Friday Night Finish:Much Improved Page Pirates battle a different-look Dudley Panthers team/Grimsley, East Forsyth, Northern Guilford and SMITH roll….

At Tarpley Stadium for Page at Dudley on Friday night, and this game had a lot to it….You had the Lightning Delay to begin the game, Dudley was missing Coach Steven Davis and their senior quarterback Jahmier, Slade…You also had a Lights Delay, that lasted about 30-45 minutes, and that is when all of the field lights went out at Tarpley Stadium…You could describe it as, “That’s the Night the Lights Went Out at Tarpley…

Dudley defeated the Page Pirates 18-7, when all was said and done..Dudley get pretty good productivity out of their freshman QB Domaine Vann in the first half, and then Dudley turned to sophomore Savoi Edwards at QB, in the second half, and Edwards did some solid work for the Panthers…Dudley’s top running back on the night was Michael Shaw…Shaw ran for a 69-yard touchdown early in the game, and he kept his feet moving all night long in the Dudley backfield…Dudley got two TD passes from the freshman Vann, one for 36 yards to Mehki Wall who caught a tight ball, in a tight window, in the left corner of the end zone…Vann’s other TD pass was 31 yards to Dudley RB/Slot man R.J. Baker, and Dudley was 0-3 on two-point conversion attempts, and the Panthers were missing their kicker, Adoul Bayor…

Both Page and Dudley had two very solid freshman receivers in the Panthers’ Nasir Newkirk, and the Pirates’ Jerron Blackwell…The freshman, Blackwell, is starting on offense and defense for Page, while Newkirk caught a 60-yard TD pass from Dudley QB Edwards, but the play was called back due a ineligible Dudley receiver down field…Dudley has a pretty strong corp of receivers this season, and so does Page with Devontay Deloatch and Grady Sherrill at wideout, along with Blackwell…Another Page player/sophomore to watch out for is the Pirates’ Tate Robertson…We hear Tate’s dad is a pretty good coach…

Dudley was missing part of their heart and soul on Friday night, with both their coach(Steven Davis), and their top QB, senior Slade both absent…Dudley got an good effort in their secondary from Steven Davis II(Deuce), who picked off one Page pass, and from Elvis Berry and from Shawn Seagraves….

But the bottom line is, Page is a much improved football team…Page forced several Dudley punts on Friday night, and you don’t see that, all that often…Page defense was playing together, and for both Dudley and Page, it was hard for the teams to create any long-lasting momentum or rhythm, because of all of the penalties…Dudley was flagged 17 times for 155 yards, and Page was penalized 10 times, for 85 yards…A total of 240 penalty yards between the two teams…

Dudley led early 6-0, then Page moved on top, 7-6…Dudley roared right back to move in front, 12-7, and then with 9 seconds on the first half clock, and time running down, Dudley scored to take their 18-7 halftime lead, and that is how the game ended, Dudley over a much-improved Page football team, 18-7…

Grimsley got rolling, winning out over Clayton, 56-0…From what learned courtesy of Joe Sirera, from the News and Record, Alonza Barnett III, had seven Touchdown Passes for Grimsley on Friday night, at Jamieson Stadium….East Forsyth thumped Northwest Guilford 48-7, and did East’ Andrew Conrad miss an extra point kick??? He hardly ever misses PAT kicks, or field goals..The Aaron Beal defense at East Forsyth, is like a Steel Curtain again…

Northern Guilford pushed past Eastern Guilford, 35-7, and then you have what might be the score of the night for all of those that call the Smith Golden Eagles their team…Smith buried High Point Andrews, 32-0…That’s right Smith goes from a team that gave up 88 points early last Spring, to a team that springs for 32 big points, and they end up giving up Nada/nothing….Smith is now on a early season run/roll…

More on these teams and others tomorrow/Saturday, and let’s hope Week One went good for you….