Mount Airy’s Pablo Salmeron (4) and Surry Central’s Luis Gonzalez (12) jockey for possession.

Granite Bear goalkeeper Edwin Ramirez punts after picking off a Golden Eagle through ball.

Surry Central’s Tino Martinez (13) switches the field during the first half against Mount Airy.

Elkin Lopez (7) crosses into the Golden Eagle 18-yard box.

Central defender Alberto Talavera keeps possession outside of the 18-yard box with a header.

Edwin Agabo takes a free kick for the Granite Bears during the first half of Thursday’s match.

DOBSON — The No. 1-ranked team in the 1A West remained extended its undefeated streak Thursday with a shutout win over a county foe.

Mount Airy, now 9-0 overall, put one in the back of the Surry Central net just a few minutes after the opening whistle, then added another goal late in the first half. Central found new life in the second half after going down 3-0, but wasn’t able to convert on the scoreboard.

The Granite Bears have now won five consecutive meetings against the Eagles dating back to 2017.

“Honestly, I’m not as disappointed as I thought I was going to be,” said Surry Central coach Adan Garcia. “All respect to Mount Airy; they have a great squad. I like to schedule these tough nonconference games to give us experience so when we get into our tough conference games against the likes of Forbush we’ll be ready.”

Mount Airy has yet to lose through nine matches this season, which was true in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons as well. New faces have continued to step up and help the team succeed, especially now as the team has been dealing with injuries.

”It’s the third game of the week and we played last night,” said Bears coach Will Hurley. “We had four starters out for a while, and still have three out, but hopefully they’ll get healed and time will be on our side. Through this experience, though, I thought it’s been good for those kids that stepped up.

“We got a little gassed in the second half…our legs were like spaghetti, but I thought we did a good job of possessing the ball and probably could’ve scored a few more goals. But, that’s just how soccer is sometimes.”

The opening half was all Mount Airy as the Bears built a 2-0 lead. Agripino Perez scored the opener off a Gavin Guerrero corner kick, and Elkin Lopez netted the second of an assist from Angel Osorno.

Surry Central (3-4-1) was held without a shot for the first 55 minutes of play.

“The first half I felt like we just weren’t hustling. We were just jogging to balls and getting outworked,” Garcia said. “They (Mount Airy) came out and got us on two mistakes immediately. At halftime I told them that we have to be physical. We’re playing on our home field and we have to put up a fight.”

Hurley loved what he saw from the back line, consisting primarily of Edwin Agabo, Carson Hill, Pablo Salmeron and Christopher Flores.

“Overall I thought our back line played tremendous,” Hurley said. “Central had one good chance to score, and our goalie came up.

“We tried having Pablo push up that side and he did great, and Edwin was great at covering for him. You know Edwin moves so well, and I like to joke with him saying that he proves to me that a guy that wrestles heavyweight can play soccer. I told him, ‘It’s going to help you wrestle and get a state championship this year. Just wait and see.’”

Central made changes to its lineup and formation in the second half. While the first 10-15 minutes of the half were similar to the first, with Mount Airy’s Osorno scoring off an assist from Lopez six minutes out of the break, Central was able regroup and put pressure on the Bears’ goal.

Chris Nava moved to offense, which Garcia said really opened up the offense and helped reenergize the Eagles.

“That relieved some pressure off the back and we were able to press up high, and Chris was a running machine up there with Luke [Creed],” Garcia said. “He lost some balls, but he immediately hustled back – which is exactly what I expect out of my players. That’s what lifted everybody’s spirits.”

A long Central throw from the corner in the 55th minute went through the box to Nava, and his shot sailed just wide of the left post. Still, it made Mount Airy keeper Edwin Ramirez dive for the first time Thursday night.

Even though Central spent much more time in Mount Airy’s defensive third in the second half, the Eagles still only put up two shots. This was because Ramirez covered every square foot of the 18-yard box and would intercept any attempt at a though ball.

“I’m glad the guys didn’t quit,” Garcia said. “That’s a really good team we just played, and they didn’t back down. Even down 3-0, we managed to get a shot off. Their keeper, Edwin, did a great job of coming out and pouncing on balls to prevent shots too. Some of those were played really well and, I’m not saying it would have been a goal against someone else, but it would’ve been dangerous.”

For both teams, the biggest takeaway from the nonconference meeting was experience. With conference play just beginning – Mount Airy is 2-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference and Surry Central is 1-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference – every match counts, and the Bears and Eagles both look to make a run at their respective conference titles.

Surry Central will play its final two nonconference matches of the season next week, traveling to Hibriten (6-1-3) and Ashe County (8-3).

Mount Airy will meet another NW1A-title contender, Starmount, on Sept. 19. Starmount is ranked No. 5 in the 1A West by MaxPreps and sits at 7-1-1 overall.

6’ Mount Airy 0-1, Agripino Perez from Gavin Guerrero assist

29’ Mount Airy 0-2, Elkin Lopez from Angel Osorno assist

46’ Mount Airy 0-3, Angel Osorno from Elkin Lopez assist

Reach Cory on Twitter @MaNewsSports

Job fair attracts more than 200

Lady Cardinals top Eagles to win 8th straight

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A 29th-minute goal off a free kick proved to be the difference maker in Wednesday’s Foothills 2A Conference match between East Surry and North Wilkes.

The Cardinals out-shot the visiting Vikings in both halves but couldn’t find the back of the net. East’s defense had a strong performance as well, but one momentary lapse allowed the match-winning goal to be scored.

The Cards (0-8-2, 0-6-1 FH2A), who feel they’re getting closer and closer to their first win of the season, have now suffered back-to-back one-goal losses.

“I’m feeling very discouraged at the moment,” said East Surry coach Samuel Lowe. “Our guys played really hard and we had shot after shot, we just couldn’t buy a goal. We hit the post a couple times and thought we had them on a handball in the box, but at the end of it we still lost 1-0. We had a little mistake there on the free kick and that was the difference.”

Lowe stressed that his disappointment didn’t stem from his players’ efforts, as they did everything he asked them to. However, he said he hates that they came so close to a victory and just couldn’t come away with it.

“I truly believe that if we could just get over this hump and win that first game that more victories will come,” Lowe said. “I’m proud of them and the way they played. This group has fought hard this whole year.”

East Surry’s progress from the first half of the season is evident when comparing scores. When the Cards first played the Vikings in Hays on Sept. 13, North Wilkes scored five times in the FH2A opener. This time around East Surry out-shot North Wilkes in both halves and only allowed one goal.

“Oh it was a lot different to the first time we played them,” Lowe said. “Not only did we out-shoot them, but we had more possession and more legitimate chances to score this time. They just put one away and we didn’t.”

