Area teams take fresh starts into football season

The start of the high school football season is here this week, with three Randolph County teams embarking on new seasons with first-year coaches.

And the schedules look different for teams in the county, with conference realignment meaning a shuffling of slates compared to recent seasons.

Here’s a look at Friday night’s openers involving county teams:

Providence Grove at Randleman

Both teams have new coaches as these former conference rivals open the season. These are neighboring schools so familiarity runs high, while it’s also the lone intra-county matchup in Week 1.

Providence Grove’s Cody Moran, the school’s athletics director, has taken the coaching position as well.

Randleman will be guided by David Diamont, who arrived after three seasons as offensive coordinator at Burns. The Tigers were 9-3 last year following a 10-2 mark in 2023, so they’ll aim to keep the positive momentum.

Randleman has John Kirkpatrick, who’ll be in his third season as a starter, at quarterback.

Providence Grove’s 3-7 record last year marked the Patriots’ first losing record since 2017.

Providence Grove has won only one of the last nine meetings with Randleman, with that coming in the fall of 2021.

High Point Central at Asheboro

Calvin Brown begins his third season as Asheboro’s coach after arriving from Providence Grove.

The Blue Comets had a breakthrough of sorts last year with a 4-7 record. That victory total exceeded Asheboro’s count from the previous four seasons combined (when it won three times).

The teams met four times from 2011-14, with High Point Central winning each time.

Eastern Randolph at Southern Alamance

Eastern Randolph faces an Alamance County school to open the schedule for the fifth season in a row. The last four matchups came vs. Eastern Alamance.

Eastern Randolph coach Burton Cates, the winningest active high school football coach in the state, is from Alamance County. He’s a Graham resident.

This will be the first football game between bordering schools since 2019 and the third battle in a stretch of more than 15 years. This is the only Alamance County school on the Wildcats’ slate this year.

Southern Alamance has won the past two meetings (2019, 2012), though Cates was at Lee County for the 2012 get-together before returning a few years later to Eastern Randolph.

The Wildcats, who were 12-1 in 2024, have lost a total of two regular-season games in the past four seasons combined.

Southern Alamance will begin the season with a different coach for the third year in a row (plus there was an acting coach for the 2023 postseason). Alum Jonathan Hester is in charge after a promotion from an assistant coach overseeing linemen.

Southwestern Randolph at East Davidson

It’s the first meeting between the schools in 15 years.

Southwestern Randolph, under coach Seth Baxter, was 6-5 last year for its third consecutive six-win season.

East Davidson was 2-8 a year ago, with both victories at home.

Trinity at South Davidson

Mark Raynor is Trinity’s new coach and there could be rebuilding necessary. The Bulldogs haven’t finished with a winning record since 2017.

Trinity last won an opener in 2022.

South Davison and Trinity last met in 2018, with the Bulldogs rolling 53-0 in a season opener.

Wheatmore at East Rowan

Wheatmore managed one victory in coach Jacob Sheffield’s first season. The Warriors last had a winning mark in 2018.

Yet East Rowan has had back-to-back winless seasons following a pair of one-win marks.

This is a first-time football matchup between the schools.