Coach Greg Brown's Randolph County Pirates finished their NCFA2 season with a 7-5 record and a 14-9 victory over the 3-9 Lee County Clippers. The Pirates survived a key, late punt-return fumble by WR4 Kelly McDaniel (his third on the season among receptions, kick returns and punt returns). HB1 Jerry Millnichik ran 17 times for 106 yards and a score, and QB1 Karl F. Kraven completed 13 of his 27 passes for 132 yards and a score.
Kraven, an 11-year NCFA man seeded to Randolph County by parent Gastonia, was the full-season starter at quarterback. His 77.8 rating ranked sixth in the league through 11 weeks. Kraven finished the season with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Gastonia also seeded a couple of running backs to Randolph, but both lost their starting positions at mid-season. Jerry Simeon gave way to Millnichik at HB1. Simeon had amassed 406 yards, six touchdowns and four fumbles on 114 carries (an average of 3.5 yards per). In his first five starts, Millnichik totaled 388 yards, four touchdowns and two fumbles on 91 attempts (4.2 yards per). Seed Todd Proctor gae way to perennial NCFA2 standout Jim Ebbitt at FB1, and Ebbitt's fine lead blocking was integral to Millnichik's success, notably in the Week 12 win over Lee County.
Seed WR1 Robert Lee recorded a respectable 44 receptions, with an average gain of 13.2 yards per catch and total of three touchdowns. But the star receiver was WR2 William Patterson, whose average of 18.2 yards per reception (on 45 catches) through Week 11 led NCFA2. TE1 Timothy Rodriguez, another seed, had 48 catches and an average of 7.4 yards per.
Seed Charles Littlejohn led a quality offensive line at C1, but another seed, Thomas Forbis, lost his starting job at guard. G2 Trent Card and T1 Julius Herrod were the standout blockers.
The three seeds on the defensive side of the ball each played well. DE1 James Irwin had 10 sacks and two fumble recoveries, along with 25 tackles, through 11 weeks. Before sitting out the Lee County game with an injury, LB1 Matt Galbreath made a strong case for the NCFA2 all-star team (65 tackles, nine sacks, three interceptions and one fumble recovery). S1 Joseph Long recorded 40 tackles. Brown will also have good reports on the three free agents starting with Long in the secondary: CB1 Martin Gash (46 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries); CB2 Milton Zorich (42 tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery), and S2 Shawn Carter (61 tackles and NCFA2-leading four interceptions through 11 weeks).
Randolph County switched kickers at mid-season after Douglas Ceciliani made only 55.5 percent of his field-goal attempts and missed three extra-point tries. The new kicker, Jason Holloway, made all six of his PATs and four of his five field-goal tries through his first five starts, but not one of the field-goal attempts came from beyond 39 yards.
Lloyd Muster was NCFA2's best punter. His gross (45.9 yards) and net (42.8) averages both ranked No. 1 in NCFA2 through Week 11.