A lot changed between meetings, including swapping players to different positions and letting more players see the field in various spots. Chemistry was the team’s issue early in the season because they had so few games, Lowe said, but now that they’ve had multiple weeks with two or more matches the Cards are starting to get used to each other.

East Surry’s defense is one position group Lowe applauded for their efforts in Thursday’s match.

“Alex Galvan has really stepped up in that center back position,” Lowe said. “Of course he’s one of our seniors and one of the fastest guys on our team. He and Logan [Fagg] work really well together, and when Logan pushes up Levi [Watson] and Kevin [Blakeney] stay back and they’ve got to where they play really well together.”

North Wilkes (8-7-1, 4-3 FH2A) tested East’s defense right off the bat by staying on the Cardinals’ defensive half for most of the first 15 minutes. Despite occupying East Surry territory and taking three corner kicks in the opening minutes of the game, North Wilkes was only able to attempt one shot during this time – which was saved by East Surry keeper Michael Youngblood.

A free kick put on target from Lupe Chavez in the 15th minute helped shift momentum in the Cards’ favor. Chavez, Erik Perez and Mario Flores helped East navigate the midfield while setting striker Jonathan de la Cruz up for runs.

Cruz took a through ball from Chavez in the 19th minute and shot to the far post. The Cardinals thought the ball hit the post and went over the goal line, but the official signaled that it did not.

Six minutes later, Flores took back-to-back corner kicks and Chavez had headers hit the cross bar. Kade Talton redirected a corner not long after North Wilkes’ goal, and once again the Cardinals thought a goal had been scored but the official said no goal.

North Wilkes’ scored on its second shot of the game. A foul was called on East 35 yards out from the goal, and the Vikings floated a kick over the defense to be headed into the net.

With the exception of the goal, all of North Wilkes’ five other shots were saved by Youngblood. The Vikings’ best chance to add to its lead came in the 58th minute when a through ball left the opposing striker one-on-one with Youngblood. The keeper charged and blocked the shot, but the Viking quickly jumped on the rebound and saw an open net in front of him. Before the player could shoot, Fagg swept in at the last possible second and cleared the ball out for a corner.

Cruz and Flores sent shots at the Viking keeper in the second half but couldn’t score.

Fagg pressed up with less than five minutes on the clock. Sid Sutphin found Chavez for a pass near midfield, and Chavez floated a ball into the box for Fagg and the Viking keeper to fight for. This happened three times in the final five minutes, but all three instances ended with North Wilkes in possession.

Fagg had one last shot in the final minute of play, but it too was saved. Cruz was in position for the rebound had the keeper bobbled the catch.

Lowe said the Cardinals would go back to the drawing board the next day and keep refining their skills. He did mention that the team is expected to get senior Juan Caro back in less than a week, and said “it’ll be big having him come back for sure.”

East Surry returns to action Oct. 10 at North Surry. This is the beginning of a three-game road trip for East, with the Cards not playing in David H. Diamont Stadium again until Oct. 24.

29’ North Wilkes 0-1, Ivan Duran on Mathew Pardo assist

DOBSON — Surry Central capped off its Senior Night celebration with a 3-2 win over North Wilkes.

The Golden Eagles secured at minimum a share of second place in the Foothills 2A Conference with Thursday’s five-set victory, which avenged a loss to the Vikings earlier this season.

After dropping the first set 25-22, Central stormed back and won the next two sets with scores of 25-14 and 25-23. North Wilkes battled back from a deficit in the fourth set to win 25-21, but Surry Central jumped out to a big lead in the decisive fifth set before winning 15-9.

Central is now 9-8 overall and 7-3 in conference play.

The Oct. 6 victory served as the final regular season home game for six Golden Eagle seniors: Emma Davis, Ashley Santamaria, Erica Coe, Aubrey Hodges, Marissa McCann and Laken Coe.

“I’ll tell you what I told them last night: they are special to me,” Central coach Maddison Payne said of the Class of 2023. “When I started coaching and coming in knowing they have had a different coach every year they have played, I really didn’t know what I was coming into. But, they welcomed me with open arms and I’ll forever be grateful for that.

“All of them will always hold such a special place in my heart. I wish we got more than one year together.”

The season didn’t get off to an ideal start for Surry Central when the Eagles dropped their first four matches. It took time for the team to adjust to playing without five of its players from the previous season, three of which went on to play collegiate volleyball.

Once the team gained that chemistry it showed in the win column. The Golden Eagles have won five of their past six matches and are set to finish higher in the conference than they did in 2021.

“I’ve learned a lot this season. We all have, and we are definitely not the team we were at the beginning of the season,” Payne said. “We had to learn what our strengths and weaknesses are. We’ve learned how to play smart and how to communicate better; that was our big thing at beginning of the season.

“I’m honestly so proud of how the girls have turned our season around and now are number two in the conference. I couldn’t be any prouder of them. They deserve it.”

Central has now avenged two of its three conference losses from earlier in the season.

Thursday’s Senior Night game looked to be a repeat of the first match against North Wilkes (11-9, 4-6 FH2A), which the Vikings won 3-0, early in the second set. An 8-1 run by North gave the visitors the first set, then the Viks began the second set with a 5-0 run.

Central came out of a timeout and won the next six points to force the first of three lead changes in the set. Strong serving set the tone for Golden Eagles, who finished the night with 15 aces and just five service errors on 105 attempts. North Wilkes cut the lead to 9-8 and 11-9, but a 7-0 Central run put the Eagles’ advantage out of reach.

An ace from Aubrey Southern ended the set at 25-14 and tied the overall score at 1-1.

The second set only had three lead changes and three ties, but the third set featured seven lead changes and 12 ties. Neither side led by more than three points in the third.

The back and forth set went the way of the Golden Eagles 25-23. Central had one of its best attacking sets in the third with Lily O’Neal shining at outside hitter. O’Neal finished with a team-high 11 kills.

McCann joined in on the attacking fun in the fourth set as Central got off to a 10-3 start. North Wilkes’ offense hit its high point as the Vikings chipped away at the lead to come back and eventually tie the score 19.

North Wilkes used its biggest run of the match, scoring 10-of-12 points, to turn a 19-15 deficit into a 25-21 set victory.

Tied two sets to two, Payne said she was confident in her girls’ abilities and they’d already proven how good they could play against North Wilkes.

“My message to them going into the fifth set was ‘Go out there and play our ball like we do,’ and that’s exactly what we did,” Payne said.

Kills from Mallie Southern and O’Neal forced a North Wilkes timeout with Central leading 5-2. Kylee Schendel served the Eagles on a 5-0 run after the score was tied 2-2. The Vikings scored on a well-placed attack to break the streak, and then Central went on a 4-0 run.

