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Can we agree this is shaping up to be the matchup of the season? They're clearly the two area teams that have played the best so far, with Page improving to 3-0 after its third straight 24-plus point victory and Dudley handling a good Grimsley team in absolutely every facet of a 40-0 win. Dudley will almost certainly be 4-0 heading into that game with Smith on tap next week, while the Pirates also have to be considered favorites (albeit by much less) over Ragsdale at home. Page probably has as good a chance as anybody to move the ball on Dudley, but I haven't seen any reason yet why the Panthers won't run the table this year. They absolutely dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It's like watching a tidal wave crash into a sandcastle.

Onto the rest of Football Redux: Week 3...

-Roughest Week Award goes to Grimsley, which not only lost a game but likely its starting quarterback (Josh Patterson), tailback/backup QB (Lashawn Brown) and linebacker (Andre Oliver) to injury for at least next week's game. Coach Mark Saunders said it'll require so much reshuffling this week that he'll likely have to surrender his beloved late-night video game sessions. That's sacrifice.

-Close second for Roughest Week goes to Smith, which lost its second heartbreaker in three weeks and is now in you've-got-to-be-kidding-me territory with its losing streak at 24. This loss came after the Golden Eagles' kicker got cramps in the second half, forcing them to unsuccessfully go for two after their second touchdown of what turned out to be a 14-13 loss to Western Guilford. Go look up "snakebit" in your dictionary.

-What can you make of High Point Central, which improved to 3-0 with a five-overtime 12-6 win over Eastern Randolph on Thursday? Do you call the Bison lucky because Eastern missed kick after kick after kick, including an extra point in the third overtime and an 18-yard field goal in the fourth overtime that would have won it? Or do you call them gritty for stealing their second overtime win of the season after going 0-2 in that scenario last year? Probably a little bit of both.

-Another reason the Metro 4-A is looking tight right now: Northwest Guilford, which nearly took down a Ragsdale team that needs to be applauded for finding a way to win week after week. Northwest drove inside the red zone in the final minutes but couldn't deliver the knockout blow and fell 30-24. Still, the Vikings are clearly a force to be reckoned with behind that big offensive line. Who'd have thought they'd be the favorites against Northeast next week?

-Another interesting one to watch next week: Southern at Southeast. The Falcons looked more like the team we all expected to see in a 41-0 win over Southwest this week, but beating the Storm, which has quietly been one of the area's most efficient teams in rolling to 3-0, would provide a whole lot more validation.

-Tip of the cap to Eastern Guilford, which snapped a 16-year drought against Northeast and now, with Western Guilford (1-2), Hillsborough Cedar Ridge (1-2) and Southwest Guilford (0-3) on the horizon, has a legitimate shot to enter the conference season 6-0. For a team that hasn't had a winning season in a decade, that would be a monumental accomplishment.

-Finally, I'm dumbfounded by the story out of Thomasville, where someone stole the copper wiring from the light system, causing last night's game to get pushed back to Monday. All this for copper, which ended Friday trading at a lower price per pound on the stock market than bacon? When will people learn?

The hammer fell on Grimsley's baseball coach Tuesday in a move most people, Ashkinazy included, probably saw coming. I haven't heard from anyone with the school yet but did meet with Ashkinazy this afternoon at the Greensboro Batting Center. He's clearly frustrated by some of the things that have been said about him - and being a relative newcomer myself, it's hard to gauge how much of the griping is justified - but he's also clearly not grieving for himself. "They couldn't screw me because it's not my livelihood," he said.

What do you think? Did Ashkinazy get a bum rap?

After his team became the latest log to get fed through the Dudley woodchipper last week, I asked Grimsley head coach Mark Saunders how this version of the Panthers compares to last year's state champion edition. He said both teams were incredible - duh - but that it was hard to make a comparison because Panthers quarterback Ricky Lewis Jr. wasn't completely healthy when the two teams played last year.
"He's the difference on that team. He's where it starts," Saunders said. "He does so many things."
Smith head coach Rodney Brewington, whose team will take a crack at Dudley tomorrow night, can tell the same thing just from seeing the Panthers on film.
“You can tell he’s a senior,” Brewington said. “He’s so poised. He’s an elite athlete. The game is so slow to him.”
Agreed. Lewis controls the game on the ground, but he isn't just a glorified running back. He's shown with increasing frequency that he can put the ball on target when needed. Dudley's defense is going to keep it in every game, but sooner or later, the Panthers are going to have a night where they'll need to move the ball on someone in a pressure situation. And I'd take Lewis in that scenario as soon as I'd take any other quarterback in the area.

