Play-off Article

I found this articl on lin this morning in the High Point Enterprise.

Tigers set for playoff quest
by Steve Hanf

The win was not dramatic on this night, the achievement not unusual for this group, the final goal not reached this season.

As such, Ragsdale’s postgame gathering Friday night at Simeon Stadium was buoyant rather than brash, eager more than exhilarated.

“What lies ahead is a whole lot bigger than what’s behind us,” coach Tommy Norwood told his players. “Let’s do it.”

The Tigers spent the past 12 weeks proving that little has changed over the past few years. The dominant group won its third straight conference championship – the second time Ragsdale managed that feat in Norwood’s 12 years – and remained unbeaten in league play all three years.

Friday’s 34-7 dismantling of High Point Central, which came one week after knocking off top challenger Glenn in a 23-10 decision, capped an 11-0 season for the Piedmont Triad 4A Conference champions. The Tigers did the same thing last year in the Mid-Piedmont 3A.

And now?

Onward and upward.

“We’ve got 24 seniors, half of them who played varsity as freshmen and sophomores, and we know what it feels like to get upset in the first round against Parkland and lose to a team like Dudley that won it (last year),” said senior receiver DeSean Anderson. “All that hurt and pain, we’ve already come through that and we’re going to use that will to try to win the states this year.”

In the 2007 season, a number of talented sophomores such as Walt Sparks, Billy Stone, Cedric Ellison, Neil Jones and Daniel McNeil helped Ragsdale go 9-2 in the regular season before a stunning playoff exit: 28-24 to No. 14 seed Parkland in the first round.

More experience led to more success last fall, with the Tigers cruising to a 13-0 start before visiting Dudley in the third round of the 3AA playoffs. The Panthers pulled away from a 14-10 halftime lead to win 26-10 on their way to a perfect season.

This year’s squad got started with the standard summer workouts, those two dozen seniors leading the way. The remarkable defense sparkled, allowing an average of 6.1 points per game and limiting every foe but one – Page – to a single TD or less with four shutouts.

The offense, meanwhile, averaged 32.1 points per game with pinpoint passing from Luke Heavner, powerful running from D-onovan Smith and big-play ability from Anderson, all of it coming about thanks to an offensive line anchored by three seniors in Elliott Cobb, Jordan Morris and Tyler Ritter.

“They’ve come on,” Norwood said of a line that helped the Tigers rush for 195 yards and throw for another 117 on just 10 attempts against a strong Bison defense. “They ain’t real big, they ain’t real impressive. They just play hard.”

Just like everybody else on the team. With memories of disappointment pushing them, the Tigers open the 4A playoffs at home this Friday against Watauga. Despite the perfect record, Ragsdale was relegated to a No. 3 seed in the 4A West bracket behind R.J. Reynolds (No. 1) and Dudley (No. 2).

That, despite the fact Ragsdale handled Dudley 18-8 the second week of the season. Officials with the N.C. High School Athletic Association seed the playoffs based on 10-game records, however, making all three teams 10-0, and unless all three had played each other, a blind drawing is used.

In this case, Ragsdale drew the short straw – but as any coach worth his salt would proudly say, the Tigers will have to play them all eventually to reach the championship game at Carter-Finley Stadium on Dec. 12.

“They’ll be focused and ready to go. They’ll play one week at a time. That’s just who they are, the way they do things,” Norwood offered. “When you’re always good on defense, you’ve always got a chance, and we’re good in the kicking game as well. All of that means you’ve got a chance every Friday.”

All signs point to a third-round rematch: No. 3 Ragsdale at No. 2 Dudley on Nov. 27, with the likes of R.J. Reynolds, Asheville Reynolds or Alexander Central looming in the top half of the bracket for the regional championship.

What lies ahead certainly seems exciting.

“We kind of remember the Dudley loss, we remember how bad that was,” Sparks said. “We kind of expect to do it all this year. We’re a senior team, we’ve got a whole lot of leadership. There’s really no excuse why we shouldn’t do it.”