The Eagles led 12-4 when North Wilkes responded with a 5-0 run, prompting Payne to call a timeout. McCann won the next point with a kill, then a North Wilkes attack error set the Eagles up for the win. Hodges put the match away with a kill and the Eagles went wild.

Surry Central can finish second in the conference outright with a victory in one of its final two regular season matches, though they both come against top teams in the FH2A league. The Golden Eagles first face North Surry (9-10, 5-5 FH2A), who is the only other team still contending for second place.

A win over North Surry gives second place to Central, but a loss to North Surry means Central either has to beat conference champion East Surry (16-3, 10-0 FH2A) on the road OR count on a North Surry loss at North Wilkes in the regular season finale.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A sweep of Surry Central completed East Surry’s perfect season in the Foothills 2A Conference.

Led by a pair of seniors competing in their final regular season home match, the Cardinals defeated the Golden Eagles 9-0 on Oct. 5 to repeat as FH2A Champions. East finishes the regular season 13-1 overall and 12-0 in conference play.

East Surry recognized its senior duo – Tara Martin and Evelyn Ruedisueli – prior to the match. Both girls are four-year starters on the team that have competed in the top three for most of their careers. In addition to winning back-to-back team conference titles, Martin and Ruedisueli have the following accolades as a doubles team: two All-State selections, 1A State Runner-up, 2A State Semifinalists, 1A Midwest Regional Champions, 2A Midwest Regional Runners-up and two-time conference doubles champions.

Martin was also named All-State her freshman year with doubles partner Sarah Mann.

“Words can’t describe the journey I have experienced with Tara and Evelyn over the past four years,” said East Surry coach Alison Hooker. “These ladies have shown great dedication to the game, and have become great role models for the rest of the team. It has been a great honor to coach them for the past four years.

“Because of their personal sacrifice to their craft, I have grown as a coach and mentor. They are tremendous athletes, and even better people. I will thoroughly miss having them on our team, but can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”

Martin and Ruedisueli completed undefeated regular seasons with victories over Surry Central. Martin defeated McKenna Merritt 6-1, 6-0 in No. 1 singles, and Ruedisueli defeated Karlie Robertson 6-0, 6-1 in No. 2 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Martin/Ruedisueli defeated Merritt/Robertson 8-0.

Sophie Hutchens won No. 3 singles for East with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Priscilla Gentry, and Cardinal Taylor Bullington bested Madelyn Wilmoth 6-1, 6-1 in No. 5 singles.

The Cardinals wrapped up the overall match victory with a win in No. 4 singles. East’s Chloe Koons led 3-2 in the first set before winning three-straight games. Central’s Emma Bryant went up 2-1 in the second set, but Koons responded by taking a 4-3 lead and winning back-to-back games to secure the victory.

Central’s Mitzy Vasquez led 5-2 in No. 6 singles before Mallory Estrada stormed back to win the first set 7-5. The pair went into a set-tiebreaker for the second set, and Estrada took that victory as well by a score of 7-5.

In addition to Martin/Ruedisueli’s 8-0 doubles win, Bullington/Estrada handled business in No. 3 singles with an 8-1 victory over Vasquez/Kaesi Blythe.

No. 2 doubles was the most competitive of the three, with East’s Hutchens/Koons defeating Gentry/Bryant 8-5.

East Surry and Surry Central will both compete in the FH2A Tournament held Oct. 10 at Wilkes Central.

North Surry completed a season sweep of West Wilkes Tuesday with a 3-1 comeback victory.

The visiting Blackhawks capitalized on Greyhound mistakes in the opening set to take a 1-0 set lead. North Surry responded by taking each of the next two sets without trailing, then the Hounds used their biggest run of the evening to come back and win the decisive fourth set.

The Oct. 5 win keeps North Surry in the hunt for the Foothills 2A Conference’s second place automatic playoff bid.

East Surry owns the top spot in the FH2A Conference with a 9-0 record. While Surry Central is still technically in the running for the conference title at 6-3, the Eagles will be eliminated from contention if East wins any of its final three matches. That would leave four teams fighting for second in the conference: Surry Central (6-3), North Surry (5-5), Forbush (4-5) and North Wilkes (4-5).

The Greyhounds needed a win against West Wilkes to stay in the race for second place. North Surry looks to make its first postseason appearance since 2018. The Hounds would’ve made the playoffs in 2020-21 if it had been a normal season as they finished 10-4, but because of the coronavirus pandemic playoff selections were cut from 64 to 32.

The start of Tuesday’s match was less than ideal for North Surry as the Hounds took went down 1-0 out of the gate. The teams were tied at 21-21 in the first set when the Greyhounds gave up three points due to a net violation and two attack errors, paving the way for West Wilkes to win the set 25-22.

North Surry, who improves to 9-9 overall with the win over West Wilkes, regrouped in the second set and took a 12-3 lead. The Greyhounds minimized their own errors and took West Wilkes out of rotation with well-placed attacks. Setter Ella Riggs went all over the floor to set up proper attacks, and multiple Greyhound hitters showed off their accuracy by hitting spots of empty court.

North led 24-13 when West Wilkes stormed back with five consecutive points, but the Hounds were able to put the set away to win 25-18.

West Wilkes’ only lead of the middle two sets came at the start of the third. The 2-1 advantage was short-lived as Reece Niston took over the serve for North and quickly made it 5-2 in the Hounds’ favor. After West Wilkes interrupted the run with a kill, North Surry’s Haylee Smith and Callie Robertson showed off their attacking prowess to increase the lead to 10-3.

North Surry had its best serving set of the night in the third, which made West Wilkes’ returns less effective to allow North the opportunity to set up an ideal play. Zarah Love was a force at middle hitter and helped the Hounds increase their lead to 11 at 20-9.

The Greyhounds finished the set off with a strong statement. An attack from Robertson was blocked straight up, which allowed Sadie Badgett to swoop in and crush a kill down the line.

Kills from Riggs and Badgett gave North another strong start in the fourth set, putting the home team up 6-1. A run from West Wilkes forced ties at 8, 9 and 13 before the Blackhawks finally took the lead at 14-13. West went up 15-13 for the visitors’ first multiple-point lead since the first set.

An attack error gave the serve back to North Surry’s Riggs at 16-15. A Robertson kill tied the game at 16, then Blackhawk attack errors forced the final lead change of the match.

Similar to the third set, the Greyhounds set the pace with their serving. Riggs came out of a timeout at 20-16 and hit an ace, then West failed to return her next two serves.

North went on a 10-0 run to lead 24-16 before giving up a point to an attack error. Robertson fired back the next point with a kill to end the match.

North Surry begins the final week of regular season play with its Senior Night match against Surry Central on Oct. 11. The Greyhounds finish the season two days later at North Wilkes.

There are many noticeable changes to everyday life as calendars are flipped to October every year.

