On Friday, Page’s Men’s Varsity Football team played at Northern Guilford. The Pirates won 31-14 in an exciting game. Due to a sort of unspoken rivalry between Page and Northern, game attendance was recorded at over 1,000 people, with Page gathering an impressive student presence- especially for an away game.
As for the game itself, junior left guard Jack Kepley said “We pretty much dominated the whole game offensively.” The pirates scored 17 points in the 1st quarter alone, relying on a strong rushing game as their passing struggled. “Maurice went crazy, he had 205 rushing yards for 2 touchdowns,” said Kepley. “They couldn’t stop our run game at all.” Sophomore Jerron Blackwell also had 130 yards, including a 73-yard rushing touchdown. The game was riddled with turnovers, with Page’s Christian Brown forcing a fumble that was recovered by junior Alex Jones. Northern’s passing game also struggled- they threw 4 interceptions to the Pirates, 2 of which were picked off by Jerron Blackwell, as well as 1 each for Paul Thompson and Tim Patterson. Senior kicker Tylar Elliott went 4 for 4 on extra points and scored a 29-yard field goal.
Perhaps the most out-of-the-ordinary part of the game wasn’t the football itself, but the battle that followed between Page and Northern’s drumlines. The bands took turns playing, alternating for 3 rounds of the battle, with Page’s Red Steel going first. Page band member Trent Benton said the battle was planned and set up by each school’s band director during the 3rd quarter of the game. Benton said “we practiced the certain cadences we play for battles,” in preparation for the matchup. While there is no clear way to measure who won the battle, talk is that Page prevailed this year.
Make sure to watch the video of the battle here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=0B5wQarGsT8&feature=youtu.be
Thanks to:
Haydon Bode for pictures- @haybodphotos on instagram
Jack Kepley- @jack_kepley72 on instagram
Trent Benton- @trentbenton_ on instagram
Page Drumline: @redsteel_drumline on instagram
