The third round of the 4A Playoffs have arrived, and the Reidsville Rams are still around.
Standing in between the Rams and a spot in the fourth round are the Eastern Wayne Warriors, a team that fell short in round three last season.
Izeiah Oates is the quarterback for Eastern Wayne, with 2025 pass yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, and only a 55.3% completion percentage. Oates’ favorite target, fellow senior Jeremiah Faison, has 11 receiving touchdowns and 948 receiving yards. Oates leads the pack in the rush game with over 800 yards on the ground, while the team is less than fifty yards shy of a collective 2000-yard season.
Eastern Wayne’s defense has given up less than eighteen points per game, while boasting 36 sacks and 13 fumble recoveries. They have only intercepted six passes, but it is hard for a quarterback to get the ball in the air while being sacked.
Their path to the final sixteen included a first round win over the 24-seeded Anson Bearcats in a 21-14 ballgame. In the round of 32, they molly whopped Southwestern Randolph, a 7-3 8-seed, on Southwestern Randolph’s home field. The final score was 49-0.
Reidsville’s quarterback situation is unique. Sophomore Braxton Johnson has done well, putting up 1453 air yards on a 65.2% completion rate, with 23 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions. Since the beginning of the season, Dionte Neal has been used at the QB position very often, throwing the ball forty times but more often being used in scrambles or QB draws. And Tyson Broadway, a newcomer to the Rams offense, has done exceptional as a backup, with 7 pass touchdowns and no interceptions.
Kendre Harrison, Oregon-committed tight end, will obviously be a problem for Eastern Wayne. He averages nearly 16 YPR with his 781 air yards, and has scored 17 receiving touchdowns. The aforementioned Dionte Neal is close behind with 773 receiving yards, 17.2 yards per catch, and 11 receiving touchdowns. Frankie Galloway and Demarion Whitted will get some work as well, with both scoring multiple touchdowns and putting up triple-digit receiving yards thus far.
Rush-wise, Keyshawn Henry and Michael Smith are the rushers with over thirty carries. Henry has 461 rush yards, 5.8 yards per carry, and 3 rush touchdowns. Smith has earned 403 yards for 6 per carry, and has also punched in 6 touchdowns. And their longest rush is not more than 30, which means that they are consistent and their average YPC is not being pumped up by a couple of big runs. Consistency means reliability And they’re not the only rushers. Fifteen other rush touchdowns have been scored by Reidsville players not named Keyshawn Henry or Michael Smith.
Defensively, Reidsville has given up a grand total of 12 points since October, all of which came in a game where they clobbered McMichael by 57. I think that’s enough defensive data to show what they’re capable of.
Reidsville is coming off of their first playoff game in 2025 against Red Springs. The Rams made quick work of Red Springs, going up 24-0 in the first quarter after another impressive performance from UNCG basketball commit Dionte Neal. In the third quarter, they tacked on twenty more to finish things up, 44-0. The statistics from that game are not necessarily reflective of what would happen tomorrow night, as Reidsville mixed things up due to the huge early advantage.
While this game is taking place, 4-seed Central Davidson takes on 12-seed North Pitt in Lexington to determine who faces the winner of this battle in the Football Capital of NC.
Tomorrow evening, we will have an answer as to whether Reidsville’s quest for state championship number twenty-four survives, as Eastern Wayne looks to play the spoiler and move on to the state quarterfinals.