Ragsdale rips Grimsley 38-7

Tim Romer threw for three scores and ran for another to pace Ragsdale as the Tigers thumped visiting Grimsley 38-7.

The stuggling Whirlies started badly as three fumbles in the first five minutes of play put the Whirlies in a hole they never could climb out of. Only a late Lashawn Brown 14 yard run in the final moments saved Grimsley from the shutout.

Ragsdale on the other hand were rolling from the start. The first of the three turnovers that Grimsley committed in the opening moments occured on the initial snap from scrimmage, three plays later Romer threw his first TD pass, a 18 yarder to Ian Jenkins.

The third of the early Grimsley miscues led to a 26yd FG by Kasey Redfern which stretched the lead to 10-0. Romer added a 4yd run early in the second period to extend the lead to 17-0 which is where the score would stand at the break.

After halftime it was more of the same as the Tigers took the 2nd half kickoff and drove 63yds in 7 plays as .Romer hit Nick Mierite for a nine yard score. Late in the period Charles Thomasson sprinted 33yds up the gut to make it a 31-0 score. Ragsdale completed their end of the rout as Romer hit Kyless Brandenburg three minutes into the final stanza to conclude the scoring for the Tigers.

With the win Ragsdale moved to 5-0 with a big game next Friday night against Southeast Guilford who survived tonight against Northwest in dramatic fashion. With the defeat the injury riddled Whirlies dropped their 3rd straight making them 2-3 for the season.

5 thoughts on “Ragsdale rips Grimsley 38-7

  1. Things begin to unravel for Grimsley soon after kickoff. After a touchback on Redfern’s opening kick, Grimsley fumbled on the 1st play from scrimmage and it was recovered by Derek McCoy of Ragsdale. After a few plays running plays Romer hooked up with Ian Jenkins for 16 yards and the score was 7-0 after a Redfern kick.

    Grimsley returned the next kickoff to the 33 of Ragsdale where Grimsley was able to gain a 1st down on the ground and showed they may be able to move the ball some. However another Grimsley fumble near mid-field turned the ball over to Ragsdale. Ragsdale had some tough sledding trying to run on Grimsley as the Grimsley D stiffened and Ragsdale was not able to capitalize on the turnover.

    On the next series Grimsley was stopped and forced to punt. Ragsdale took over and the Grimsley defense played tough forcing a Ragsdale punt. However on the punt Grimsley did not field it cleanly and there was a scramble for the ball and Ragsdale recovered the Grimsley fumble. Once again the Grimsley defense played tough and was able to force Ragsdale to kick a 26 field goal by Casey Redfern which was good to make the score 10-0.

    After an exchange of punts Grimsley took over mid-way in the 2nd qtr. Grimsley gained a couple of 1st downs before throwing a pass which was intercepted by Antonio Gilyard of Ragsdale. Ragsdale slowly drove down the field on some nice runs from D’Onavon Smith. With 4th and goal from the 1 Ragsdale went for 6 and Romer dropped back but was unable to find an open receiver. Romer scrambled and took off up the middle and dove in for the touchdown from the 1. After the kick the score was 17-0 Ragsdale where it stood at the half. A key play that hurt Grimsley on the drive was an interception by Torian Patterson of Grimsley that was called back for roughing the passer. Romer threw deep ball that was picked off and returned about 50 yards to the Ragsdale 35 however the play went for nothing due to the roughing the passer play.

    Ragsdale took the opening kickoff and drove down the field only to stop themselves with a fumble at the Grimsley 10 yard line which Grimsley recovered. Grimsley again gained a couple of 1st downs but they were again forced to punt. Ragsdale took over on a short field and after some nice gains by D’Onavon Smith, Romer wasted little time finding Nick Mearite on a beautiful throw 9 yard toss in the back corner of the end zone to make the score 24-0.

    Once again Grimsley was unable to move the football and they were forced to punt the ball back to Ragsdale. After a completion and a could of nice runs Charles Thomasson found a seam up the middle and ran one in for a touchdown from 34 yards out to make the score 31-0 for Ragsdale. Ragsdale ending up gaining over 200 yards of the ground, mostly on runs between the tackles.

