Tomorrow, the playoffs are finally here. Three Rockingham County teams will try to keep their season going for at least seven more days as they take the field for the Round of 48, as the Reidsville Rams enjoy the fruits of their labor and receive a bye week into round two.
The 23-seed McMichael Fighting Phoenix, over on the West side of the 3A, will have their hands full. After a long trip from the border of Virginia to the border of South Carolina, they will arrive in Shelby to face the 10-seed Golden Lions. The winningest program in North Carolina football history boasts record-setting Lan Farmer, who is the first ever quarterback at Shelby to boast eight thousand pass yards and one hundred touchdowns. The 6’4, 220 QB will not be the only issue for the Phoenix, as Shelby has claimed twenty-six rush touchdowns this year. Defensively, they have 26 sacks, and McMichael has had trouble keeping quarterback Kai Tart protected this year. It would be an upset if the Phoenix could push their way into the second round, but they have a star-based offense that can make big plays and a defense that can provide big turnovers.
The Morehead Panthers find themselves in an incredible spot. The red-and-black, seeded 20th in the 4A East, gets the luxury of facing the Carver Yellow Jackets, a team in their conference that they are familiar with. While they did lose earlier this season to Carver, 28-0, that was a different Morehead team. Since then, Morehead has a better record than Carver, they have beaten more common opponents, and they have a surge of momentum, whereas Carver is coming off of a demoralizing loss to Bartlett Yancey. If 13-seed Carver, which is at home, gets the win, they would be that rare team that has figured out how to beat Coach Tony McCants twice in one year.
The Reidsville Rams can relax. They have seven days until their first game of the playoffs in the Round of 32, and it is a much-deserved rest after they went through the ringer with an exceptionally difficult schedule. They will await the result of 16 Jordan-Matthews and 17 Red Springs to determine their opponent for November 14th.
After just missing the playoffs as a .500 team last year, the Rockingham County Cougars get a home playoff game for the first time in two full graduating classes. Cougar Pride Stadium will be rocking for November football as the 15-seed on the 5A East takes on 18-seed Dixon. Dixon is hungry for a win as well, as they have never won a playoff game in program history. Their otherworldly running back, JJ Gulat, has wreaked havoc on every defense he’s faced. It has been 419 days since he put up less than one hundred rush yards in a game. So, as Andy Durham says, the gameplan for RCHS will be LTD: limit the damage. Shutting down a guy with 2700 rush yards and 33 rush touchdowns is impossible, but limiting the damage is not.
Around the rest of the Mid-State, Bartlett-Yancey heads to Wake Prep, Walkertown holds a bye week in the 3A West, and, as mentioned, Carver will be taking on Morehead in Winston-Salem. Here is where each team in the Mid-State stands as we head into tomorrow.
21 Bartlett Yancey (3A East) — at 12 Wake Prep Academy | winner faces 5 Martin County in the Round of 32
13 Carver (4A East) — vs. 20 Morehead | winner faces 4 Central Davidson in the Round of 32
23 McMichael (3A West) — at 10 Shelby | winner faces 7 East Rutherford in the Round of 32
20 Morehead (4A East) — at 13 Carver | winner faces 4 Central Davidson in the Round of 32
1 Reidsville (4A East) — bye week | faces winner of 17 Red Springs at 16 Jordan–Matthews in Round of 32
15 Rockingham County (5A East) — vs. 18 Dixon | winner faces 2 Northeast Guilford in the Round of 32
6 Walkertown (3A West) — bye week | faces winner of 22 Wheatmore at 11 West Wilkes in Round of 32
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post with the results from each of these playoffs games. At least three Mid-State teams will still be around, at least one will be eliminated, and there are basically no other certainties, as this is playoff football and that is the beauty of it.