BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Even though the Reynolds JV football team has yet to taste victory, optimism abounds.
The Demons played better than the final score indicated in the season opener (36-12 defeat to East Forsyth). And, there are strong indicators that a 16-13 road loss to Southern Alamance last Thursday should bode well for the immediate future.
Prior to this game, neither team had any idea that they would be participants in a football marathon. Thunder and lightning strikes caused two weather delays. So, the game that was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. didn’t get underway for good until about 9:15.
Even then, there were agreed-upon changes that may have had some impact on the final outcome. Prior to play resuming after the second weather delay, the teams opted to play with a running clock with no halftime and no time-outs.
Since school was in session on Friday, it was determined to be in the best interest of the athletes to end the game as soon as possible, so they would have ample rest time to attend classes on the next day.
“Our guys learned some lessons about adversity on that night,” said Coach Rod Dunlap of Reynolds. “They learned that you have to be prepared to play regardless of any unanticipated situations you might face.
“With all the starting and stopping we had to do, it wasn’t the same feel you would have for a normal football game. In spite of all that, our kids still gave it their best effort.”
On Reynolds’ first offensive possession of the game, Mysta Goodloe fired a pass to Trejan Cannon on a slant route and Cannon broke a tackle, which resulted in a 40-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Demons added another score in the second quarter when Adonis Jones ran 10 yards for a touchdown to give his team a 13-8 lead at the half. On that drive, Rashon Bethea caught passes from Goodloe and Charlie Mensh to keep the drive going.
After a scoreless third quarter, Southern Alamance delivered what proved to be the go-ahead touchdown and conversion to go back in front at 16-13 in the fourth quarter. The Patriots were on the brink of putting the game away when they drove the ball inside the Demons’ 5-yard line.
On fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, the Reynolds defense stuffed Southern Alamance on a quarterback sneak. The Demons took over with 1:25 left to play with 99 yards to go.
Under ordinary circumstances, this would’ve been enough time for a hurry-up offense to put together a game-winning drive. But with a running clock and no time-outs, there wasn’t much Reynolds could do as far as game strategy. The Demons ran three plays and then ran out of time.
“Our record is 0-2, but there are lot of reasons why we’re very positive about where we are as a team,” said Dunlap. “We eliminated some of the problems with fumbled snaps that we had in our first game.
“Now it’s a matter of everyone getting in sync. It took us a few weeks, but now I feel like we have the right pieces in place on the offensive line and that’s going to make a huge difference.”
