The Ragsdale Report from Mike Ellis at the Jamestown News with a summary on HP Central-Ragsdale from last Friday night

from Mike Ellis at the Jamestown News(Womack Newspapers) and CLICK HERE to see all and to see photos from the game….

Ragsdale sputters in Season Finale

Ragsdale and High Point Central met Friday night with second place in the Piedmont Triad Conference on the line. After a penalty-marred first half that saw Ragsdale have three touchdowns called back and neither offense score a touchdown, Central took a 10-9 halftime lead on a field goal and an interception return for a TD. The Tigers got three first-half field goals from sophomore Lucas Hicks to account for their nine points.

Trailing by only one point, Ragsdale came out in the second half and failed to generate any offense, picking up no first downs and only 26 yards in total offense in the third quarter. Central scored a touchdown on their first second-half possession to extend the lead to eight points then added 10 more points in the fourth while relying on their defense to shut out the Tigers as they went on to wrap up a 27-9 win and with it secure second place in the conference.

Central got on the board first as they rode the strong right leg of their senior kicker Will Johnson, who booted a 52-yard field goal after the Bison’s opening drive stalled at the Ragsdale 35 yard line. Later in the quarter, Ragsdale seemed to strike back as Marquez Eleazer fielded a punt on his 25 yard line, cut up the left side line and eluded defenders for what appeared to be a 75-yard touchdown. However, an obvious block in the back which drew another flag near the 50 yard line wiped out the beautiful return. Putting the ball in play at their 38 yard line after the penalty, Ragsdale’s offense gave up a TD on a turnover when Central’s Tyler Wilson picked off a pass at the Tiger 44 yard line and went untouched into the end zone to up the score to 10-0.

On the next drive, Ragsdale started at their 34 yard line and mixed up the run and pass to move to the Bison 37. Quarterback Colson Herndon connected with Erik Romer on a 25-yard pass play to set up a first and goal from the 7. From that point, there were six penalties called, one of which wiped out another Ragsdale touchdown on a holding call, and when the dust settled and the penalties were all marked off (three on each team) Ragsdale faced a fourth and goal from the 7 yard line and Lucas Hicks was called on to boot a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 10-3.

On their first possession of the second quarter, Ragsdale got in the end zone again, but on what was a recurring theme a yellow flag on the field nullified the Marquez Eleazer touchdown pass reception as the Tigers were called for holding once more. When the drive stalled, Hicks kicked a 34-yard field goal to make the score 10-6.

Ragsdale got one more chance late in the second quarter when the special teams came up with a big play. Jermaine Pratt fielded a punt for the Bison and when he was hit hard at the 45 the ball came loose and Ragsdale’s Fred Davis scooped it up and returned it to the 7 yard line to set up another first and goal. Three plays netted minus three yards and Hicks was called on again, this time to kick a 27-yard field goal to cut the deficit to a point, at 10-9 at the half.

The second half was all High Point Central. After only picking up 28 yards on the ground on 11 carries in the first half, the Bison ran the ball effectively in the second half, picking up 121 yards on 23 carries. Quarterback Justin Johnson capped a 60-yard, seven-play drive early in the third quarter by going 13 yards up the middle for a touchdown to up the lead to 17-9. Later in the quarter the Bison began a 14-play, 82-yard drive that extended into the fourth quarter to put the game away. The touchdown came on a Justin Johnson to Juwan Foggie 23-yard pass as Foggie got behind the defense over the middle and Johnson hit him in stride for the score. Will Johnson wrapped up the scoring with his second field goal of the night, this one a 35-yarder to make the final score 27-9.

The Ragsdale offense sputtered all night, stymied by the stout Bison defense. Two touchdowns from the offense were wiped out by penalties and three times in the first half the Tigers had a first and goal and could not get into the end zone. Lucas Hicks was the offense for the night as he connected on three field goals to account for all of the Ragsdale points. After 167 yards in total offense in the first half, the Tigers were held to 64 yards after the intermission. They did not pick up a first down in the third quarter and only four first downs in the second half.

Ragsdale ended up with 134 yards on the ground, led by Marquez Eleazer who had 49 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Colson Herndon was 13 for 26 as he passed for 97 yards with one interception. Erik Romer was the leading receiver with five catches for 57 yards.

The defense played well enough but just spent too much time on the field, especially in the second half. They came up with four turnovers on three interceptions and a fumble recovery, and the special teams came up with another fumble recovery. Aaron Washington, Ivan Milliken and Bryan Flaskrud were responsible for the interceptions and Fred Davis got the fumble recovery.

Central was led by their quarterback, Justin Johnson, who gained 80 yards on 16 carries and a TD on the ground and threw for another 162 yards on 10 of 24 passing with a touchdown. Juwan Foggie had two catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Will Johnson had two field goals, including his second 52-yarder of the year as well as three extra points. Rubin Crosby led the defensive efforts with 17 tackles from his linebacker position.

After securing second place in the Piedmont Triad Conference, High Point was seeded second in the Midwest 4A Pod in the state playoffs and will face Mt. Tabor at home this week. Ragsdale got into the playoffs as a Wild Card with their fourth-place conference finish (only the top three teams are guaranteed an automatic berth) and were seeded sixth in the eight-team Midwest Pod. The Tigers will go on the road to face Davie County in Mocksville on Friday night. Davie County finished second in the Central Piedmont Conference. The War Eagles were 8-3 and were knocked off by undefeated North Davidson this past Friday by 34-24. In an ironic twist of the scheduling, if High Point Central and Ragsdale should both win in the first round, they would play each other again in the second round, with the Bison being the home team.

High Point Central 10 0 7 10 27
Ragsdale 3 6 0 0 9

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
HPC-Will Johnson 52 yard FG (10:40)
HPC-Tyler Wilson 44 yard interception return (W. Johnson kick) (3:47)
R-Lucas Hicks 24 yard FG (1:12)
Second Quarter
R-Hicks 34 yard FG (6:13)
R-Hicks 27 yard FG (1:48
Third Quarter
HPC-Justin Johnson 13 yard run (W. Johnson kick) (8:34)
Fourth Quarter
HPC-Juwan Foggie 23 yard pass from J. Johnson (W. Johnson kick) (10:13)
HPC-W. Johnson 35 yard FG (6:45)

First Downs 12R 13HPC
Rushing Yardage 134R 149HPC
Rushes 42R 34HPC
Passing Yardage 97R 162HPC
Pass Comp/Att.Int. 13/27/1R 10/24/3HPC
Punts/Avg. Yards 8/23.4R 4/32.0HPC
Fumbles/Lost 0/0R 3/2HPC
Penalties/Yards 11/80R 9/60HPC
Time of Possession 28:02R 19:58HPC

Piedmont Triad 4A
Conference Overall
East Forsyth 6-0 1.000 11-0
HP Central 5-1 .833 9-2
NW Guilford 4-2 .667 7-3
Ragsdale 3-3 .500 7-3
Glenn 2-4 .333 3-7
Parkland 1-5 .167 2-9
SW Guilford 0-6 .000 1-10

2012-Class MidWest Pod NCHSAA State Tournament
#1 North Davidson (10 – 0)
#8 Western Guilford (4-6)

#4 Dudley (6-4)
#5 Reagan (8-2)

#3 Davie County (8-2)
#6 Ragsdale (7-3)

#2 High Point Central (9-1)
#7 Mt. Tabor (5-5)
* Note: the team with the lower seed is the home team