Why Roberson's heartbreaking NCHSAA football playoff loss is still indicative of team on rise
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ASHEVILLE – In the moment Roberson football could least afford it, its youth finally showed through.
The No. 7 Rams (7-4), who start a sophomore quarterback, a junior running back and no seniors at the skill positions, had a drive nearing Kings Mountain’s red zone with under four minutes to play, down just one point.
Then a botched handoff on second down recovered by the No. 10 Mountaineers (8-4), and the Rams watched their season slip away. Though the offense got the ball back one more time, it couldn’t convert on fourth down in a 21-20 loss in the second round of the NCHSAA football playoffs Class 6A on Nov. 14.
“We showed a little youth tonight, which we hadn’t done the previous six weeks,” Roberson coach JD Dinwiddie said. “For us, it’s going to be a learning opportunity. Hopefully they’ll remember this feeling.”
All night, flashes of brilliance – the kind that led Roberson to its first win over Reynolds since 2011 and its first outright conference title since 2004 – would appear.
Sophomore quarterback Karod Harris, two plays after a dazzling scramble to escape a sack and convert a fourth down, showed off his athleticism on a 30-yard touchdown scramble. He avoided multiple would-be tacklers before running through another to convert the 2-point conversion that made it a 21-20 game.
“He’s a dynamic athlete,” Dinwiddie said. “He made some sophomore errors tonight, but you expect those things with young kids. I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t be prouder of that young man.”
Harris finished the night with 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He was also 10-of-28 passing for 106 yards and a touchdown.
In the end, it was special teams that doomed Roberson. In the first quarter, a snap sailed over the Rams’ punter’s head for a safety. A 30-yard Kings Mountain field goal was its only second-half score. Twice, the Mountaineers blocked an extra-point attempt. If either had been good, the game would’ve gone to overtime.
After playing for a conference title and finishing 9-3 two seasons ago, 2025 was finally the season Dinwiddie has searched for. But this served as a reminder that the youth on this team will be back this year, which means promising times ahead for the Rams.
“We’ve been in positions, we just haven’t broken through,” Dinwiddie said. “This year, we broke through with a young bunch. We’re going to get back to work and see what we’ve got in store for next year.”
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @EvanGerike.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How Roberson football showed flashes of future despite NCHSAA playoff loss
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