The Ragsdale Report with Tigers over North Davidson from the Jamestown News and Mike Ellis

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Ragsdale opened up play in the NCHSAA 4A State Playoffs as they entertained the Black Knights from North Davidson High School. After heavy rains left the field unplayable Friday night, the game was moved to Saturday. North Davidson entered the playoffs as the third-place team from the Central Piedmont Conference with a 7-3 record, while Ragsdale shared first place in the Piedmont Triad with an 8-2 mark.

With an extra day to sit around and wait to take the field, the Tigers turned to a familiar formula: outstanding defense and big-play offense to come away with the opening-round victory by a 28-16 score.

Ragsdale fumbled the ball away on their opening possession after moving into North Davidson territory but the Tiger defense was ready for the challenge. Senior Brandon Swinton dropped back in pass coverage, broke on an underthrown pass at the Tiger 45 yard line and headed up the left sideline. Picking up a big block from Will Sams, Swinton broke through a tackle at the 5 and went into the end zone for the touchdown. The 55-yard interception return and Brad Davis’s extra point put the Tigers into a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

The Black Knights answered right back going on a 13-play, five and a half minute drive that ended with quarterback Tevin Tuttle scoring on a five-yard run up the middle. Tuttle completed three passes to Charles Brunson on the drive for a total of 34 yards. Two of the passes were big third-down plays that kept the drive alive. Tuttle also carried the ball five times for 18 yards. Spencer Landfried booted the point-after to tie up the score at 7 with 43 seconds left in the first.

Ragsdale’s Brandon Walker set up the offense in North Davidson territory as he returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Black Knight 41 yard line. Marquez Eleazer did most of the work from there, with six carries for 26 yards, and Garrison Herndon hit Anthony Stewart for a 10 yard gain. When the drive stalled at the 5, coach Tommy Norwood sent in Brad Davis to kick a 22-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead.

The big-play offense struck on the next Ragsdale possession. With a third and one at their 49 yard line, Herndon and Stewart hooked up for a 51-yard scoring play. It was Stewart’s eighth touchdown reception of the year.

North Davidson once again moved the ball on the Tigers as the half was drawing to a close. Starting on their 30 yard line and aided by a face mask penalty and a questionable pass interference call, the Black Knights moved to the Ragsdale 25. There the drive stalled and Landfried drilled a 42-yard field goal to cut the Tiger lead to 17-10 at the half.

Ragsdale took the second-half kickoff and two plays later found the end zone on one of the best catches of the year. With the ball on their 28 yard line, Herndon spotted Brandon Walker streaking down the right sideline. Stretching out and stumbling to reach the pass at the North Davidson 40, Walker bobbled it, pulled it in and fought to regain his balance with the ball in the palm of his right hand. Walker righted himself and walked the tightrope up the sideline for the 72-yard scoring play. The PAT opened up a 24-10 lead in the first minute of the second half.

After the offense’s big play, the Tiger defense came out fired up and completely took over the game. The first five second-half possessions for the Black Knights went nowhere. The total offense for those five possessions read: 15 plays and a total of nine net yards gained. The defense was everywhere. The first three possessions were three plays and a Black Knight punt. Then, North Davidson started at their 4 and bobbled a handoff, and the Tigers’ Brandon Swinton tackled the back for a safety to add two points to the lead as Ragsdale went up 26-10.

The Ragsdale offense was again unable to move the ball after the kick following the safety and after a Joerell London interception halted another North possession. With just under four minutes left in the game, North covered 60 yards in six plays, the score coming on a Tuttle to Eli Moore 27-yard pass. The two-point conversion was good on a Tuttle to Charles Brunson connection and with 1:38 left, North had cut the lead to 26-18.

With only one timeout left, the Black Knights were forced to attempt an onside kick. The perfectly placed kick got through the Tiger front line but Walker was able to get the ball out of bounds and maintain the possession for Ragsdale The Tigers picked up a first down and ran out the clock to preserve the win and move on to the second round of the playoffs.

Ragsdale’s second-half defensive effort was outstanding. They completely shut down the Black Knight offense until the final drive. Brandon Swinton got the interception return for a touchdown and also tackled the runner in the end zone to record a safety. Duncan Sparks from his middle linebacker position was all over the field and was credited with 11 tackles. Trey Grimes as usual was a leader on defense, getting in on eight tackles and being the first man downfield on kick coverage. Brian Nwokolo, Jarrett Holland, Winston Craig and Larry Ogunjobi were all credited with a sack, and Joerell London also had an interception. The Tigers completely shut down the Knights running game, limiting them to 47 net yards on 38 carries and after giving up 10 first-half first downs, only gave up two in the second half.

The offense relied on the big play to put points on the board as they were unable to convert long drives into scores. The 51- and 72-yard touchdown passes from Garrison Herndon to Anthony Stewart and Brandon Walker were the difference in the game. Herndon ended the night with 6 of 11 passing for 189 yards and the two TD’s. Stewart had three catches for 70 yards and Erik Romer also had one catch for 45 yards. Walker made the most of his one catch and also did an excellent job on kick returns. Marquez Eleazer carried the ball 26 times for 75 yards. He went over 1,000 yards for the season, as his night gave him 1,037 for the year.

The Tigers were flagged nine times in the second half for 75 yards with four of the penalties being for false starts and three for holding. As they move on in the second round of the playoffs, they need to cut down on those penalties in order to keep offensive drives alive.

Next up is the Spartans of Mount Tabor on the road Friday night. Mount Tabor is 10-1 and they are the first-place team from the Central Piedmont Conference. The Spartans won their first eight games of the year before being knocked off by West Forsyth. They are averaging 43 points a game, so the Tiger defense will be called on to find a way to keep their offense in check while the Ragsdale offense will have to put points on the board and try to sustain drives to keep the Spartan offense off the field. Mount Tabor is a perennial power in the 4A class and will be a stern test for the Tigers in the second round of the playoffs.

N Davidson 7 3 0 8 18
Ragsdale 7 10 7 2 26
First Downs 8-R 12-ND
Rushing Yds. 91-R 47-ND
Rushes 33-R 38-ND
Passing Yds. 189-R 146-ND
Pass Comp/Att/Int. 6/11/0-R 13/20/2-ND
Punts/Avg Yds 5/28.6-R 5/32.0-ND
Fumbles/Lost 1/1-R 2/0-ND
Penalties/Yds 11/105-R 6/50-ND
Time of Poss. 22:18-R 25:42-ND

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
R – Brandon Swinton 58 yard interception return (Brad Davis kick) (6:22)
ND – Tevin Tuttle 5 yard run (Spencer Landfried kick) (0:43)
Second Quarter
R – Brad Davis 22 yard Field Goal (8:19)
R – Anthony Stewart 51 yard pass from Garrison Herndon (Davis kick) (3:38)
ND – Spencer Landfried 42 yard Field Goal (0:16)
Third Quarter
R – Brandon Walker 72 yard pass from Herndon (Davis kick) (11:06)
Fourth Quarter
R – Swinton made tackle for safety (8:40)
ND – Eli Moore 27 yard pass from Tuttle (Landfried kick) (1:38)

NCHSAA 4A PLAYOFFS – MIDWEST POD
#1 (1) Porter Ridge (10-0) 30
#8 (14) High Point Central (5-5) 14

#4 (6) Davie County (7-3) 25
#5 (8) Dudley (5-5) 29

#3 (3) Ragsdale (8-2) 26
#6 (9) North Davidson (7-3) 18

#2 (2) Mt. Tabor (9-1) 44
#7 (10) Western Guilford (4-6) 7