. My hats off to any of these young men that can get away from guilford county,there’s a double standard in athletics around here. As lon g as certain schools can have the cream of the crop,everything is fine,but when they bolt from that (whitsle blower Page)then somethings gotta be done. You guys need to let these young men live their lives of high school. If they’re wrong it’ll come out later in life; but because,Page or Northeast or any other so called guilford county “powerhouse “can’t have them , then you gotta witch hunt and down them . . .that’s quite childesh to say the least. Remember, eveything that’s up want always be up . . .and everything that’s down,want always be down. Good Luck III !

  19. “ol bawl coach”…..You are right..if Scales would have stayed at Northeast, then this conversation would
    not exist..Just like if OJ had not killed his wife and lover, there would be no court case. I do support what you said
    about players not being meat. No one (school or coach) owns a player. Maybe we should go to a controlled choice
    system. Kids/parents should sit down at there 8/9 grade year and choose a school. Athletics would play a big part in
    that, but beware. This system would create bloodsuckers like the AAU system is now. Also, if you bought in
    kids just for sports, watch the low scores and discipline. Some super athletes are not the best people.

  20. I agree with uou guys. James is good kid and he will do fine at Oregon or where ever he choose to go……

    Talented kid with an outgoing personality and a good future ahead of him.

    How about the job Zach Maynard has been doing for Buffalo? Plus Baker is rolling again at N.C. State and Scott Riddle is red-hot again at Elon.

    We have some talented kids coming out of this area……..That should be our focus.

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