Class 3-AA -- E. Randolph 33, Eastern Wayne 0

Published in Sports on November 14, 2004 2:03 AM

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RAMSEUR -- The Eastern Randolph Wildcats completed step one in their mission to return to the championship game with a 33-0 blanking of the Eastern Wayne Warriors, in first-round Class 3-AA (large school) N.C. High School Athletic Association playoff action Friday night.

The Wildcats took control of the game early, forcing an early punt and getting a 39-yard return by Ricardo Garner, giving Eastern Randolph the ball on the Warrior 21-yard line. Six plays later, Riddle found Garner on a five-yard touchdown pass.

On Eastern Wayne's next possession, two penalties and a sack gave the Wildcats the ball on their own one-yard line. Neal McKinnon, who along with C.C. Caviness and Josh Moore seemed to be in on every tackle, came up with a safety to give the Wildcats a 9-0 lead.

Eastern Randolph used an eight-play, 59-yard drive that was accomplished all on the ground to go up by 16 points early in the second quarter. Michael Cheek capped the drive with a one-yard run.

The Wildcats, playing without star running back R.J. Lassiter, still piled up 205 yards rushing on the night.

Eastern Randolph missed on a couple of scoring chances in the second quarter. Riddle suffered through a rare off night, throwing an interception in the end zone to end one drive and tossing four straight incompletions on the Wildcats' final chance of the half.

Neither team was able to mount much offense in the third quarter. Eastern Randolph took advantage of an interception deep in Warriors territory by Freddie Blackmon to score their third touchdown of the night.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats defense held the Warriors to just 12 yards of total offense on the night, while forcing four turnovers.

Enjoying another short field, the Wildcats scored their final touchdown of the night, as Cheek scored his second of the game on an eight-yard run. Cheek finished the night with 101 yards rushing on 24 carries.

The Wildcats capped their scoring when Gideon Hunt connected on a 27-yard field goal with just under three minutes to play in the game.

The Warriors tried trick formations on their next drive in an effort to avert the shutout. They employed the swinging-gate formation, causing some confusion as to who had the ball. But they were unable to capitalize and were forced to punt for the sixth time in the game after two incompletions and a fumble.

"Eastern Randolph is just a super football team," said Eastern Wayne coach Jeff Price. "We saw it on film coming in. We gave it our best shot, and I couldn't be more proud of our players."

After a promising start, the Warriors ended their season on a four-game losing streak, in which they were outscored 96-8. Eastern Wayne ends the season at 4-7.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats advance to the second round of the playoffs, where they will host the winner of Southwest Randolph vs. Burlington Williams game, which was postponed until Saturday.

Eastern Wayne 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Eastern Randolph 9 7 7 10 -- 33

First quarter

ER -- Riddle 5 pass to Garner (Hunt kick), 6:54.

ER -- McKinnon tackled Turner in end zone for safety, 5:37.

Second quarter

ER -- Cheek 1 run (Hunt kick), 9:47.

Third quarter

ER -- Swain 1 run (Hunt kick), 3:27.

Fourth quarter

ER -- Cheek 8 run (Hunt kick), 9:59.

ER -- Hunt 27 FG, 2:55.

E. Wayne E. Randolph

First Downs 4 14

Rushes-yds. 30-(4) 43-205

Passing yards 16 65

Att.-Comp.-Int. 13-2-3 15-5-1

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2

Punts-avg. 6-23.5 2-40.5

Penalties-yds. 6-38 9-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Eastern Wayne -- Graham 5-11; Turner 9-18; Williams 3-(-6); Migette 2-(-4); Ham 4-(-30); Brofft 5-7; Austin 1-(-1); Blevins 1-1. Eastern Randolph --Cheek 24-101; Clapp 4-38; Swain 2-(-1); Bowman 10-56; Riddle 1-3; Bartell 2-8.

PASSING -- Eastern Wayne -- Williams 2-10-2 16; Ham 0-3-1 0. Eastern Randolph -- Riddle 5-15-1 65.

RECEIVING -- Eastern Wayne -- Jackson 1-6; Rouse 1-10. Eastern Randolph -- Garner 2-16; Strickland 1-20; Butler 1-22; Capp 1-7.