Grimsley was highly tested tonight/Friday by the Southeast Guilford Falcons…Northern Guilford survived vs. Marvin Ridge, and the Dudley Panthers rolled past the Asheville Reynolds Rockets…So the Whirlies, Nighthawks, and Panthers are on to the Third Round of the NCHSAA Playoffs, but as for the Southeast Guilford Falcons, and the Northwest Guilford Vikkings, they both saw the curtain come down, and it was their final game of 2024…
Grimsley, Dudley, and Northern Guilford still moving on, and we now take a look at who the Whirlies, Panthers, and Nightahwks face next…
On Friday November 22 we have:
4-A West
Charlotte Catholic(9-2) at Grimsley(12-0)
Northern Guilford(11-1) at Weddington(11-0)
3-A West
Dudley(12-0) at JM Robinson(12-0)
More on the way….Grimsley wins over Southeast Guilford, 58-21, and SEG had this game tied up at 21-21 in the first half…Northern Guilford gets past Marvin Ridge, 28-24…Dudley wore down Asheville Reynolds, 42-0…
Going to be some real battles coming in up in Round Three next Friday night…In Round Two, it was Charlotte Catholic over Palisades, 31-7, and the #8 seeded Catholic Cougars will be at Jamieson Stadium, to face the #1 seed Grimsley Whirlies next Friday night…#10 Northern goes down to meet #2 seed Weddington(Defending 4-A State Champions), and the Weddington Warriors worked over Sun Valley in Round Two, 35-12…
In the 3-A West where we are looking for the best, two teams trying surpass the rest, are the #5 seed Dudley Panthers(12-0), going down to Concord, to meet the #4 seeded JM Robinson Bulldogs(12-0)…Big Battle Brewing here, because last year Robinson came to Dudley, and fell hard to the Panthers in what I think was Round Three…So the same two teams will get together again this year in the Third Round, and this time the scence moves to Concord…Dudley topped JM Robinson last year in Round Three, 50-28, at Dudley, on the Friday before Thanksgiving…
More on the way…
Last year, in 2023, Grimsley won in the Third Round of the playoffs over the Hough Huskies, 42-35, and then the Whirlies lost at the Weddington Warriors place in the Fourth Rond, 44-27…Also one year ago, in 2023, Dudley won at home over JM Robinson in that Third Round meeting at ‘The Tarp’/Tarpley Stadium, and then the Panthers hit the road to Boiling Springs on Thanksgiving Weekend, and knocked off Crest, 46-34…Then for Dudley it was on to Hickory the next week, where the Dudley Panthers were stopped by the Hickory Red Tornadoes, 42-41, in what was the 3-A West Regional Championship Game/Round Five…
Northern Guilford was home watching The Flintstones last season during the playoffs, and it had to be on ME TV, because I think the Cartoon Network stopped carrying Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty/The Flintstones…But any how, this year the Northern Guilford Nighthawks are going to Round Three of the NCHSAA 4-A West Playoffs, and the ‘Hawks get to “Walk the Walk”, and “Do the Talk”, because this time is now theirs and they have earned it…NG all the way on to Round Three, and take it from me, it’s not easy getting there, without your starting QB, but NG has done it, and they are doing to the tune of a (2-0) playoff record, to go along with their (11-1) regular season mark…
Western Guilford vs. Grimsley from the Metro 4-A Conference in Round One, Southeast Guilford vs. Grimsley from the Metro 4-A Conference in Round Two, and can you say Northern Guilford vs. Grimsley from the Metro, in the West Regional Final??? Why not, stranger things have happened…Remember back when OJ Simpson was runnng through airports, and then later on he was running down the highway in a Ford Bronco, trying to elude the police??? You might see anything out there, as these playoffs progress forward…..
From Friday night at the Dudley-AC Reynolds of Asheville game, at Dudley’s Tarpley Stadium….