    On the 1st play of the 4th quarter the Ragsdale D kept the pressure up as Grimsley was sacked for a 9 yard loss by Daniel McNeill. The defense kept Grimsley in a hole and they were soon forced to punt. Ragsdale took over and begin to grind the clock with a nice ground game. However the highlight play of the night came when Tim Romer found senior Kyle Brandenburg for a 25 yard touchdown for Brandenburg’s 1st catch of not only of the year but the 1st catch of his life. The student section cheered loudly and most of the team ran on the field to congratulate Brandenburg. Brandenburg has traditionally been a standout baseball player and cross country runner at Ragsdale however this year he decided to drop cross country (after being top 20 in the state) and try football for the 1st time. His skills as a shortstop paid off as he scooped up the low throw and took it in for 6.

    At the 9 minute mark Coach Norwood pulled most of the starters. However there was no quit in Grimsley as they continued to play tough. Grimsley begin gaining yards on the ground with nice runs by David Ray and they finished the drive off with an 11 yard gain from Lashaun Brown.

    In some ways the score was not totally indicative of the game. Grimsley hurt themselves with 5 turnovers. However the Grimsley team fought until the last whistle. When they got down they didn’t bicker among themselves, didn’t hang their head, and they competed all night. This Grimsley team is very young. They have more than 10 sophomores and freshmen on the varsity team. This Grimsley team will be much better as the year goes on with the return of Patterson and a couple of other injured players. This team should be really tough next year and beyond as these kids gain experience and size.

    The whole Ragsdale defense played well all night as everyone of the defense made plays. Not only did Grimsley turn the ball over with 4 fumbles and an interception but Ragsdale ended up with seven players getting either a sack or tackle for loss (sacks by Derek McCoy, Daniel McNeill, Antonio Gilyard and Walt Sparks, and tackles for loss by Billy Stone, Jonathon and Josh Asworth), The defense continues to improve each week and the pas defense was equally strong tonight as Grimsley only completed 1 pass for 3 yards.

    On offense Romer continued to spread the ball around as he found Russell for his first catches of the year and found Brandenburg for his 1st catch and TD of the year. Romer has now thrown TD’s to 5 different receivers. A main reason Romer has had time is strong pass protection from Joey Fennison, Ian Jenkins, Tyler Ritter, Ryne Gabel, Elliot Cobb, Caleb Cates, Jordon Morris, and Marcus Williamson. For a group that only had two returning starters Coach Norwood (Norwood is also the o-line coach) has built himself a good o-line. On the ground D’Onavon Smith filled in nicely for a banged up Charles Thomasson. Ragsdale doesn’t have any star players but the team chemistry is apparent as everyone has been doing their job. Each week someone different steps up.

    Next week Ragsdale travels to Southeast Guilford to open conference play and face the lightning fast Tivon Clark at RB and equally quick Terrence Topps at QB.

  2. how does Lewis Newman keep his job. Seems to me the only thing he does is paint the soccer field, coaches do all the schedules, he watches his son play football on Fridays at Page. He fires the best coaches he has ever had in Ash and Shuping – I would like to know how his job is reviewed, I am sure he is paid well for being the AD at a large school, but really all he does is what the loudest parents tell him to do. I say they fire him and let the booster club run the athletic department since no one at Grimsley cares about winning or losing – why have the nice scoreboards if you dont care. Grimsley went from the best PRinciple around in Gasperello to a series of flunkies, 1 and outs. Academics has steadily decreased as well as the demise of the athletic program – the admins at Grimsley deserve a raise – huh!

  3. The football team will get better. They’re young. They actually played hard the other night. Time will tell with baseball. As to his son, let’s not drag him in to it. Maybe his son goes to Page becaus ehis Dad didn’t want to hear the noise when your son is at your school. Doesn’t seem to bother the son’s performance.

  4. Grimsley is young for one. They have there starting QB out starting inside linebacker out plus four other starters playin with injuries. When you have key players hurt its really hard to fill the gaps. Grimsley is beating there onself. They have had 10 turnovers in the last two games, you can’t win with that many turnovers. As for Will he needs to be where he is,we are only one game behind Page and conference hasn’t started yet. The conference is wide open Page has shown us that they can loose also. East Forsyth is looking good and HP Central, so sit back and enjoy all of Grimsleys starters are back.

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