Reidsville out in a shocker; 5 Takeaways from this week's North Carolina high school football playoffs

J.H. Rose does it again; Hough romps; Cleveland recovers and North Brunswick advances

East Rutherford running back Brandon Pinkerton rushed for 222 yards in two touchdowns in helping the Cavaliers knocking Reidsville, 27-26, in the NCHSAA state playoffs. / Brandon Pinkerton Instagram

Some major upsets highlighted the second round of the North Carolina high school state playoffs.

Reidsville, the defending 2-A state champion, was ousted in a shocker. J.H. Rose, which entered the playoffs with a 2-8 record, pulled off its second straight upset.

Those two events head up our 5 Takeaways for the second round. Here they are:

East Rutherford stuns Reidsville

Probably no one expected to see undefeated Reidsville trailing 21-0 in the second half to three-loss East Rutherford. But there it was. Reidsville mounted a furious comeback, aided by two big turnovers, only for East Rutherford to prevail at the end, 27-26.

The Cavaliers won using smash-mouth football. They amassed 355 yards rushing and threw only one pass, completing it for 17 yards. Leading the way was 6-foot, 160-pound junior running back Brandon Pinkerton, who had 222 yards and 2 touchdowns on 38 carries. Pinkerton now has nearly 1,900 yards for the season. Blake McClellan added 113 yards on 20 carries.

East Rutherford decided that five-star tight end Kendre Harrison wasn’t going to beat them, so they blanketed him with coverage. Quarterback Dionte Neal was 9-of-17 for 95 yards with 2 interceptions. The junior two-way star did manage 124 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Harrison got Reidsville’s first touchdown on a 2-yard run after taking a direct snap. The Rams also got a touchdown. Neal stripped the ball from Pinkerton and raced 39 yards for a touchdown to cut East Rutherford’s lead to 21-14.

The Rams got to within one when Trey Slade returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown with 1:37 left in the third quarter.

Bryson Miller’s 2-yard touchdown run gave Reidsville the lead with 5:56 left.

But Zailen Watkins scored on a 12-yard run with 2:26 remaining to put East Rutherford back in the lead and the Cavaliers picked off Neal to seal the deal.

Rose does it again, knocking off Northern Nash

A 4-8 record would almost be universally considered subpar. But not when that team is in the third round of the state playoffs.

J.H. Rose, a week after shocking No. 2 seed Northern Nash, the Rampants toppled Southern Nash 28-16. Southern Nash came into the game with a 9-2 record.

It was no fluke. The Rampants led 28-8 before Southern Nash made it closer at the end. 

Up next for the Rampants, is No. 6 seed Southern School of Energy and Sustainability.

Hough wallops Independence in battle of Charlotte powers

A battle of Charlotte-area heavyweights was no contest as Hough walloped Independence, 47-3.

It was over when Hough overwhelmed the Patriots with a 33-point first quarter. 

Hough quarterback Trey Blakeney tossed three touchdown passes, two of them to Tyran Evans, and ran for another. Jycen Anciso ran for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Just a week earlier, Independence had routed Mount Tabor 44-0.

Cleveland recovers, avoids major upset

Cleveland needed a touchdown with 20.3 seconds left to avoid one of the state’s biggest upsets ever.

The Rams didn’t get themselves in that position this week as their defense smothered Ashley in a 21-3 win. Jaylen King and Daniel Lugo each three sacks as the Rams racked up nine altogether. Porter Bennett and Theron Baptiste each had an interception.

Quarterback Jackson Byrd was 11-of-18 for 174 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

North Brunswick moves ahead in 3-A state bracket

North Brunswick was 2-5 in conference play. But the Scorpions are 2-0 in the 3-A state playoffs after their 35-26 win over Lee County. It has been a bracket full of upsets as Lee County had startled White Oak in the first round.

The Scorpions (7-5) built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of Aamere Montgomery touchdown runs. 

Lee County had pulled to within two points when Montgomery struck for a 61-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. 

The Scorpions’ Calvin Webb ran 31 yards for a touchdown and Jonah Campbell threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kane Jenrette.

Brandon Baldwin had two rushing touchdowns for Lee County.