Scoring Summary:
10:13 First Quarter Dudley blocks a AC Reynolds punt and Gerald Williamson scoops it up/picks it up/recovers the Fumble and he runs it in 14 yards for the Dudley Panther touchdown…Was checking and hearing that Darion Coleman blocked the punt…Huge Special Teams play by the Dudley Panthers…PAT Kick by Andre Cummings was Good…Dudley 7, ACR 0…:21 Seconds left in the First Quarter Dudley gets a 7-yard TD run from Kordell Bartley…Cummings PAT Kick was Good…Dudley 14, ACR 0
End of First Quarter:Dudley 14, AC Reynolds 0
6:52 Second Quarter Dudley’s Nasir Newkirk with a 26-yard TD reception from Brayden Jeffries…PAT Kick by Cummings was blocked…Dudley 20, ACR 0
1:57 Second Quarter Newkirk hauls in a 3-yard TD pass from Jeffries…Two-Point Conversion pass was good from Jeffries to Antonio Lee…Dudley 28, ACR 0
Halftime:Dudley 28, AC Reynolds 0
1:32 Third Quarter Dudley’s Bartley takes off for a 10-yard TD run…Cummings PAT kick was Good…Dudley 28, ACR 0
End of Third Quarter:Dudley 35, AC Reynolds 0
9:14 Fourth Quarter Bartley with a 31-yard TD pass from Jeffries and Cummings PAT kick was Good again…Dudley 42, ACR 0…
Final Score:Dudley 42, AC Reynolds 0
Players of the Game:
Kordell Bartley
Nasir Newkirk
Brayden Jeffries
Play of the Game:
Score off of the Blocked Punt by Gearld Williamson…Happened just 1:47 into the game, and this play set the tone for the entire game…It put the Dudley attack on the Defensive Side of things and the Dudley Panthers Defense played lights out all night long, and that is what they have done all season long…
Shoutouts and running clocks have been the calling card for the Dudley Panthers Defense this season of 2024…The AC Reynolds punter/kicker Rossi Santelia is a very good one, but he got sort of gun-shy after Dudley blocked his first punt of the night, and turned it into a Touchdown…
Santelia had trouble getting the snaps cleanly in his hands on this punts, and that caused him get the one blocked, he muffed another punt, plus he just flat-out dropped the snap and had to pick up the ball and try to get his punts away cleanly at least three times in the game, and much of his disorientation was due to the pressure that the Dudley defense brings…
You look up and you see guys like Andrew Rogers and Jalile Elliot coming at you from the oustside and then here comes bigs Jordyn Ratliff and Dakotoa Brown in your face, plus Robert McCollum and Adae Motley are chasing you down from behind and that can get you all shook up…
Dudley applies the pressure the way it supposed to be applied, and that is in Large Doses…Don’t let the opposing Quarterback get settled down, back there in that pocket…Shoot for the Rocket in the Pocket, and come get him…Put up a “Stone Wall” that no team can run through…
Dudley playing well, with again special mention to their stalwart defensive efforts this season, and they pretty much Rule the Roost inside the Tarpley Stadium, on what we now call, “Steven Davis Field, at James B. Dudley High School”…..
Five State Titles and working on #6 in 2024, you have to give up to the Dudley Panthers leader, Coach Steven Davis…Go ahead and give it for the “Steven Davis Field at James B. Dudley High School”…Why not, the Time Has COME…
The Dudley Defense was creating turnovers, but on offense, Dudley will be working to clean up the two lost Fumbles that bit their offense in the Third Quarter…
These Dudley numbers from our broadcast partner, Coach Randy Norris…
LJ Southern with 50 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving…Rayshawn Wilson with 62 yards rushing…Kordell Bartley with 43 yards rushing and 74 yards receiving…117 Total Yards for Bartley…Nasir Newkirk with 67 receivig yards…Jaquez Crawford passing for 110 yards…Brayden Jeffries throwing for 69 yards and running for 22 yards…
Dudley Defense…Adae Motley with 6 Tackles…Andrew Rogers with 5 Tackles..Robert McCollum with 4 Tackles…Jeremiah/Dre Deese with 3 Tackles…Jordyn Ratliff with 3 Tackles…Jalile Elliot with 3 Tackles…Dakota Brown with 2 Tackles…Jah-zear Watson 2 Tackles…Kordell Bartley 1 Tackle…Jerron Blackwell 1 Tackle…