Mount Airy players cling to Eastern Randolph’s Ervodd Cassady during the Class 1-A West Regional semifinal in November. Mount Airy went on to win the state championship. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The coaching change at Asheboro isn’t the only change atop a football program in the Mid-Piedmont Conference.
Calvin Brown is leaving Providence Grove to be Asheboro’s new coach, replacing Blake Brewer.
Oak Grove has lost coach Mark Holcomb, who has taken the job at Bishop McGuinness. Holcomb, a former coach at North Davidson, had been at Oak Grove for all six seasons that the program existed.
Oak Grove was 11-1 this year. Beginning with the first varsity season in 2018, the Grizzlies have had records of 5-6, 10-2, 6-3 and 7-3.
Season to savor
An Asheboro man coached a 13-win team this year.
Andrew Carrouth was in his fourth season as North Moore’s coach. His team won the Mid-Carolina Conference title in a league comprised of Class 2-A and Class 1-A teams.
The Mustangs didn’t lose this year until a 27-7 setback to Rosewood in the fourth round of the Class 1-A state playoffs. They finished with a 13-1 record.
Carrouth, 37, spent one season on the Asheboro coaching staff in between head coaching assignments at Southern Alamance, which is his alma mater, and North Moore.
Tough losses
A couple of Randolph County teams lost in the state playoffs this year against teams that went on to play for state championships.
Eastern Randolph’s fourth-round loss by 35-17 to Mount Airy in Class 1-A marked the closest result for Mount Airy in the postseason other than the Granite Bears’ 20-7 victory against Tarboro in the final.
Providence Grove lost in the second round to Reidsville, which went on to finish as the state runner-up in Class 2-A.