The weather usually gets a little colder, leaves begin to change color and seemingly every food and beverage suddenly has a pumpkin spice variety.

A more significant October change is the flood of pink as different schools and organizations recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Mount Airy High School did its part in raising awareness of the disease with Monday’s “Dig Pink” Volleyball Game. Sponsored by the MAHS Interact Club, the JV-Varsity double header against East Surry helped raise funds to benefit the battle against breast cancer.

Mount Airy wore special pink jerseys to commemorate the occasion on Oct. 3, and shirts were sold with all proceeds benefiting breast cancer awareness.

Mount Airy and East Surry, both undefeated in their respective conferences, took a break from league play to compete in the nonconference benefit match. The visiting Cardinals won the match 3-0 as the school extended its winning streak to nine matches.

The Granite Bears competed in the opening set before falling 25-17, then the Cardinals went into another gear and won the next two sets while only giving up 21 combined points – 25-8 and 25-13.

East Surry (15-3) took control of the match with a big run in the second set. Merry Parker Boaz took the service line with the Cards up 10-3 then served the next 12 points for East. The Cardinals led by as many as 19 on two occasions – 22-3 and 24-5 – but a late trio of points brought the Bears up to eight points before the set ended.

The Cardinals continued to groove into the third set by starting with a 13-2 run. Abby Epperson and Alissa Clabo had blocks for Mount Airy during the run, but as a whole East Surry’s offense couldn’t be slowed down. Boaz, Bella Hutchens and Mckenzie Davis had kills during the strong start to the set, and Lily Watson showed the Cards’ defensive capabilities with a big block.

Clabo ended East’s run with a kill, then an Epperson block of Hutchens brought the Bears back to life. Mount Airy used a 5-2 run to get back into the game before East’s Maggy Sechrist got the Cards going again with a kill. From this point, East led by at least eight points for the remainder of the set.

Following Monday’s match, Mount Airy returned home the following night to defeat North Stokes in Northwest 1A Conference action. The victory put the Granite Bears at 11-6 overall and 9-0 in conference play.

The NW1A Conference race is down to three teams: Mount Airy, in first place at 9-0; Alleghany, who sits at 7-1 with its only loss coming against Mount Airy; and Starmount, who is 4-3. A Mount Airy win in the next two weeks eliminates Starmount from title contention.

East Surry holds a three-match advantage over the rest of the Foothills 2A Conference and is already guaranteed a share of the conference championship. Surry Central is second at 6-3, but will be eliminated from title contention if East Surry wins one of its final three conference matches.

North Surry’s final home tennis match of the 2022 season went down to the wire on Oct. 3.

After a 3-3 split in singles, North Surry and Surry Central competed in a best 2-of-3 in doubles. The Greyhounds not only looked to avenge a loss to Surry Central earlier in the season, but wanted to honor their two seniors by forcing coach Jon Lattimore to recreate his iconic Senior Night pose – which was promised by the coach if the Hounds pulled out a victory.

Victories in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles helped North Surry to a 5-4 win over Surry Central. Monday’s Greyhound victory marked North’s second win over Central in the past decade.

The senior duo of Whitley Hege and Katie Butler led the Hounds to the victory. The duo played No. 1 and No. 2 singles – just as they had for most of their high school careers – then joined forces for No. 1 doubles. Hege and Butler both went undefeated on the day and accounted for three of North’s five wins against Central.

“Today’s match was very special as we celebrated Katie and Whitley,” Lattimore said. “My first year as coach was their freshmen year, and it’s hard to believe it’s been four years. I can’t say enough about the hard work and dedication these two ladies have shown every year I’ve coached them. Today’s match was a testament to that as they both really stepped up in singles and doubles.”

All three of North Surry’s singles victories came in straight sets. Butler was the first to finish in No. 2 singles by defeating Surry Central’s Karlie Robertson 6-0, 6-2 in what Lattimore called, “perhaps her best singles performance I’ve ever seen.”

Hege took down Surry Central’s McKenna Merritt 6-4, 6-1 in No. 1 singles, and North’s Sparrow Krantz defeated Mitzy Vasquez 6-1, 6-1 in No. 6 singles.

North Surry won the first set of all six singles matches. All three of Central’s singles wins came after players rallied to win the second set before taking the match overall with a third-set tiebreaker.

“We knew the match was going to be close and all of our players came out with a sense of urgency,” Lattimore said. “You could tell they were determined to give their very best on Senior Night.

“I’ve got to hand it to Surry Central’s players for being resilient and forcing three matches to third-set tiebreakers and actually coming out on top in all three.”

Golden Eagle No. 4 seed Emma Bryant had Central’s first win of the day. Bryant dropped the first set of her singles match 6-1 to Molly Reeves, but won the second 6-2. The pair were neck and neck in the tiebreaker before Bryant came away with the 10-8 win.

The No. 5 singles match was the only one with multiple tiebreakers. North’s Mattie Bare won the first set 7-6 by winning the set tiebreaker 7-3, then Central’s Madelyn Wilmoth fired back with a 6-2 second-set win. Wilmoth went on to take the third-set tiebreaker 10-5.

Long rallies on court No. 3 made the matchup of North’s Clara Burke and Central’s Priscilla Gentry the final singles bout to finish. Burke pulled out the first set win 7-5, but then Gentry took the second set 6-2 and the third-set tiebreaker 10-8.

After both girls won in singles, Central’s Gentry and Bryant teamed together in No. 2 doubles to defeat Reeves and Bare 8-6.

Burke and Krantz evened the overall score at 4-4 by defeating Wilmoth and Kaesi Blythe 8-6 in No. 3 doubles, and the senior duo of Hege and Butler capped off the team victory with an 8-4 win over Merritt and Robertson in No. 1 doubles.

“I’m extremely proud of how hard everyone played and it’s always great to get a win on Senior Night,” Lattimore said.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry took a step closer to repeating as Foothills 2A Conference Champions by defeating Wilkes Central on Sept. 30.

Wilkes Central used an early trick play to go up 6-0 in the first quarter, joining Starmount and North Wilkes as the only teams to take a lead over East this season. Like both the previous instances, Wilkes Central’s advantage was short-lived as East scored two touchdowns less than 70 seconds after the Eagles’ initial score.

The Cardinals led by as many as 29 before going on to win 41-19.

East Surry’s defense locked Wilkes Central down for most of the game, with the outliers coming on Wilkes’ first and last drives of the game. The Eagles opened with an 88-yard touchdown pass, then went 84 yards on their final offensive possession in the fourth quarter.

These two drives accounted for 172 of Wilkes Central’s 219 total yards. The Eagles completed 10-of-17 passes for 154 yards and rushed 32 times for 65 yards.

