Staff report
It was a heartbreaking opening day for the Rowan Rampage semi-pro football team.
Rowan fell 24-20 to the High Point Ravens at Knox Middle School.
The Rampage had the ball late in the fourth quarter but couldn’t produce points.
The Rampage did make a nice comeback in the second half after falling behind 24-8 at the break when the Ravens returned an interception for a touchdown.
“We couldn’t quite overcome that deficit,” Rampage coach Larry Bryant said. “It was a tough loss, but our defense stiffened a lot in the second half and shut them down. The Ravens are a good team. They have a lot of guys that played arena league in Winston-Salem.”
Rampage quarterback D’Andre Hopper threw two touchdown passes to Justin Davis, a 24-yarder in the first quarter and a 37-yard connection in the third. Hopper, who starred at Livingstone, also had a 12-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.D.J. Lyles caught a pass from Hopper for a two-point conversion in the first quarter.
The Rampage returns to action Saturday night on the road against the Thomasville Titans. The next home game is at 4 p.m. on Aug. 18 against the Triangle Rattlers.
Bryant appreciated the crowd support. He said it was the largest in the team’s two-year history.