The year is 1981. Ronald Reagan was in the inaugural year of his presidency, the Oakland Raiders won a Super Bowl, and the De Lorean DMC-12, also known as the car from “Back to the Future,” rolled off the assembly line.

    That’s also the last time Fred T. Foard began a football season 4-0.

    “I’m proud of the whole offense,” Foard head coach Ryan Gettys said.

    Gettys, who in 1981 was playing junior varsity football at North Rowan, is the first head coach to own a 4-0 record since Dick Foster did it that same year. But he’s deflecting all praise away from him, and onto his players.

    “I’m not 4-and-0, they are,” Gettys said, pointing to the field where the Tigers had overwhelmed the Panthers (2-2, 1-1 Catawba Valley Athletic Conference) just a few minutes earlier. “It says more for the school and the community than it does for the coach.”

    Fresh off the heels of their first win at Maiden since 1982, the Tigers (2-0 CVAC) are turning heads in the early going, and making history while doing it. Going into Friday’s game, they were first in the league in defense against the run (99 yards per game) and second against the pass (81 yards per game). Against Patton, Fred T. Foard allowed only 192 yards of total offense, and itself, racked up 373 offensive yards.

    “This is the most athletic bunch we’ve had,” Gettys said. “This team’s really talented. I don’t know about [starting] 4-0, but we expected to be pretty good.”

    In their first three games, the Tigers scored 33, 33 and 47 points, respectively. Friday was no different.

     With the Tigers starting the game at their own 33, Owens, who had nine carries for 103 yards and two TDs, busted through the middle untouched and went 67 yards to start the game right where they left off at Maiden a week ago.

    “I’ve been worried about that all week myself,” Gettys said of a letdown after the Tigers’ win against the Blue Devils. “But I’ve been telling the kids all week, ‘stay focused, stay focused.’ And they did.”

    Owens’ TD was the first of four straight Fred T. Foard possessions with a touchdown, and overall, the Tigers started out 5-of-6 on possessions with TDs. Alex Miller’s TD run from the 2 made it 14-0, and with 2 minutes, 16 seconds still left in the first quarter, quarterback Landon Isenhour found Tyler Ruth wide open in the flats for a 70-yard TD strike and a 21-0 lead.

    In the second quarter, Isenhour kept it himself and took it in from the 3 for a TD and a 28-0 lead. On the Tigers’ fifth possession, Trent Safrit fumbled the ball after catching a pass from Isenhour which the Panthers recovered, but they gave it right back on the next play.

    With the Tigers’ drive starting at the Patton 35, four plays later Owens scored his second TD of the night from 12 yards out to give his team a 34-0 lead at halftime.

    In the second half, Taylor Lassiter picked up a Patton fumble and returned it 65 yards for a TD with 10:46 left in the third quarter. After being forced to punt on its next two possessions, the later of which was blocked, Jaheil Washington scored on a 6-yard run for the Tigers’ last score with 5 minutes to play.

    Patton’s Brandon Bethel (23 carries, 84 yards) punched it in from the 2 for the Panthers’ only score with 15 seconds left.

    Isenhour was 6-of-7 passing for 145 yards, with all six completions going for at least 12 yards. Washington had 92 yards on 17 carries.

    The win, coupled with Newton-Conover’s 36-7 win over Maiden, sets up a CVAC showdown next week at Foard. The unbeaten Tigers host the undefeated Red Devils at 7:30 p.m. Patton hosts Bunker Hill, who defeated West Caldwell 29-22 on Friday, ending its 22-game losing streak.