By STEVE WILLIAMS
Special to the Review RALEIGH – Sweet, sweet 16. Reidsville put a cap on a perfect 16-0 season and claimed the school’s historic 16th state championship Saturday night with a 28-20 victory over Shelby. While spoiling Shelby’s hopes for a three-peat, the Rams got a measure of revenge for the 2005 championship game that the Golden Lions won 26-18. This time, the Golden Lions couldn’t overcome a 28-7 deficit but made a spirited rally that kept the fans on both sides of the Carter-Finley Stadium on the edge of their seats until a fourth down pass fell harmlessly to the turf with 1:06 remaining. "The Lord has blessed us so much to be able to do this,” RHS coach Jimmy Teague said. "Except for a couple of plays, our game plan was pretty good defensively. We tried to get them out of the wing T ... they weren't ready to execute that part of the offense." The Rams have now won three 2-AA state championships in the six years that the NCHSAA subdivided the state’s four classes. They beat Bandys back to back in 2002 and 2003 with the last one also coming at Carter-Finley. Shelby gave the Rams their toughest game of the season and held them to a season-low in points. A 34-28 victory over Northeast Guilford was their closest previous game. The Rams did all their scoring during a 13-minute stretch that began with 8:03 left in the first quarter and ended with 7:27 left in the third. That was an impressive scoring spree when you note that Shelby had not allowed more than 15 points in a game all season. Shelby struck first as quarterback Howard Thompson broke free for 68 yards on an option keeper on the third play of the second quarter. It marked only the third time all season the Rams had been on the short end of the scoreboard. But the Rams fired back with 21 points in the final 8:03 of the half. With the Golden Lions stacking the line to stop Tayon Graves, the Rams opened up the passing lanes. Butchee first hit Kerry Hammock for 12 yards and then connected with Mike Brown for 52, the 6-4 tight end making a nice over-the-shoulder finger-tip catch and carrying ball to the 15. The Rams were set back to the 20 on a penalty and after an incompletion and a Butchee scramble back to the line of scrimmage, Butchee connected with Hammock on a short post pattern for the touchdown. James Scheer added the extra point to tie the score at 7-7 with 8:03 before the half. After a Shelby punt, the Rams were back in business. Butchee immediately connected with Marlon Roach along the left sideline for 37 yards and Graves broke off his longest gain of the night for 13 yards. After a sack and intentional grounding pushed the Rams back to the 30, Butchee hit Brown over the middle with a perfect pass for 30 yards and the TD. On Shelby’s next play, Donovan Gidney’s plunge up the middle turned into the game’s first big break. Jazz Totten stripped the ball and made the recovery at the Golden Lion 12. Two carries by Graves, the second one from eight yards out gave the Rams their third TD. Scheer’s PAT made it 21-7 2:26 before the half. Shelby had the first possession of the second half and after one first down, the were forced to punt. The Rams hit Shelby with one from their bag of tricks as wide receiver Hammock took a reverse and then launched a pass to Niko McGirt for 45 yards. With first down at the 12, the Rams called on Graves four straight times and he plunged over from the one on a first-down play. Reidsville looked to be in command when the forced the Golden Lions to punt, but the Rams returned the favor of the first half fumble when Butchee was hit from behind and Lanston Tayni recovered at the 21. Shelby got the TD four plays later on Gidney’s 7-yard surge up the middle. But Marcus Pickard blocked the extra point and the Rams’ lead was 28-13 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. The Golden Lions took advantage of the momentum shift to stop Reidsville’s next possession and forced a punt. They methodically worked their way down the field, mainly on the passing of Thompson and the receiving of Tim Gullatte. The TD came on a Thompson-to-Gullatte pass into the end zone for 14 yards. Turner Almond’s kick cut it to 28-20 with 7:50 remaining. Reidsville needed a clutch drive to melt away most of the remaining clock and they were able to take 5:20 away on some clutch passing by Butchee. He hit Jarrett Barnett for 14 yards and Hammock for 11 and 13, all producing drive-saving first downs. When the drive stalled, Anthony Wooten came through a super punt that pinned the Golden Lions back on their 1-yard line. Shelby immediately escaped the shadow of their own end zone on Thompson’s 18-yard keeper on first down but three straight incompletions and a 3-yard completion apparently stopped their drive. But a 5-yard face mask penalty kept them alive. Shelby picked up a first down on the next play to keep their hopes alive but four more incompletions ended it. Butchee, a junior lefty, was named the game’s MVP for his gutty performance and superb passing. Playing at less than 100 percent after suffering a badly bruised knee in last week’s victory over Southern Vance, he completed 10 of 17 for 190 yards. Teague said Butchee would have been held out of the game if it had been a regular season game. "It was a factor. We like to run him a lot ... we decided to run him one time and we had a turnover ... not a smart move on my part." Graves was named offensive player of the game as he ended with 94 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Hammock finished with four catches for 52 yards and also threw for 45 yards. The Rams outgained Shelby 311 to 254 and had a small edge in time of possession, 25:35 to 22:25. John Connally, who was named to the Carolinas Shrine Bowl game Friday, capped his brilliant career with 14 tackles. Jordan Gunter added seven tackles, Damien Lee had five and E.J. Foster four.
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