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GREENSBORO - A sleepy game woke up in a hurry here Friday night, as Ragsdale rallied in the final minute for a 7-6 win over Southeast Guilford before an on-field fight led to three player ejections.

"If you're going to be good, you've got to win some close ones," said Ragsdale head coach Tommy Norwood, whose team improved to 6-0 and became the prohibitive favorite in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A.

For three-and-a-half quarters, there was about as much excitement on the field as there was in the vacant lot down the road. The teams combined for more penalties than points through 42 minutes, and Southeast led 6-0 when Ragsdale inherited the ball on its own 18 after Terrance Topps missed a 35-yard field goal with 6 minutes left.

Then the lid blew off.

The Tigers, who had been held to 92 yards of total offense, drove 82 yards on 14 plays, working the ball to the flats in the air and converting a pair of fourth downs to keep the drive on life support.

Quarterback Tim Romer, who was 5-of-15 passing entering the drive, went 8-of-10 for 90 yards on the final march, punctuating it when he rolled right and found Nick Mearite in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 11 with 57 seconds remaining.

Punctuated the drive, anyway. The drama was just unfolding.

As Ragsdale celebrated, Southeast head coach Fritz Hessenthaler and his staff erupted from the sideline in search of a holding call after a Falcons lineman finished the play on the turf. After the game, Hessenthaler chased after the officiating crew as it ran off the field.

"I saw their quarterback, for some reason - and I've got a good defensive line - he had all day to throw the ball. Very questionable," said Hessenthaler, whose team fell to 3-2. "It's hard to take, especially when (the official) was standing right there."

Southeast managed one first down on its last-ditch drive, and after Topps was sacked on fourth down to kill any remaining hope, shoves started being exchanged in the backfield. One Southeast player appeared to headbutt a Ragsdale player. Two players from Southeast and one from Ragsdale were ejected; they were not immediately identified.

Southeast had just as rough a night on offense, failing to complete a pass and managing 128 rushing yards on 42 carries.

The Falcons' lone touchdown came just before halftime when Brian Webb blocked a DeSean Anderson punt - his second block of the night - and smothered it in the end zone.

Topps, also Southeast's kicker, was unavailable for the extra point after injuring himself on a punt moments earlier, and the Falcons unsuccessfully tried to run for the conversion.

That meant Kasey Redfern's extra point proved decisive for Ragsdale.

"We ended up making a few plays when we needed to," Norwood said. "It's hard when you play so well for so long," Hessenthaler said, "and you have it taken away from you."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com.

SEG - Brian Webb blocked punt recovery in endzone (rush failed)

R - Nick Mearite 11 pass from Tim Romer (Casey Redfern kick)