I have covered many games in my young career, but I can't say I ever have seen a play like the one that ended the Southeast-Southern game tonight, a 33-yard touchdown pass in which Southeast quarterback Terrance Topps reversed fields three times before finding freshman Kir Turner in the end zone. It felt like it took five minutes or was some kind of video game play. Objectivity be damned, I let out a noise of surprise for that one. I wish I had access to the game tape right now because Southern's coaches were absolutely livid that Southeast didn't get called for illegal man/men downfield. I must admit my eyes were on Topps in the moment. Anyone who was there care to weigh in? Tell you what, Southeast coach Fritz Hessenthaler didn't seem too pleased with Southern coach Darryl Brown's demonstrative plea to the officials about it. "Nobody ever told me I could walk on the field when there were no timeouts," Hessenthaler said. "I was kind of concerned, to be honest with you. Maybe there's something in the rulebook I don't know about. Obviously there is because they didn't call a flag either time."

-Turner's big catch overshadowed a couple other remarkable plays. Southeast threatened to expand its lead just before halftime, but Nick Bell tipped a Kenyatta Robinson pass in the red zone and chased down the deflection for an interception. Robinson was in for a few plays while Topps had a cramp treated. In the third quarter, Topps launched another desperation heave to Anderson, who outjumped Darren Garcia and tipped it to himself for a 39-yard score. That's no small feat: Garcia was 2nd in the state last season with 10 interceptions. "I saw I had a height advantage, so I used it," Anderson said.

-Big win for Southeast, which can safely say it has recovered from its opening week hiccup at Eastern. Topps is a very good quarterback - mobile, poised and owner of one of the best arms I've seen this season. Northwest and Ragsdale the next two weeks will tell us how good the Falcons really are.

-Maybe it wasn’t designed as a cost-saver, but credit Southern for getting resourceful with its pre-game routine. Southeast celebrated the start of its home opener by bursting through a 10-foot tall paper banner and charging onto the field. As the crowd roared its approval, the Falcons cheerleaders scurried to pick up what remained of their art project. Southern celebrated the same ritual moments later, but its cheer team got off easy. The Storm’s banner was made of plastic, and it tore apart at a velcro seam down the middle. All the cheerleaders had to do was fold it up and store it away for next week. Al Gore would no doubt applaud such conservation, and in this economy, it can’t hurt to reuse your resources.

-Props to the Southeast fan - I'm trying to find his name - who won the 50-50 raffle tonight, then donated his share of the winnings - about $430 - to help the girls tennis team pay for its new ball machine.

-Props also to John Schweighart, Southeast's public address announcer, and his wingman, Mike Pusey, who offered the most hospitable press box I've ever worked in.

As for the rest of the oh, what a night:

-Round of applause to Ragsdale, which should officially change its mascot to the Little Engine That Could. The Tigers lost arguably their best player before the season and have been under duress in the final minutes of their last three games, yet they've gritted out three huge victories. They also put me in my place for looking ahead to what I though would be an undefeated Page-Dudley matchup next week. I got a voicemail from a Pirate alum today saying that Ragsdale "can only dream" of beating Page. She and I both deserve a pinch.

-No word yet how many players Grimsley was without tonight, but 32 points is still a lot for a team with such promise to be losing by. They are not a squad that is suited to play from behind - read: they have trouble throwing the ball - so they can't afford to be getting in such a hole. Open wound alert: They're at Ragsdale next week.

-Northwest did everything but give away its win to Northeast tonight. The Vikings led 22-0 at half and appeared on pace to cruise to a 3-1 record. Then Northeast scored, returned a blocked punt to the 2 and scored again, recovered two Northwest fumbles and drove them inside the red zone and had a potential game-tying touchdown called back on a holding penalty. "If a team comes out and plays bad, they're going to get waxed," Northwest head coach Joe Woodruff said. "We could easily be 1-3." Heck, Northeast would take that - the Rams are 0-3 for I believe the first time in Tommy Pursley's 16-year career. Guarantee you they're still going to win some games, though.

-I've heard some people call them a paper tiger, but there's really no way to knock Eastern Guilford after it handled Southeast, Northeast and now Western the last three weeks. That's three flawed but very good teams. Imagine if Eastern and Reidsville are both 7-0 heading into their game Oct. 17. It's not out of the question.

