By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Williams quarterback Dan Mahan scored on a 12-yard run with 2:08 remaining to lift the visiting Bulldogs to a 39-34 victory against Northwest Guilford in Friday night’s season-opening football game in Greensboro.
Zion Amadi’s interception with 1:05 left helped seal the outcome as Williams won its opener for the first time since 2019. It took a rally from a 15-point deficit.
Mahan finished with two rushing touchdowns and threw for two more touchdowns. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 203 yards and gained 102 rushing yards on 13 carries. Milton Turner was the top receiver for Williams with seven catches for 57 yards.
Northwest went ahead 34-33 with a touchdown with 5:56 remaining.
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In a back-and-forth game, the Bulldogs spent plenty of time with the lead.
Williams scored first on Amarion Richmond’s run after Haneef Rasheed II’s big opening kickoff return. It was 13-7 after Turner’s 3-yard catch from Mahan.
But Northwest built a 28-13 edge before Mahan’s 1-yard run and the quarterback’s two-point conversion pass to Turner.
Haneef Rasheed scored on a 1-yard run as the Bulldogs closed within 28-27 but didn’t get the extra point. Williams was back in the lead on Andrew Cruz’s touchdown catch.
Sam Rhodes was credited with 11 tackles and Leontae Turner made 10 tackles for Williams.
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Eastern Alamance 35, Eastern Randolph 15: At Ramseur, the visiting Eagles won for the second year in a row in their opener against Eastern Randolph as Josh Murray and Tyrek Samuel both ran for two touchdowns.
Murray’s 31-yard run late in the first half put the Eagles ahead to stay. Samuel’s 57-yard run provided the Eagles’ final touchdown before Eastern Randolph scored last.
Eastern Alamance’s first touchdown came on Jason Ball’s pass to Dalton Helton in the second quarter. Ball completed 12 of 14 passes for 158 yards.
Samuel gained 119 yards on 12 carries and Murray had 112 yards on 14 attempts.
Payton Wright’s 13 tackles led the Eagles on defense along with three stops for losses apiece by Javontae Poteat and Jamarrie Stump.
Two years ago, Eastern Alamance lost on the road in this series.
Reidsville 36, Western Alamance 28: At Reidsville, the Rams began a new era by toppling visiting Western Alamance on a late touchdown.
Derek Lyons threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kendre Harrison to break a tie and Cam’ron Jones, a transfer from Williams, ran in a two-point conversion with about six minutes left.
Western moved into Reidsville territory on its last possession before a failed fourth-down play.
The Rams, playing in Erik Teague’s head-coaching debut, needed a second-half rally. It marked the first game on Reidsville’s new artificial turf field.
Evan Kuehnel’s third-quarter touchdown pass for Western cut the gap to 14-12. Cam Cotton’s 5-yard touchdown run and ensuing two-point conversion run put the Warriors on top.
Reidsville cranked out a couple of touchdowns, but Western pulled even at 28-28 with about eight minutes left on Kuehnel’s 85-yard touchdown pass to James Newton and Cotton’s two-point conversion run.
Southern Alamance 73, Graham 0: At Mt. Hermon, the Patriots overwhelmed the visiting Red Devils for the second year in a row, scoring on Josiah Tysinger’s 92-yard kickoff return to open the game.
Tysinger also scored the next touchdown on a 4-yard run. Justin Donley and Logan Foust scored on first-quarter runs and Landon Dodson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Moore.
Myles Darroch, Dodson, and Foust ran for second-quarter touchdowns, with the Patriots tacking on two-point conversion plays each time. In the second half, Kater Cornwell and Nathan McNeal scored touchdowns.
Cummings 28, Eden Morehead 0: At Eden, Jonathan Paylor began the senior season of his celebrated career by scoring three touchdowns as the Cavaliers won the non-conference game.
Damane Watkins Jr. made 12 tackles and forced a fumble to lead the defense.
Cummings posted two touchdowns in the first quarter on the way to its third consecutive season-opening triumph. Quarterback Devin Witherspoon scored the other touchdown.
Paylor gained 165 rushing yards on 16 carries. The Cavaliers completed one pass.
The outcome spoiled the debut for Panthers coach Bobby Martin Sr.
Orange 33, Southeast Alamance 20: At Hillsborough, the first Southeast Alamance game in school history went awry with a non-league road loss in a game that extended for more than three hours.
The Stallions never led, but they were within 27-20 late in the third quarter after Ryan Dodson’s third touchdown pass.
Orange, which won an opener for the first time since 2017, responded on Nate Sorrells’ 40-yard touchdown run. Southeast failed to score in the fourth quarter.
Two of Dodson’s touchdown passes went to Tyron Squires. His 6-yard pass play to Antonio Williamson was his final scoring toss.
Hank Nunnery threw for four touchdowns and Sorrells gained 179 yards on the ground for the Panthers. Orange led 13-0, scoring the first points of the game on Brandon Cummings’ 30-yard catch for the first of his two touchdowns.
Southeast posted its first points on Dodson’s 33-yard pass to Squires, but the Stallions trailed 20-6 at halftime. Dodson and Squires hooked up for a 13-yard touchdown play for the first points of the second half.