East Surry, now 7-0 overall, had its third game of the season with double-digit tackles for a loss with 11.0 against Wilkes Central. Hatcher Hamm led the way with three TFLs, and Brett Clayton, Anderson Badgett, Daniel Villasenor and Kyle Zinn each had two.

Clayton and Badgett each had one sack and one QB hurry, while Lindann Fleming and Will Jones each had pass deflections. Clayton also forced a fumble that was recovered by Jones.

Wilkes Central, who falls to 4-3 overall, only led for 49 seconds in Friday’s game. Following the Eagles’ opening touchdown, the Cards scored quickly on a run from quarterback Folger Boaz. Central muffed the ensuing kickoff to put the ball back into East’s hands, and Boaz immediately found Colby Johnson for a 45-yard touchdown pass.

The Cardinal offense recorded a season-high 352 yards passing against the Eagles.. One week after Boaz became the all-time leading passer in East Surry history, he passed North Surry’s Chase Swartz (Class of 2020) to become the all-time leader in yards passing in Surry County history.

Folger Boaz now sits at 7,257 career passing yards with 348 yards against Wilkes Central. Swartz drops to second in county history with 7,059, and Jefferson Boaz (East Surry Class of 2020) is third with 6,738.

Against the Eagles, Boaz’s 348 yards and five passing touchdowns came on 29-of-41 completions (70.7%). Sophomore Luke Bruner added one completion for four yards.

Boaz would connect for four more passing touchdowns before halftime.

Johnson paced East Surry’s receivers with 135 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 10 receptions. Eight different Cardinals had receptions, and four had receiving touchdowns.

Matthew Keener followed Johnson with 81 yards and a touchdown on four catches, followed by Luke Brown with 50 yards and a touchdown on three catches, Zinn with 40 yards and a touchdown on five catches, Matthew Edwards with 17 yards on two catches, Stephen Brantley with 15 yards on three catches, Clayton with 8 yards on one catch, Hayden Sammons with four yards on one catch and Gabriel Harpe with one catch for no gain.

The Cardinals added 144 yards rushing on 22 carries to finish with 496 total yards. East Surry has finished with at least 420 yards in 6-of-7 games in 2022.

Boaz led the Cardinal rushers with 88 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Edwards added 31 yards on five carries, followed by Zinn with 14 yards on four carries, Fleming with 7 yards on one carry, Clayton with 5 yards on two carries, Sammons with 3 yards on one carry, Bruner with one carry for -1 yard and Johnson with one carry for -3 yards.

East Surry takes a BYE week on Oct. 7 before hosting Forbush on Oct. 14. Forbush sits at second in the conference at 2-0 and will face 1-1 Surry Central this week.

Behind Forbush: Wilkes Central is 2-1, Surry Central and North Wilkes are 1-1, and West Wilkes and North Surry are 0-3.

In a game where North Surry and Forbush combined for more than 800 yards of offense, a play on defense turned out to be the difference in a 42-41 Falcon victory on homecoming Thursday night at Atkins Stadium.

That play came courtesy of a fumble recovery from Forbush’s Dylan Spillman with 1:25 to play in the game, which preserved the one-point lead.

“That was huge,” said Forbush head coach Jeremy Funderburk of the play. “With a special athlete like they have, and they’ve got plenty of them, but a special athlete like Jahreece (Lynch), anytime that he touches the ball, it’s scary; it could go a long way and we were fortunate to make one play there at the end.”

But the Greyhounds, who dropped to 0-3 in Foothills 2A Conference action, had things going their way late in the third quarter.

Jake Simmons, who finished with 164 yards rushing and three touchdowns, put North Surry up 27-20 with a 49-yard rushing score.

Forbush (2-4, 2-0) had a chance to tie the game after an eight-yard gain from Bryson Taylor, put his team in the red zone.

Lynch sacked Taylor on the next play and the Falcons were pushed back to fourth-and-nine from the Greyhound 24. Forbush tried a little trickery as Cristofur Martinez took the pitch from Taylor, looking for McKinley Reavis in the end zone.

But Talan Vernon broke up the pass for a turnover on downs.

North Surry (1-5) used a 68-yard rush from Simmons and Colton Allen found Lynch on a 22-yard touchdown to make it a two-possession game.

Then the Falcons battled back behind the play of Regan Ramey.

The senior, who took over under center after Taylor left the game early in the third with an injury (and did not return), had a hand in all but three of Forbush’s offensive plays over the final 16 minutes of the game.

Ramey finished with a game-high 219 rushing yards and four touchdowns and scored on a 7-yard run to make it a one-possession game. On the ensuing onside kick, Austin Choplin recovered the ball to put Forbush on the North Surry 43.

The senior followed up with a 1-yard touchdown to put the Falcons ahead 34-33 after missing the conversion — leaving the door open for North Surry.

The Greyhounds would capitalize with Lynch’s third touchdown of the night — a 45-yard reception from Allen. Fisher Leftwich added the conversion run to regain the advantage with 9:32 to play.

Forbush once again responded the play of Ramey as the team chewed up seven minutes of clock.

Set up with first-and-goal from the five after an eight-yard gain from Cristofur Martinez, the junior pushed the ball to the one.

On the next play, Ramey plunged into the end zone from a yard out and then added the two-point conversion for the one-point lead.

Lynch set up North Surry in an ideal spot after a 55-yard return on David Guadarrama’s kickoff, all the way to Forbush’s 44 with just a little more than two minutes left, setting up the final defensive sequence.

The senior put North Surry on the board on the game’s second offensive play, but with his arm. Lynch took the handoff from Allen and a found wide-open Leftwich for a 48-yard touchdown pass.

The Greyhounds, who led 21-20 at halftime, will look for its first conference win when it travels to West Wilkes on Friday night.

The Falcons, who have now won two-straight homecoming games on the road, will return home for their own homecoming this coming Friday against Surry Central.

NSU—Fisher Leftwich 48-yard pass from Jahreece Lynch (run fail) 11:14

FB — Regan Ramey 4-yard run (David Guadarrama kick) 6:58

NSU — Jake Simmons 24-yard run (Colton Allen run) 3:48

FB — Bryson Taylor 1-yard run (Guadarrama kick) 10:20

NSU — Simmons 2-yard run (Jimmy Burnett kick) 4:30

FB — Taylor 5-yard run (kick failed) 0:29

NSU — Simmons 49-yard run (kick blocked) 7:16

NSU — Lynch 22-yard pass from Allen (run fail) 4:35

FB — Ramey 7-yard run (Ramey kick) 1:55

FB — Ramey 1-yard run (run fail) 11:32

NSU — Lynch 45-yard pass from Allen (Leftwich run) 9:32

FB — Ramey 1-yard run (Ramey run) 2:11

Rushing: Regan Ramey 40-219 and 4 TD; Bryson Taylor 11-85 and 2 TD; Jesse Wooten 8-30; Cristofur Martinez 3-18.

