Randleman quarterback John Kirkpatrick looks to throw downfield against Bunker Hill on Friday night. (Jann Ortiz / For Randolph Record)
RANDLEMAN – Randleman’s football team put on an impressive aerial show Friday night before the need to regroup against Bunker Hill.
The Tigers mastered that as well in pulling out a 35-21 non-conference home victory in a matchup between teams that might be Class 2A state contenders.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” Randleman quarterback John Kirkpatrick said. “I’m just glad my guys could come out here and execute the way they could. I’m just thankful for the guys I’m playing with because they do it for me.”
Kirkpatrick threw three first-half touchdown passes to Tyshaun Goldston and then ran for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers (3-0) had to withstand the individual efforts from Bunker Hill’s Jaylan Willis, who returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown in the waning seconds of the first half, bolted 87 yards on a touchdown spring in the third quarter and ran back an interception 22 yards to the end zone to help the Bears even the score at 21-21.
“A lot going on,” Kirkpatrick said. “Everybody started getting down, but we have a lot of leadership in this team. It’s a young team, but a lot of leadership. It went a long ways.”
Randleman’s response included a couple of Kirkpatrick-to-Goldson passes for first downs on a drive that ended with Kirpatrick picking up a low snap and running 2 yards for a touchdown on a broken play.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Goldston said. “We didn’t want to lose.”
The Tigers then held on defense and that led to another key sequence. With Bunker Hill in punt formation, a wayward snap resulted in Randleman lineman Brandon Boone scooping the ball and running about 16 yards for the game’s final touchdown.
The early highlights were the Kirkpatrick-to-Goldston connections.
The first touchdown came on the second quarter’s second play when Goldston leaped to snatch the ball away from Bunker Hill’s Jason Willis Jr. on a 42-yard play.
“That’s what I like to do,” Goldston said, using the reach on his 6-foot-4 frame.
Payton Patterson’s fumble recovery got the ball back for the Tigers at the Bunker Hill 37. Kirkpatrick fired a pass to Goldston, who was in the back of the end zone, for a 32-yard touchdown.
Patterson’s interception set up the next Tigers’ touchdown. Again, Goldston broke free in the end zone and Kirkpatrick found him with a 19-yard pass.
“That’s my guy. He was my guy last year,” Kirkpatrick said. “I know if I’m in trouble, I know who I’m looking for. I’m sure everyone in the stadium knows who I’m looking for, but it still works. I’m going to keep going there.”
Goldston’s nine catches resulted in 174 yards in what seemed like a reel of highlights.
“I just go make a play,” said Goldston, who has recorded three touchdowns in all three games this year.
Kirkpatrick completed 19 of 30 throws for 275 yards, though he was intercepted twice. The second of those allowed the Bears to tie the game, so he was pleased with how the Tigers rallied around him.
“I had my guys pump me up and not let me get down on myself,” Kirkpatrick said. “That’s a big part of it, the mental side.”
Bunker Hill (2-1) had a 14-game regular-season winning streak end. The Bears went unbeaten last year until losing in the fourth round of the Class 2A state playoffs at Reidsville, which was the eventual state champion.
So for Randleman, this matchup was billed as an early showdown.
“It feels amazing,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’ve been looking at Bunker Hill on our schedule. As soon as we saw them on our schedule, everybody circled that game. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but we knew we were ready for it.”