-Dudley beat Smith 36-0 tonight, and you're lying if you said you didn't see that coming. One interesting storyline, though: Dudley put its first-string defense back in the game for the final minute to preserve its shutout after Smith drove to the 12-yard line. What do you think - good motivational tactic or cruel and unusual punishment?

I'm running out of things to say about Dudley. The Panthers can do no wrong, it seems, taking out their fourth 4-A power of the season with a 28-21 win over Page on Friday. Pirates coach Kevin Gillespie used the same adjectives to describe the Panthers as everyone else: "Exactly what we expected ... big, strong, fast, physical ... three kids that can run it (Ricky Lewis Jr., J.R. Peterson and Fred Overby, who each deserve more carries than there are to go around)... the best running football team we've seen so far, and it ain't even close." It's so hard to beat a team that moves the ball this well on the ground, because even when it fumbles several times as it did Friday, it's still going to hold the ball most of the evening. That really cuts your margin for error.

I'll say this, though. Page was close. Very close. A play or two earlier in the game could have changed the complexion of the game entirely. The Pirates actually moved the ball very well, especially through the air - Brad Workinger had five catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and Colin Daly caught eight balls for 56 yards and a score. That's about as much damage as anyone's inflicted on the Panthers yet. But Dudley did defuse away one very critical weapon in Page's arsenal - it kept Will Newman to a quiet 48 yards rushing. It's much easier to beat the Pirates when Newman's not running around like he's got the opposite magnetic charge of the defense.

Dudley hasn't been blowing teams out, but the mark of a champion is finding a way to prevail when things are tight. With Western Alamance and Northeast Guilford both off last year's 10-win pace, I'd still put my money on the Panthers entering the playoffs undefeated.

For a less wordy description of what it feels like navigating the Panther defense, take a look at slide 5 of Joseph Rodriguez's slideshow of the game.

-The key to Dudley's ground success? The offensive line, duh. But the key to the offensive line? Both Lewis and head coach Stephen Davis and mentioned the team's weight training program, which has evolved significantly under Curtis McMillan since Davis took over. "You can't come in here and expect to beat a team like Page on talent alone," Davis said.

-Page doesn't play again until it hosts Davie County (4-1) on Oct. 3, which will probably feel like an eternity for a team that just let two potentially huge wins slip through its fingers. "It's tough. The guys are down," Gillespie said. "But with this group, I firmly believe they're going to come out, give a good week of practice and be ready to go. They're resilient."

-Get a week's worth of saliva ready, because Friday's Ragsdale-Southeast matchup is suddenly as important a game as there is left on the schedule. It's essentially the Mid-Piedmont 3-A championship. Ragsdale dominated the matchup the first part of the decade, but the home team has won each of the last three seasons. It's at Southeast this year. Falcons quarterback Terrance Topps, who is quickly becoming a folk hero after delivering last-second game-winners each of the last two weeks, will be key. Southern Guilford head coach Darryl Brown said Topps "can stretch the field vertically and open up a lot of stuff with his feet. They didn't have that last year."

-Grimsley's pass offense "wasn't the most sophisticated to begin with anyway," head coach Mark Saunders said last week, but the loss of quarterback Josh Patterson has clearly handcuffed the Whirlies the last two games. They passed the ball just four times against Ragsdale, completing one for three yards. Some mannequins are more proficient with the arm than that. Lashawn Brown and David Ray are a good running tandem, but even Adrian Peterson has a hard time finding space when the defense can put nine men in the box.

-We're so used to seeing East Carolina commitment Scotty Wayne's name in the box score for Southern Guilford - in case you missed it, he had four 30-plus-yard touchdowns Friday - but Darren Garcia's transition from wide receiver to quarterback has been just as pivotal in the Storm's 4-1 start. Two of Wayne's touchdowns Friday came off passes from Garcia, who is definitely still a runner first but has very quickly learned how to manage an offense. "It's probably gone better than we could have ever expected," Brown said. "We're definitely getting more out of him than we would have at wideout."

-Quote of the weekend: "I have never seen an offense play so good and not score a touchdown." -Northwest coach Joe Woodruff, whose team outgained Southeast 301-157 and still lost 10-8.

Watch Northwest running back Chris Kennedy on his skateboard – the sport he gave up for football.

Update: Read Tom Keller's story from Friday's News & Record.

More thoughts on the night in football tomorrow, but one question to consider now for those of you who were at Ragsdale-Southeast: Did you think a hold should have been called on the decisive touchdown? I'll say this: That was one of the most heated post-game atmospheres I've ever been around.