Passing: Bryson Taylor 3-3-0 for 61 yards; Cristofur Martinez 0-1-0 for 0 yards.

Receiving: Mckinley Reavis 1-31; Cristofur Martinez 1-24; Regan Ramey 1-6.

Rushing: Jake Simmons 12-164 and 3 TD; Jahreece Lynch 7-79; Makiyon Woodbury 1-7; Colton Allen 2-(-16).

Passing: Colton Allen 6-7-0 for 122 yards and 2 TD; Jahreece Lynch 1-1-0 for 48 yards and 1 TD.

Receiving: Jahreece Lynch 2-67 and 2 TD; Makiyon Woodbury 4-55; Fisher Leftwich 1-48 and 1 TD.

Mount Airy took sole possession of the Northwest 1A Conference’s top spot with a 43-7 victory over Starmount on Sept. 29.

Moved up a night to avoid the impact of Hurricane Ian, Thursday’s game seemed to have all the ingredients of a defensive battle through the first half. Two teams that averaged more than 33 points per game heading into Thursday – the Granite Bears 46.5 and the Rams 33.4 – combined for just three touchdowns in an opening half that featured two turnovers-on-downs and six punts.

A few touchdowns that were called back due to penalty flags kept the home Bears from running away with a lead in the third quarter, but Mount Airy’s offense was too much to contain in the fourth. A 21-point final quarter lifted Mount Airy to its third NW1A victory.

Neither side was particularly thrilled with the number of offensive penalties called in the game. Each team was flagged nine times total, and seven of those for each team were called on the offense.

Mount Airy had three touchdowns and more than 150 yards called back due to penalties.

The Granite Bears still managed to find the end zone six times and make one field goal in Thursday’s win. Tyler Mason accounted three of those touchdowns to go with his 214 yards rushing.

The junior running back, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the season on Thursday, recorded his third game of the season of at least 200 yards rushing and his seventh scoring multiple touchdowns.

The Rams and Bears each relied on their ground game in the NW1A battle. Starmount finished with 172 total yards, and 170 were rushing. Mount Airy, meanwhile, rushed for 311 of its 425 total yards.

Neither side could break through the opposing defense in the early going. Through the first 11 minutes of the first quarter, the only play of more than 4 yards from scrimmage – for either team – was an 11-yard Ian Gallimore pass to Walker Stroup. Mount Airy’s Third Floyd and Cam’Ron Webster made big stops for the Bears’ defensive line, while Starmount’s Cole Longworth and Caden Abernethy did the same for the Rams.

Mason broke free for the first big play of the game when he scored a 47-yard touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Starmount’s Zack Dezern, who led the Rams with 104 yards rushing on 16 carries, retaliated by scoring an 80-yard touchdown run before the end of the first quarter.

Neither offense could make it to the red zone again until the final seconds of the second quarter. Starmount went for a fourth-and-2 on Mount Airy’s 40-yard line, but Dezern was stopped by the Bears’ Connor Burrell at the line of scrimmage. Gallimore made two big completions to Walker Stroup – the latter of which was made in double coverage – to put Mount Airy on the Ram 2-yard line with 21 seconds remaining in the half.

Mason plugged in the 2-yard run, but it was called back due to a hold. Gallimore then found Mario Revels for a 10-yard gain and the Bears called timeout with two seconds on the clock. Gallimore and Revels worked their magic again on the next play to give the home team a 16-7 lead at the half.

Gallimore’s mark of 114 yards passing against Starmount is his highest of the 2022 season.

AJ Pardue recovered a Mason fumble on Mount Airy’s opening drive of the second half, but the Rams weren’t able to move the chains. In fact, Starmount started the second half with five three-and-outs. The Bears’ Caleb Reid, Deric Dandy and Caden Joyce all picked up sacks in the half, while Webster and Landon Cox added tackles for a loss.

After the fumble, Mount Airy punted on its next offensive possession after a 60-yard Mason touchdown run was called back. The Bears made another defensive stop and scored on a 39-yard Mason run, which was the first of four-consecutive scoring drives for Mount Airy.

Starmount finally got its initial first down of the second half on the game’s final drive, which came with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

In addition to Dezern’s 104 yards rushing, Pardue carried 11 times for 25 yards and Preston Williams rushed eight times for 43 yards. Luke Kimmer completed the Rams’ only pass, a 2-yard gain, to Ryan Kimmer.

Gallimore completed 7-of-14 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. Stroup had three catches for 78 yards, and Revels made four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Mason led all rushers with 16 carries for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Gallimore added 10 carries for 15 yards, Reid had five carries for 30 yards and a touchdown, Traven Thompson rushed twice for 43 yards, Taeshon Martin ran once for 7 yards, Landon Gallimore had one carry for 4 yards and Nas Lemon rushed once for -2 yards.

Mount Airy (6-1 overall) sits atop the NW1A standings with a 3-0 record. East Wilkes is 2-1, with its only loss coming against the Bears during Week 5. Elkin, Starmount and Alleghany are next at 1-1, followed by South Stokes 1-2 and North Stokes at 0-3.

Mount Airy travels to North Stokes on Oct. 7, while Starmount will host Elkin. Mount Airy’s game will be held at West Stokes High School due to construction at North Stokes.

5:52 MAHS 3-0 – Walker Stroup 26-yard field goal

0:16 MAHS 10-0 – Tyler Mason 47-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

0:00 STAR 10-7 –Zack Dezern 80-yard rushing TD, Alex Mora PAT

0:00 MAHS 16-7 – Mario Revels 5-yard TD reception on Ian Gallimore pass, 2-point conversion no good

3:50 MAHS 22-7 – Tyler Mason 39-yard rushing TD, 2-point conversion no good

11:25 MAHS 29-7 – Caleb Reid 8-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

8:54 MAHS 36-7 – Tyler Mason 36-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

4:59 MAHS 43-7 – Tyler Mason 36-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

DOBSON — Four goals from Luke Creed combined with a late scoring push lifted Surry Central over visiting North Surry on Sept. 28.

The Golden Eagles never trailed in Wednesday’s match, but the Greyhounds cut it to a one-score game twice in the second half. A North Surry goal made it 3-2 with 13 minutes left to play.

After the goal, North didn’t take another shot for the rest of regulation. Surry Central kept its offense at full force and finally added a pair of goals in the final 120 seconds to win 5-2.

The rejuvenated Surry Central squad is on the rise after winning three consecutive matches for the first time this season.

The Golden Eagles sat at 3-6-2 on the season coming into this past week. Central had lost three straight and tied once while failing to score in all four matches, prompting a team meeting to discuss the team’s mental toughness.

