Hurricane Helene moved all of the Friday Night Football Games up to Thursday Night, with unorthodox start times likely impacting the amount of offense the county teams put on the field. Morehead kicked things off at 6:30 PM and there was a 6 PM start time for Rockingham’s home matchup. Overall, the county teams averaged just five points combined, as Rockingham was the only team to pick up a win while Reidsville took a bye week.
First, let’s get to the game at Cougar Pride Stadium. Rockingham looked to extend their three-year winning streak over the Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles and improve to 4-1 under Coach Doug Robertson, who is one of the top forty active coaches in the state for all-time wins. Their obstacles, however, would be an injury to running quarterback and best defensive back on the roster, Luke Strittmatter, as Parker Upchurch would take some snaps. The weather, as rain poured down in Wentworth and soaked the field, resulting in a slippery ball and a single-digit score. However, Coach Robertson told us before the game that he did not care if it was 3-0, he just wanted to put up another one in the win column.
They accomplished that goal with defense, defense, defense. Three times, with Ben L. Smith owning a first and goal, the Cougars manhandled Darius Chukwumeaka and the BLSHS offense, devouring them before they could get to the goal line and put up some points. It was 0-0 at halftime after an interception in the end zone by James Thomas, as the Rock decided to take it to half, where they would receive second-half kickoff. Thomas then came in for Parker Upchurch and took some direct snaps, emulating Strittmatter with his interceptions and run ability. However, when Rockingham was met with a 3rd and 16 on the fifty, Upchurch came back in. He had been quiet, but delivered when it mattered, stepping up in the pocket and firing it to Brady Ross, who tipped it to himself and ran into the end zone for a score!
One of the aforementioned goal line stands took place in the third quarter, and while the defense didn’t allow a point, the slippery ball fell out of a halfback’s hands during the exchange, as Smith would take it and return it five yards for a touchdown, tying things up at six apiece. In the fourth, Rockingham drove deep into Smith territory, with rain drenching the field, the band, the cheerleaders, and the players. As the clock winded down, the Cougars failed to put it in the end zone on a third-and-goal. They made the decision to let Jaxson Wray kick it, and he put it right through the uprights and over the crossbar by just a few inches to give them the lead! The black-and-white did what they always do, delivering on defense, to give them the hard-fought victory.
Morehead, on the other hand, was not so lucky, with the weather or the score. Coming off their first win in 700 days, they fell down early to the West Stokes Wildcats, 17-6, in the first half. After the King-based school put another seven on the board, the tornado siren went off at John Motley Morehead High School Stadium. Unfortunately, due to the tornado warning, the referees called the game, giving West Stokes the victory.
McMichael, returning to the road for the first time in three weeks after their two-game skid, went down to the Nifong-Crafford Stadium in Winston-Salem and got dropped, 59-0, their worst loss since 2019, when they had seven shutout losses of 48 points or more. Like Rockingham, McMichael entered today’s conference matchup with a three-year winning streak over their opponent, but now, that streak is over.
Looking around the league as we enter week seven, the Reidsville Rams will come back from their bye week in a cross-county matchup with the McMichael Phoenix. The Rams enter Friday’s game with a two-week bye, a whole lot more practice and chemistry with Kendre Harrison, and a 5-0 record. McMichael comes into this with an 0-2 conference record, still reeling from back-to-back shutouts to Morehead and North Forsyth, the latter of which was destroyed by Reidsville in Kendre’s return. Also, Morehead looks to pick up win number two in conference play in an away game with the Walkertown Wildcats.
The most anticipated matchup will be Eastern Guilford vs. Rockingham, as the Cougars look for their first 3-0 conference start since President Obama was still in his first term, the New York Giants were defending champions, and Jim Teague was in his first year back as head coach of Reidsville! The silver-and-black have a massive opportunity to kick things off right with three wins in conference play, which would be massive for Coach Robertson’s tenure.