Ram Game Notes

Reidsville (14-0) and Southern Vance (13-1) will both be hoping for another shot at a state championship when they square off tonight at Community Stadium in the 2-AA East Regional finals.
At stake is a trip to Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh for the 2-AA state championship game against the winner of tonight’s West Regional game with Mount Pleasant (14-0) playing at Shelby (13-1).
Reidsville, which has won 15 state titles in its storied history, last appeared in the state title game in 2005 and lost to Shelby. Southern Vance made its first-ever state title appearance a year ago and also lost to Shelby.
Reidsville and Southern Vance are very similar on offense and defense.
Both operate out of the shotgun attack and have prolific, diversified offenses. On defense, both the Rams and Raiders rely on team speed to shut down opponents.
Reidsville features the field generalship of junior Ray Ray Butchee and the slashing running of senior Tayon Graves. In last week’s 63-6 romp over St. Pauls, Butchee surpassed the 4,000-yard career mark in passing and Graves went over 5,000 yards rushing.
Butchee looks to a variety of receivers led by Kerry Hammock, Mike Brown, Jarrett Barnett, Marlon Roach and Niko McGirt.
The offensive line of Phillip McLaughlin, Rashard Williamson, Jazz Totten, Devin Sessoms and Lance Spivey will hold the key to slowing a fierce Southern Vance pass rush. Raider defensive end Shelton Gill made several huge plays against Northwood last week, adding to his already impressive season resume.
Another match-up to watch will be Reidsville’s passing attack against the Raiders’ quick secondary. Butchee has thrown just four interceptions all season while Southern Vance picked off Northwood three times last week.
Reidsville’s defense will face its biggest challenge of the season as Southern Vance brings in a 33.5 average to the game. Since a 28-13 loss to 3-A Southwest Edgecombe in mid-September, the Raiders have scored no less than 26 points during its current nine-game winning streak.
Senior Jamere Pugh, who quarterbacked Southern Vance as a freshman when the Raiders came to Community Stadium for a third-round game in 2004, is a threat running or passing. He has six receivers with at least 16 catches, a cast headed by senior standout D.J. Person.
The Raiders also feature a strong running attack with Jeremy Davis and O’Darren Gill both over 1,000 yards for the season.
The RHS defensive front four has a seven or eight-player rotation and is led by junior tackle Damien Lee, who has 10 sacks. Overall, the Rams have 34 sacks with Greg Black, Mike Brown, Jazz Totten, Travis Dean and Anthony Wooten also strong pass rushers.
Ram middle linebacker John Connally, who needs one tackle for 500 in his career, has three sacks, 12 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
E.J. Foster and Tayon Graves are the outside linebackers and Jordan Gunter (four interceptions), John Cooper (three interceptions), Kerry Hammock and Marcus Pickard make up the RHS secondary.
The key for the RHS defense will be containing Pugh’s scrambling and his ability to throw on the run.
The Rams come into the game healthy. Kickoff man A.J. Williams, who was questionable earlier in the week, has made progress with his thigh bruise and will be able to handle the kickoffs. His deep kicks in the first three rounds of the playoffs have helped provide Reidsville with a field position advantage.
THE COACHES: Since coming to Reidsville in 1992, coach Jimmy Teague has compiled a 180-40 record, including a 35-12 mark in the playoffs. His teams have made the playoffs every year except 1999. Southern Vance is under the direction of first-year coach Mark Perry.
TEAGUE SAYS: “Southern Vance has several quality wins. They beat Oxford Webb (which is playing Greensboro Dudley in the 3-AA East Regional tonight), Durham Hillside and they beat Northwood pretty handily last week. All of those are quality wins and indicate what kind of team they really have. And they made it all the way to the state finals a year ago, so they’ve got some experience playing in this type of game.
TEAGUE SAYS, PART II: “I think because of playing people like Cummings, we’ve got an idea of what we need to do to try to slow them down. It’s a preparation we’ve had in the past and not really new for us. We feel pretty good about what we’re going to do. When you play a team like Southern Vance, you’re not going to completely stop them but we’ve got to make them nickel and dime their way and limit the big plays.”
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE: The 2-AA title game is set for 7:30 at Carter-Finley on Saturday, Dec. 8, as the third game of a tripleheader. The 1-A game will kick off at 11 a.m. and the 2-A championship game at 3:30 p.m.
REIDSVILLE PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Rams are in the final four for the sixth straight year since the NCHSAA subdivided the four classifications in 2002. They have two state titles, one runner-up finish and two fourth-place finishes in that span.
In Reidsville playoff history, including the Golden Lion era, there have been 20 appearances in state championship games and 15 state titles.
SOUTHERN VANCE HISTORY: Southern Vance High School opened in 1990 when Henderson Vance High School was split into Southern and Northern. The Raiders have made six appearances in the NCHSAA playoffs and have an 11-6 record, highlighted by an advance to the state finals in 2006 where they lost to Shelby 27-24.
THE 2004 MEETING: Reidsville and Southern Vance met in the third round of the 2-AA playoffs and the Rams shut down the Raiders’ vaunted running game in a 50-7 victory. Southern’s Reggie Hicks, now on the team at James Madison University, entered the game with almost 2,000 yards but was held to a season-low 71 yards on 19 carries by a Reidsville defense led by Gary Pickard, Dwayne Jones, Ernest Blackwell and then freshman John Connally, who had seven tackles. Southern Vance ended its season at 12-2 while Reidsville lost in the regional final to Western Alamance the following week and finished 12-3. Jerere Pugh, then a freshman, accounted for Southern’s lone TD with a 46-yard pass.
DID YOU KNOW?: Reidsville assistant coach Al Hendricks played at Henderson Vance and was a member of the 1981 regional finalist team coached by Reidsville native Kelly Minyard.
TOP-SCORING TEAMS: Reidsville, averaging 49.5, is the top scoring team in the state in all classifications, according to statistics compiled by NCPreps.com. There are eight other schools averaging better than 40 points per game: West Montgomery (45.3), Plymouth (44.0), Mt. Airy (43.1), Pittsboro Northwood (42.4), Hickory (42.1), South Columbus (41.5), North Gaston (40.9) and Charlotte Independence (40.6).
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Reidsville leads the state in average margin of victory at 39.1. South Columbus is second with 37.0. Last week’s 57-point decision over St. Pauls was the largest playoff margin in school history. Previously, the 68-12 romp over Bandys in the 2003 championship game was at the top of that list.
STREAKS: Reidsville ranks second in the state in consecutive games not being shut out with 144. Greenville Rose tops that list with 146. Reidsville is second in games scoring in double figures with 92. Charlotte Independence leads that list with 131. The last time Reidsville was shutout was the 14-0 loss to West Brunswick in the opening round of the 1997 playoffs and the last time they were held below double digits was the 31-7 first-round playoff loss to Lincolnton in 2001.
BEST START EVER: At 14-0, the Rams are off to their best start. They can tie the school record for wins tonight. Both the 2002 and 2003 team finished 15-1. The only undefeated team in Ram history was the 1970 squad that finished 12-0-1.
RANKINGS: N.C. Preps (Baker’s Dozen) has Reidsville ranked No. 1 and Southern Vance No. 6. The Fantastic 50 2-A computer profile lists Reidsville No. 3 behind South Columbus and Shelby with Southern Vance at No. 5. Massey Ratings has Reidsville 2nd behind South Columbus and Southern Vance sixth.
PREDICTIONS: Fantastic 50 has Reidsville listed as an 8-point favorite; Massey Ratings has Reidsville favored by 14.