Prep Football: Blue Comets, Cougars overwhelm foes in openers; Randleman tops Providence Grove

Randleman’s Tate Andrews plows into Providence Grove’s Connor Tozar during Friday night’s season opener. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

Asheboro and Southwestern Randolph posted shutout victories to open their respective football seasons and Randleman knocked of neighbor Providence Grove.

Those were among the highlights for area teams Friday night.

Asheboro 59, High Point Central 0: At Asheboro, Connor Brinton scored on three rushing plays as the host Blue Comets rolled.

The Blue Comets racked up their highest point total since a 2016 game. The first points came on Cole Trogdon’s fumble recovery in the end zone on the way to a 35-0 first-quarter lead.

Dallas Brinton threw a touchdown pass to William Sherrod. Other Asheboro touchdowns came on runs by DJ Scott, Jaydon Spriull ??? and Gavin Allen.

Southwestern Randolph 30, East Davidson 0: At Lexington, Brody Sheppard ran for two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to lead the visiting Cougars on offense on a night that coach Seth Baxter notched his 100th coaching victory in the sport.

Sheppard posted 154 rushing yards. Quarterback Levi Dalke threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown. His 60-yard pass to Devonte Dukes was one of the big plays.

East Davidson didn’t record a first-half first down.

Baxter is in his ninth season at Southwestern Randolph after eight years at Eastern Randolph.

Randleman 31, Providence Grove 14: At Randleman, John Kirkpatrick threw for three touchdowns and 274 yards as it was a successful debut for new Tigers coach David Diamont.

Kirkpatrick, who was 22 of 26 passing, connected twice with Tate Andrews and once with Landon Whitaker for the touchdowns. Jasai Cassidy ran for a touchdown.

Cody Moran was in his first game as Providence Grove’s coach

After Randleman built a 14-0 first-quarter lead, Jacob Flinchum ran 1 yard for a Providence Grove touchdown for a 14-7 halftime score. The Tigers went up 28-7 before the Patriots scored again. Andrew Thomas, who scored on a 62-yard gadget play, was the top rusher for Providence Grove with 82 yards on 10 carries.

South Davidson 21, Trinity 0: At Denton, it was a rough outing for first-year Trinity coach Mark Raynor.

The Wildcats notched their most points in 16 games. South Davidson was winless last year and had an 11-game losing streak overall.

East Rowan 20, Wheatmore 13: At Salisbury, the host Mustangs scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes, including the winning touchdown with 28 seconds left, to end a 21-game losing streak.

Nolan Strozier scored on a 2-yard run for the go-ahead touchdown.

After a scoreless first half, Wheatmore fell behind before scoring back-to-back touchdowns, first on Kenny Hoover’s TD reception and then on JuJu Banks’ recovery of a lateral, to build a 13-7 lead.

Jaxson Lyons scored the first two East Rowan touchdowns on runs of 17 and 8 yards.

Eastern Randolph 20, Southern Alamance 8: At Mt. Hermon, Kobe Walker scored two first-half touchdowns and the visiting Wildcats built a 20-point lead and won. (More coming on this game in a separate story.)