Rockingham County high school football’s second week is over.
The Rockingham County Cougars played home to the Morehead Panthers on a Thursday night in Wentworth. They were trying to get their second straight county rivalry win.
Then, on Friday, the Reidsville Rams played the Page Pirates at Marion Kirby Stadium, while the McMichael Phoenix played their first away game of the season against the For bush Falcons all the way down in Yadkin County.
The game between Morehead and Rockingham on Thursday night was defensive and fun to watch. Daquay Matthews with a kickoff return score, which put Morehead ahead with an 80-yard touchdown run.
That was the only offensive play the red-and-black would make all night, which was bad news for Panthers fans. Luke Strittmatter scored a touchdown on fourth down from three yards out with his legs.
He also scored another touchdown on the ground in the second half. Rockingham came up with a last-ditch catch with a 13–7 lead to end the game!
If you thought Morehead’s score in fifteen seconds was amazing, Reidsville Rams junior Frankie Galloway beat it with a 95-yard return in fourteen seconds! At the start of the game, the Rams were ahead 12-0.
The two teams then played ping pong. First Page scored seven points, then Reidsville did, then Page, then Reidsville did, and then Page did. Reidsville had a 26–21 lead going into the fourth quarter. They needed to score more points, but they also had to stop that ping-pong ball from going backwards.
In fact, they did that, got an ace, and made Page kick. Then they scored again, giving them a 39–21 lead and moving the ball three times. Extra points were added when Page missed his snap and the ball went into the back of the end zone. For the twelfth time in thirteen years, the Rams are 2-0 after beating the Patriots 41–21.
The McMichael Fighting Phoenix was down 7-0 after driving fifty miles to For bush. One half went by with no changes to the score. The blue team’s attack start was slow. Because of this, the defense chose to do something about it. They scored six points with a fumble return touchdown.
For bush returned the favor with their own goal, but they failed to score two points. When McMichael was down 6–13, their offense came back to life and scored a six-pointer and a two-point conversion, giving them the lead! McMichael had to hold on to their one-point lead with a quarter left to play.
There were seven minutes left, though, and For bush scored eight points. Mayodan’s team then didn’t score again. It was their second loss of the season, 21–14.
These two teams have a 0-2 record to begin the season. Reidsville and Rockingham, on the other hand, have a 2-0 record for the second year in a row.
Next week, in Rockingham County, it will be the fight of the unbeaten. The Cougars will try to go into Reidsville’s house and keep their perfect record. Rockingham Coach Doug Robertson is going back to his old school, where he won a state title as a head coach and four state titles as a staff member.
It will be interesting to see how he does as he tries to keep his perfect record with the black-and-silver. Also, John Motley Morehead will play the Northeast Guilford Rams and try to end their 693-day winless run.
Hopefully, they can do that before it goes over 700 days. Lastly, McMichael goes to South Stokes, a place they beat 29–6 the previous year. Head Coach Steve Tapley is looking for his first win as a head coach.
With kick return touchdowns to start two games, this week was a fun one for football. In high school football, something unexpected always happens. I can’t wait to write about whatever crazy thing happens in our first week of September football.