“Our guys can play; if they couldn’t I’d understand our results, but the fact that they can play and aren’t showing it enraged me,” said Eagles coach Adan Garcia. “I asked them yesterday that for that practice and every day after to come out here hungry. They have to. Because some of these teams can punish you if we keep playing the way we have.

“North Surry is a perfect example of it because they had two quality chances and they took advantage of them because they were hungry. Luckily, our team was just as hungry if not a little bit more. Both teams just played great, and that forced our team to push it up a notch.”

Surry Central, now 6-6-1 overall and 4-1 in the Foothills 2A Conference, scored 11 goals in three matches between Sept. 26 and 29. This came after the Eagles only scored a total of 12 goals in their opening 11 matches from Aug. 17 to Sept. 22.

In addition to the increased strength in mental toughness, Central has been able to create offense more efficently thanks to a new mindset during games. This sprouted from a conversation Garcia had with former Surry Central head coach Blake Roth, who led the program to 247 wins between 2003 and 2018.

“We have a great mentor in Blake Roth,” Garcia said. “He brought it to our attention that we’ve been playing on the defensive all season because of our nonconference opponents even though nonconference is over. We played 3A and 4A teams – Glenn, Davie, Reagan, Statesville, etc – because those are teams that are bigger, faster and stronger than us. We played them to test ourselves and get better, but that pushed our mindset to be almost entirely defensive minded.

“Once we started playing similar programs, that mindset hurt our chances in a lot of those games and we needed to change.”

Part of those changes was an altered formation, which the Eagles used against the Greyhounds. It paid dividends as Central’s Creed struck first in the 25th minute to go put the Eagles up 1-0. Surry Central could tell the difference in their game through just the first half.

Creed found the back of the net again in the 47th minutes, this time using a through ball from Jonathan Avila to beat the Greyhounds’ back line.

North Surry (5-7, 2-3 FH2A) kept up the fight and used the sidelines to spread the field. Edgar Vazquez served as a distributing attacking center midfield and had weapons such as Bryan Martinez, Bali Raya and Oliver Fajardo at his disposal.

Vazquez sent a ball to the left corner for Emiliano Calderon to chase down in the 54th minute. Calderon saw Martinez crashing at the top of the 18-yard box and assisted his teammate’s goal.

It was eight minutes later when Creed completed his hat trick. Just five minutes after Creed’s third goal, Raya scored for North Surry to close the gap to 3-2.

Earlier in the season, Garcia said the Eagles likely would’ve moved to a defensive formation late in the game to keep the 3-2 lead alive. Instead of doing that against the Greyhounds, the Golden Eagles stayed on the attack and cointinued to fire shots on goal. This worked to keep North Surry in its own defensive third, and Raya’s goal was the Hounds’ final shot of the game.

Greyhound keeper Josh Garcia fended off multiple attacks in the final minutes. It was another through ball from Avila to Creed, this time with just 1:51 left to play, that gave the Eagles some breathing room.

Instead of falling back to defend, Central added another goal with less than 60 seconds left on the clock. Cristofer Tello took a free kick 45 yards out and it was finished by Tino Martinez.

“Everything about how we scored today is something we worked on yesterday,” Garcia said. “Coach A (Adrian Gonzalez) and Coach B (Bernardo Leandro) worked with them on it specifically. It looks like they’re starting to think “hey, maybe the coaches are right,” so I hope it’s a step in the right direction.”

Surry Central sits at second in the FH2A standings at 4-1, trailing on 5-0 Forbush. Wilkes Central is third at 3-2, North Surry and North Wilkes are tied at 2-3, West Wilkes is 1-4-1 and East Surry is 0-4-1.

Both North Surry and Surry Central continue FH2A play on Oct. 3. Surry Central hosts East Surry, and North Surry hosts North Wilkes.

25’ Surry Central 1-0, Luke Creed unassisted

47’ Surry Central 2-0, Luke Creed from Jonathan Avila assist

54’ North Surry 2-1, Bryan Martinez from Bali Raya assist

62’ Surry Central 3-1, Luke Creed unassisted

67’ North Surry 3-2, Bali Raya unassisted

79’ Surry Central 4-2, Luke Creed from Jonathan Avila assist

80’ Surry Central 5-2, Tino Martinez from Cristofer Tello assist

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry strengthened its hold on first place in the Foothills 2A Conference with a victory in Wednesday’s league match.

The Cardinals had two of the top five individual scores and three in the top seven.

Six FH2A schools sent golfers to the meet, and five had enough to compete as a team. East Surry, North Surry, Surry Central, Wilkes Central and North Wilkes all had enough to compete as a team, while Forbush had one golfer compete as an individual.

Surry Central’s 2022 girls golf team is the school’s first in the past handful of years.

East Surry won the team competition with a combined score of 154 strokes. The Cards are currently first in the FH2A regular season standings and lead Wilkes Central by 59 strokes.

Surry Central finished second with a team score of 178 stokes, and North Surry wasn’t far behind at 179. Wilkes Central finished fourth at 186 strokes, and North Wilkes rounded out the team competition with 201.

East Surry’s Sophie Harris was the medalist for the meet with a nine-hole score of 41 strokes.

*The top three individual performances contribute to team score. Teams with only two girls competing were given an automatic 70 for the third spot.

East Surry fended off a fired-up North Surry squad on Wednesday to keep its winning streak alive.

The home Greyhounds shocked the No. 5-ranked Cardinals by taking the first set of the match, marking the first time all season that a fellow 2A team won a set against the ladies from Pilot Mountain. East fired back by winning the next two sets while only ever trailing for one point, but North found new life and was on the verge of forcing a decisive fifth set.

A late comeback in the fourth set helped East Surry win its seventh consecutive match.

The story of North-East round two, held Sept. 27, was far different than the teams’ initial meeting on Sept. 1. The teams’ first encounter in Pilot Mountain saw the Cardinals win in straight sets while winning each set by double digits: 25-13, 25-10 and 25-14.

Following that match, North won five of its next seven matches to get over .500 for the first time in 2022 at 8-7 overall. The Greyhounds also moved up to third in the Foothills 2A Conference standings by avenging a loss to Wilkes Central.

North Surry showed its improvement by taking the first set against East. Not only was this East Surry’s first set loss to a 2A team all season, but it was also the team’s first first-set loss to a 2A team since 2018.

The Hounds led 22-17 in the set when the Cards mounted a 7-1 run. A service error from East Surry evened the score at 24-24, then North’s defense held on long enough to take the next two points and win 26-24.

The Cardinals, who entered Tuesday’s conference bout having won seven of their past eight matches, quickly regrouped in the second set.

Kate McCraw served the Cards to a 5-0 start. Kills from Mckenzie Davis and Bella Hutchens increased that lead to 12-3, in which time North used both of its timeouts for the set. A block from Callie Robertson and an ace from Reece Niston helped North Surry battle back to a handful, but East’s offense was too much.

