CARRBORO - Carrboro’s explosive offense combined with a stingy red zone defense to lead the Jaguars to a 37-8 win over Randleman in the second round of the NCHSAA 2AA Mideast football playoffs.

Trai Sharp rushed for 284 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Carrboro.

Carrboro (13-0) was No. 5 in the AP's final top 10 of North Carolina 2A teams and is No. 8 in the News and Observer rankings of all area teams. The Jaguars advance to host Reidsville in the third round's Mideast pod final on Friday. Reidsville (11-2) defeated St. Pauls 50-18 last Friday.

Randleman's Tigers finished the season at 8-5 overall.

Randleman moved the ball deep into Carrboro territory on its first four possessions Friday, but missed two field goal attempts, threw an interception and turned the ball over on downs; meanwhile, Carrboro scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions.

Randleman quarterback Zach Dunbar completed 24 of 47 pass attempts for 242 yard with one interception, and he led the Tigers effectively between the 20-yard lines, but the drives continually stuttered in the red zones.

"It squeezed the field a little bit because they were dinking and dunking their way down the field,” said Carrboro head coach Jason Tudryn. “The field became compressed and our guys could get on their heels a bit and drive forward on the football. Our defense did a great job of rising up and finishing down there."

The first period ended scoreless with Randleman controlling possession by running 25 offensive plays. After a Randleman field goal attempt missed wide right, the Jaguars took over at their own 20- yard line. Carrboro rushed the ball seven times to move the ball to the Randleman 49-yard line.

Carrboro quarterback Alex McVeigh fired a deep pass to Marlin Johnson for a 49-yard touchdown pass to break a 0-0 tie in the second period.

Randleman drove to the Carrboro 37-yard line on the next possession before cornerback Shamek Dolby picked off a deep pass from Dunbar, giving Carrboro the ball at its own 13-yard line. McVeigh hit Johnson on a quick slant, and Johnson turned upfield before racing untouched for a 79-yard touchdown catch. The extra point by Mike McPeak gave Carrboro a 14-0 lead with 6:08 left in the second period.

“Marlin had a great first half,” Tudryn said. “He made two great catches. He is a good football player."

Randleman reached the Carrboro 15-yard line on the next possession before turning the ball over on downs when a pass fell incomplete. On first down, Sharp took the handoff up the middle, bounced off some tackles before bouncing outside and sprinting down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, Carrboro led 21-0 with 2:30 left in the second period.

"We had some good opportunities that we just didn't take advantage of," Randleman coach Shane Handy said. "Missing out on those first couple of chances in the red zone hurt our momentum."

Carrboro got its last possession of the second quarter after forcing a Randleman punt with 1:03 left. The Jaguars drove 50 yards before McPeak booted an 18-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half to give Carrboro a 24-0 lead at intermission.

After a scoreless third period, Randleman scored its first points after Alex Rebolledo recovered a Sharp fumble. Bobby Gibbs scored on a broken play by scrambling for an eight-yard touchdown run.

Randleman quarterback Zach Dunbar completed the two-point conversion pass to Henry Vasquez to bring Randleman within 24-8 with 5:20 left in the fourth period.

But the rally was short-lived — barely 15 seconds.

Carrboro’s Malik Carrington recovered Randleman's ensuing onside kick attempt to set up a 55-yard touchdown run by Sharp on the next play from scrimmage. The extra-point failed after a bobbled snap, but Carrboro still led 30-8 with 5:07 to play.

After a Randleman punt, Carrboro tried to eat up the remaining time and Sharp added a 60-yard touchdown run on a simple off-tackle dive to give the final score of 37-8.