Black Knights eliminated from playoffs
Ramseur – There is really no way the Black Knights’ 2022 campaign should have ended before Thanksgiving.
Robbinsville outgained Eastern Randolph 465-197 in total yardage, had 22 first downs to the Wildcats’ 10 and overcame a 10-point deficit at halftime to carry a lead into the fourth quarter.
So, where did it all go wrong?
The final minute.
The Black Knights’ held their fate in their own hands Friday. Eastern Randolph had scored with 6:26 left in the game and after a PAT, led 29-26. Robbinsville got the ball back with plenty of time to piece together a go-ahead drive – and used the majority of it to drive 70 yards. After Cuttler Adams was pressured out-of-bounds at the Wildcats’ 4-yard line, a timeout was called. Robbinsville soon jogged back to the line of scrimmage, looking for a late strike.
But the ball was fumbled. Eastern Randolph recovered and deflated, the Knights’ twice encroached the neutral zone, affording the Wildcats a first down before a snap even occurred.
All Eastern Randolph needed to do was take a pair of knees and run out the clock. Instead, the Cats opted to inexplicably attempt a rushing play – and fumbled themselves. Robbinsville’s Tanner Hedden was more than happy to fall on top of the loose ball.
The Knights had their break.
But the final series played out like this: a holding penalty on Robbinsville, an 8-yard Adams carry, a 10-yard loss, an incomplete pass from Bryce Adams to Roman Jones and under intense pressure from Eastern Randolph’s Will Stalker, Bryce chunked a pass away just before being tackled on fourth down.
And with that, all hope was lost. The No. 1-seeded Wildcats prevailed 29-26.
“We played a really good ball game; had a few mistakes, but overall we played really good,” Cuttler said. “We may have came up short, but in the end, we finished strong.
“Win or lose, I told the guys that we will give the Lord the glory, no matter what. He sure did bless us with a lot of accomplishments this year and I know we came up short, but we have nothing to hold our heads down over.”
Eastern Randolph (11-1) struck first, on a 2-yard Ervodd Cassidy push at the 5:14 mark of the first quarter. Kage Williams got the touchdown back for Robbinsville (9-4), scoring on a 7-yard carry with 2:19 remaining in the opening segment. However, Yane Jamies had connected for a Wildcats’ PAT; the Knights were unable to complete a pass for a 2-point conversion.
Cuttler Adams broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown with 8:51 to go in the first half, but another conversion attempt failed. Wasting little time regaining the lead, D.J. Thomas promptly returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown.
Cassidy later punched in a 4-yard score with 16 seconds left in the half and Eastern Randolph pulled some chicanery on the extra point, faking the boot and tacking on two with a Stratton Barwick pass to Cassidy.
Beyond motivated, Robbinsville limited the Wildcats to a mere six offensive yards in the third quarter. In-between the dominance, the Knights steamrolled Eastern Randolph after a lengthy Cuttler Adams punt return opened the way for a 1-yard Bryce Adams sneak for a touchdown and Bryce finding his older brother Brock on the go-ahead, 8-yard sling with 49 seconds left in the third.
Cuttler’s 206 yards in the game pushed his career total to 4,726. He needs just 1,438 during his senior year to tie the school benchmark of 6,164, set by Rylee Anderson in 2019.
“I couldn’t ask for a better year than what I had and the Lord has blessed me with an awesome year,” Cuttler said. “I got to spend some quality time with my brothers and we accomplished a lot this year.”