Defenses for Randleman and Eastern Randolph were in good form and Asheboro’s offense put up the most points of any Randolph County team in the first week of the high school football season.
There were a couple of coaches in their first games with Randolph County teams, with a win and a loss in those outcomes.
Friday night’s openers provided an array of outcomes and storylines.
Here’s a look.:
Asheboro 38, Albemarle 14: At Albemarle, DJ Scott gained 226 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns as the visiting Blue Comets won their opener for the second year in a row.
Last year, they never won again.
But for the opening night it was smooth at times. Quincey Lee picked up 93 rushing yards and also posted two touchdowns.
Aiden Robinson caught a touchdown pass from Logan Laughlin. Micah Garcia kicked a 31-yard field goal.
Providence Grove 33, East Davidson 14: At Climax, Providence Grove scored a couple of touchdowns on defense and won just a few weeks after a coaching change.
Mark Heilig took over the program as interim coach following David Hayes’ departure after preseason practices began earlier this month.
Holden Swift and Jameson Summey returned interceptions for touchdowns for the Patriots. Jackson Lawver threw touchdown passes to Jacob Flinchum and Jackson Rhyne. Brady Collins ran for a touchdown.
Randleman 28: Thomasville 0: At Thomasville, John Kirkpatrick had scoring passes of 10, 14 and 45 yards in the visiting Tigers’ victory.
The outcome spoiled the debut of Thomasville coach Bradley George.
Thomasville advanced into the Randleman 5-yard line in the fourth quarter, but a fumble thwarted that scoring chance.
Eastern Randolph 29, Eastern Alamance 0: At Mebane, the visiting Wildcats spoiled the head coaching debut for Mitch Mitchener at Eastern Alamance.
Eastern Randolph led 14-0 at halftime and scored a third-quarter touchdown before adding a safety and another touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles won openers against Eastern Randolph the two previous seasons, marking the only regular-season defeats for the Wildcats in those years.
West Davidson 27, Wheatmore 20: At Trinity, the host Warriors fell in the first game under new coach Jacob Sheffield.
West Davidson scored the only points in the fourth quarter and snapped a 16-game losing streak that included last year’s 33-7 opening loss to the Warriors.
The Dragons led 20-12 at halftime before Wheatmore pulled even in the third quarter. Aaron Journigan’s short touchdown run with slightly more than three minutes left gave West Davidson the winning points.
Wheatmore’s Johnathan Kelly ran for two touchdowns, including one for 71 yards, and gained 134 rushing yards. Danny Craig also rushed for a touchdown.
Starmount 43, Trinity 0: At Trinity, the Bulldogs lost to Starmount for the second year in a row. Trinity failed to mount sustained offense.
Jymire Billips scored three rushing touchdowns and Luke Collins ran for two more touchdowns for Starmount, which led 23-0 at halftime. The Bulldogs failed to cash in on either of Collins’ two interceptions.
Western Guilford 29, Southwestern Randolph 0: At Asheboro, the host Cougars lacked in production on offense. Western Guilford pulled away after holding a 6-0 halftime lead.
