Ramey’s Rockingham County Review Ready with Reidsville Rams making Front Page News, topping Page Pirates, 31-17
The Reidsville Rams are on a Roll, and get ready to read now, courtesy of Jason “Jay” Ramey, Jr. with GreensboroSports.com and delivering outstanding work from up in The ROCK, for GreensboroSports.com
On Friday night, the Reidsville Rams avenged their lone regular season loss since 2019, defeating the Page Pirates, 31-17. Doug Robertson, former Reidsville player and head coach, was on the opposing sideline to captain the ship of the Pirates, but his inside knowledge of the Rams wasn’t enough to seize the victory.
The Rams started off the game right from an offensive perspective. Page often drove it deep into their territory, just to come up short. The defense of Reidsville helped them keep Page at bay for most of the game, despite a brief scare in the third quarter.
Page wasn’t too interested in the aerial game. They only completed seven passes, and were much more run-heavy. The ball was handed off to Maurice Andrews a total of thirty times, and he finished the game with one hundred eighty-three yards. For the major portion of the game, they were down by double digits, aside from a big moment in the third quarter when they returned a fumble for a touchdown. However, Reidsville didn’t allow it to be a one-possession game for long, answering back and controlling the rest of the game.
In the first quarter, Reidsville was in a little bit of trouble after a big connection between Amonti Peguese and the quarterback on the second play of the first drive. However, Cam’ron Jones and Bryson Miller’s defense forced the Pirates to turn it over on downs. Jones showed he could do it on offense, too, when he had thirty-nine yards on the first play. Kendre Harrison followed it up by showing off his yards after contact ability, grabbing thirty-four en route to bringing it inside the one. Paul Widerman then finished the job untouched, and Johnniyus Sharpe passed it to Markez Horne to complete a two-point conversion. 8-0, Reidsville. On defense, Kori Rhodes kept a touchdown off the board with a pass breakup, and Page would settle for a field goal from Santiago Garcia, making it 8-3. Once again, Cam Jones would kick off the drive with a big catch, Kendre Harrison would get the yards in between, and Widerman would get a receiving touchdown. The extra point was good, and it was now 15-3.
In the second quarter, on a fourth-and-seven, Al Lee made a clutch pass to Harrison for twenty-three yards. This set up a beautifully thrown dart right into the hands of Cam Jones for the touchdown. Johnniyus Sharpe then tacked on two more by running in the conversion. The defense of Frankie Galloway and Kendre Harrison kept the score in check as time in the half winded down, but a quick three-and-out put the ball back in the hands of Page. Kasai Poindexter returned it to the twenty-seven with ten seconds remaining, but a missed field goal by Garcia prevented them from slicing up the lead at all.
In quarter number three, running back Maurice Andrews was powering through the Reidsville defense time after time, and not a single pass needed to be thrown for Page to get inside the ten. However, right when he had made it to a first and goal, he fumbled, and Bryson Miller recovered it! However, they punted it away once again, and this time, Andrews would get a touchdown. Reidsville was still ahead, 23-10, but things soon got much worse. A fumble was forced, and Christian Brown of the Pirates would return it for the huge touchdown! It was now 23-17, a one-possession game!
In the final quarter of the game, and momentum on Page’s side, Reidsville kept their cool. On their first drive, following a dangerous jump ball between Kashmir Jarrett and Cam Jones that neither came down with, Lee handed it off to Widerman. Widerman did what he had done the whole game, and busted through a gap for the touchdown! Johnniyus Sharpe then faked an extra point and put his head down, giving Reidsville the full two touchdown advantage. Reidsville had extended the lead to 31-17, and recreated the breathing room they desperately needed. It was now a must-score possession for Page. On a snap, Bryson Blocksdale of the Rams swiped at the ball, causing the QB to bobble it in his arms, and Blocksdale would follow him back for the sack, a negative of eight yards! Page wouldn’t get the ball back until there were three-and-a-half minutes to play, and Aidan Mansfield would make an interception! However, it was called back due to a facemask, and the Pirates got fifteen yards because of it. However, the Reidsville defense stood tall, and they would eventually force a turnover on downs once again. They then kneeled it out to finish the job, procuring their second win of the season.
Paul Widerman did well both rushing and receiving. He ran for sixty-nine yards and a rushing touchdown, and had thirty-eight receiving yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns. Overall, he had one hundred seven net yards, and a hat trick of touchdowns. Also a piece of the one hundred club were Kendre Harrison and Cam’ron Jones. Harrison had six catches for one hundred sixteen yards, an average of nineteen yards per catch, and Jones had six catches for one hundred eleven yards, an average of eighteen-and-a-half yards per catch. Jones also caught a touchdown pass. Widerman, Harrison, and Jones were also massive presences on defense, along with Aidan Mansfield, who had six tackles and a pass breakup, and Bryson Miller, who had five tackles and a fumble recovery.
Around the Rock, the Rockingham Cougars held off the Morehead Panthers, 22-20, to improve to 2-0. A missed two-point conversion in the final two minutes allowed the Cougars to hold on. Also, the McMichael Phoenix took down the Forbush Falcons, 44-28. Next week, McMichael and South Stokes will battle it out in Madison, while the Morehead Panthers will travel to McLeansville for a game with Northeast Guilford.
In a huge game next week, the two undefeated teams in Rockingham will try to improve to three wins when the Rockingham Cougars and the Reidsville Rams go head-to-head on Thursday night. Those stands will undoubtedly be packed for the massive county rivalry game.