HIGH POINT – T.W. Andrews took the first punch, then landed the next several in response.
Thomasville ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. But the Red Raiders answered with three straight scores to lead solidly in the fourth and won 18-10 on Friday night in nonconference football at A.J. Simeon Stadium.
“It feels great,” said coach Mook Reynolds, in his first season leading Andrews. “We’re trying to reestablish and build on something that has a winning legacy. It’s always hard to get that first one, get the buy-in. But the kids, they did everything we asked them to do tonight, everything we’ve been preparing for
“The level of intensity we’ve been training at, what we’ve been demanding from them as far as intensity and energy – they came through tonight. Of course, there are things we have to fix. But all in all I think we did a great job, and I’m excited for them. I just wanted to get the first one and we got it.”
Mike Hughes scored on a pass from Cayden Zellous in the first half, while Brandon Sturdivant and David Hill each ran in a second-half touchdown to lead the Red Raiders (1-0).
“It’s a good time for us,” said Sturdivant, a senior running back/defensive back. “A lot of people have been talking down on us, but it’s a good win starting off.”
Andrews, which couldn’t convert on a long drive in the first quarter, got going in the second when Zellous connected with Hughes on third-and-10 for a 29-yard score. That pulled it within 7-6 – a score that held into halftime.
The Red Raiders then strung together a nice drive to start the second half. A long kickoff return by Von Martin put the ball at the Andrews 45 to start. A pair of big runs by Sturdivant got the Red Raiders into scoring position.
And a 6-yard scoring run through the middle by Sturdivant gave the Andrews a 12-7 lead just a minute and 11 seconds into the second half.
“We needed to get some points on the board because we went down before and we didn’t score in the red zone. So we had to make up for it,” Sturdivant said. “I felt good just being there with my guys, doing stuff for them. I have to thank my O-line.”
As the Bulldogs tried to get back on track, Andrews capitalized on another big play. Hill blocked a punt that set up the Red Raiders inside the 10. Hill later took a direct snap and bounced through the defense for an 8-yard score with 10:54 left in the game. That stretched the lead to 18-7.
“The second half was everything we talked about,” Reynolds said. “A game of two halves. And we knew we just needed to settle in, trust what we were doing, and just play football at the end of the day. We know the name of the game is football – the most important part of the game is the ball.
“So moving the ball on offense and stopping the ball from moving on defense – we just knew we had to lock in on those things. Everything we do is about winning. So we knew that we needed to come together and do those little, small things at a high level in order to give us a better chance to win.”
The Bulldogs (0-1) started strong – with Quinton Brunson running back the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. But their offense struggled to maintain momentum as the Red Raiders started to find theirs early in the game. Maricio Garcia drilled a 35-yard field goal with 4:17 left late that gave them a chance.
But Thomasville only got out to its 35 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game and couldn’t connect on fourth-and-11. Andrews kneeled out a season-opening win.
“A lot of mistakes we have to clean up come Monday,” Bulldogs coach Bradley George said. “That’s not who we are. It’s not our identity, and that’s not who we’re going to be this year. So we’re going to get at it and get this corrected.
“Second half, we had a chance to jump back on them, and we kind of stalled out on some drives. We had a chance there at the end to catch a ball and tie it up and make it a game. So we just have to correct ourselves. We’ll be okay. We’ll get it corrected on Monday and be ready to go next Friday.”
Next week, Thomasville will host Cummings while the Red Raiders will visit North Forsyth.