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SPORTS

Ragsdale 28, Asheboro 0

Friday, November 7, 2008
(Updated 11:42 pm)

ASHEBORO - Ragsdale and Asheboro, the last two teams to win the Mid-Piedmont Conference, met in the final game of the regular season with the conference championship on the line.

The Tigers dominated both lines of scrimmage to win 28-0 to complete a perfect regular season and capture their second straight title. The Tigers (11-0, 6-0) totaled 285 yards rushing, including 155 by tailback Donovan Smith, who finished with two touchdowns.

"Donovan Smith's a great player," Ragsdale coach Tommy Norwood said. "But we have three very good tailbacks. Donovan's only a sophomore. Daiquan Thomasson who scored the last touchdown is a freshman and Charles Thomasson is a senior who's been hurt and this is the first time he's played since the Trinity game."

As impressive as the offense was Friday night, the defense was better.

The Tigers allowed just 111 yards of total offense and four times forced the Blue Comets into three-and-out offensive possessions. Ragsdale showed great speed off the line, frequently greeting Asheboro tailbacks in the backfield as soon as they were handed the ball.

"We had to stop (Dimitri) Faglier," Norwood said of Asheboro's main offensive weapon. "We also had to stop (Dexter Poole) in the flat catching passes. We've got good defensive speed. I heard Mack Brown say many years ago that if you ain't got any speed you better go get some. And if you don't have any you better change jobs. That's the way football is now. You better be able to run. And if you can't run you're in trouble. We were able to run and stop the big play."

The biggest gain on the night for the Blue Comets was a 13-yard run by Faglier in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Ragsdale defense came up with 10 tackles for a loss. Asheboro found itself in fourth-and-15, fourth-and-12, fourth-and-13 and fourth-and-21.

The Blue Comets (8-3, 5-1) had only two sustained drives on the night. The first came thanks to a fake punt and two penalties by the Tigers and the other came after Ragsdale was called for a roughing the punter on a fourth-and-17.

The penalties were the only negatives on the night, as the Tigers were whistled eight times for 60 yards. One penalty wiped out a touchdown pass on a halfback option off a reverse by DeSean Anderson to Luke Sonricker.

But that mattered little in the end as Ragsdale claimed its second straight shutout and its third blanking of the season. And it came against an Asheboro team that scored 97 points in its previous two games. More importantly, the Tigers claimed the conference championship and an undefeated season.

"In the morning when we wake up, we're 11-0," Norwood said. "There's a lot of people who started the season dreaming of that but there's very few who could actually say it tomorrow."

  Ragsdale Asheboro
First downs 15 11
Rushes-yards 40-285 34-66
Passing yards 44 45
Comp-Att-Int 4-9-2 7-18-0
Punts-average 2-32 5-32.6
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-60 1-5

Ragsdale 7 6 8 7 - 28
Asheboro 0 0 0 0 - 0

R - Nick Mearite 10 pass from Tim Romer (Casey Redfern kick)

R - Donovan Smith 7 run (kick missed)

R - Smith 4 run (Smith run)

R - Daiquan Thomasson 7 run (Redfern kick)


 

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