The Cardinals never trailed in the second set and led by as many as nine points, going on to win 25-18.

Everything clicked again for East in the third set as they went on to win 25-10. North Surry showed flashes of excellence at times, but only earned back-to-back points once in the set thanks to five service errors.

Business picked up in the fourth set. North and East had five lead changes and nine ties before either side reached 15 points. The Hounds had stronger serving than previous sets, with Niston and Ella Riggs picking up aces, while Aniya Joyce and Zarah Love dominated on the front line both offensively and defensively.

East had trouble putting rallies away midway through the set with Niston, Joyce and Sadie Badgett playing the back row for North. Cardinal coach Katelyn Markle called a timeout down 9-7 to strategize, then the Cards came out and scored six of the next nine points.

Hutchens and Lily Watson began the run with strategically placed attacks, then Merry Parker Boaz won three consecutive Cardinal points with kills. This time, it was the Cardinal back row of McCraw, Samarin Kipple and Katie Collins digging North Surry attacks to set the front row up for kills.

Greyhound coach Shane Slate then used his first timeout to game plan. The coach’s plan worked, and North’s front row was able to hinder East’s attacks. Callie Robertson had blocks on three straight rallies to ignite the crowd and give the Greyhounds a 15-13 lead. Love added to the run with a kill, and an ace from Haylee Smith forced East to use its second timeout down 17-13.

The teams continued to battle back and forth until North led 21-18. The Hounds gave away a point with a service error and this opened the door for an East Surry comeback. With Collins serving, the Cardinals used a 6-0 run to go up 24-21.

A service error from East finally put the ball back in North’s hands, but then a service error from North ended the set at 25-22.

East Surry now has a three-game lead over the rest of the FH2A Conference at 8-0. The Cards can win a share of the conference with one win in their four final FH2A matches, or can clinch the outright championship by winning twice.

Surry Central is second in the conference at 5-3, and North Surry and Wilkes Central are tied for third at 4-4. Forbush is next at 3-4, followed by North Wilkes at 2-5 and West Wilkes at 1-7.

Mount Airy High School recognized three seniors prior to Tuesday’s match against North Stokes.

The trio of Kancie Tate, Charlotte Hauser and Audrey Marion – which have been instrumental to the success of the defending 1A Dual Team State Champion program – were all honored alongside their parents as part of the Granite Bears’ Senior Night. The match itself ended the same way most the matches during their tenure have: 9-0 in favor of Mount Airy.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to coach Kancie, Audrey and Charlotte over the course of the past three years,” said Mount Airy coach Luke Graham. “Their individual work ethic and leadership – both verbally and by example – has played a huge part in shaping what we’ve been trying to do as a team the past couple seasons.

“I was extremely happy for them to see the turnout today – family, friends, students and faculty. They deserve it. Their parents have been tremendously supportive of our team as well, and I’m sincerely grateful to the girls and their families.”

All three girls posted wins in singles and doubles against North Stokes.

Tate took down Ada Hassan 6-4, 6-1 in No. 3 singles. Kancie is a four-year starter who improved to 15-0 in singles this season with her win on Tuesday.

Marion defeated Emma Gunn 6-0, 6-0 in No. 4 singles. Audrey is a four-year starter who improved to 15-0 in singles this season with the victory.

Hauser beat North’s Ila Hassan 6-0, 6-1 in No. 5 singles. Charlotte is a three-year starter who improved to 14-1 in singles this season with win over Hassan.

Rounding out singles, Mount Airy’s: No. 1 seed Carrie Marion defeated Chandler Sizemore 6-2, 6-0, No. 2 seed Ella Brant defeated Rori Long 6-1, 6-0, and No. 6 seed Audrey Brown defeated Maranda Bullins 6-0, 6-0 for the match’s other double-bagel victory.

Defending 1A Doubles State Champions Brant and Carrie Marion won No. 1 doubles 8-3 over Sizemore and Long. The senior duo of Tate and Hauser defeated Gunn and Ada Hassan 8-2 in No. 2 doubles, and the senior-freshman tandem of “the Audreys” – Marion and Brown – defeated Emma Hooker and Ila Hassan 8-0.

Mount Airy clinched at least a share of the Northwest 1A Conference Championship with Tuesday’s victory, giving the Bears their second consecutive conference title. The Granite Bears need just one win to clinch the outright NW1A title.

Mount Airy looks to finish out the year unbeaten when traveling to Elkin on Oct. 4 and Alleghany on Oct. 6.

DOBSON — Surry Central flipped the script on Mount Airy Monday to even the score from the opening match of the 2022 season.

Mount Airy began the season at home with a 3-0 victory over Central, marking the Bears’ first straight-set win over the Eagles since 2016. The teams met for round two in Dobson on Sept. 26 and it was Surry Central’s turn for a sweep.

The Golden Eagles won three close sets over the Bears, which included a near-double digit comeback in the third set, to secure the nonconference victory

Surry Central (6-7, 4-3 Foothills 2A) has won three of its past four matches and is 6-3 in its past nine matches after starting the season 0-4.

Mount Airy (9-5, 7-0 Northwest 1A) drops just its second match of September. The Bears are 2-4 against teams from the 2A division but 7-1 against fellow 1A teams.

Similar to their first meeting between the teams all three sets ended with close scores. Central used an early run to gain and hold a lead, winning the first set 25-20. Surry Central then staved off a Mount Airy comeback in the second set to win 25-20 again before mounting a comeback of their own to take the final set 25-23.

Surry Central went on runs of seven or more consecutive points in all three sets.

The first of these runs occurred when the Bears led 13-11 in the opening set. Central’s Marissa McCann rattled off three back-to-back-to-back aces as the home team forced the final lead changed of the set, going up 18-13. Attacks from Alissa Clabo and Morgan Mayfield brought Mount Airy back within three at 22-19, but two service errors and a net violation on the Bears led to the end of the set.

Mount Airy started the second set with a 4-0 lead. Central’s Kylee Schendel and Presley Smith used placement over power to put shots away and tie the score at 7-7. Five Central service errors in the set left the door open for Mount Airy to take the lead permanently, but instead the teams had four ties before either side reached double digits.

McCann subbed back in for the Eagles and put away a rally with a kill before Central committed a service error. Another McCann kill gave the serve to Surry Central’s Aubrey Southern at 12-10, which started an 8-0 run for the Eagles.

Central worked to place attacks in spots that would break Mount Airy’s rotation. This kept the Bears from setting up attacks while allowing the Eagles more opportunities to put rallies away. McCann had three kills during the run, and Lily O’Neal and Schendel each added one. O’Neal also had a block on the run, and Southern recorded an ace.

A Mount Airy attack error put Central up 19-10, but the Eagles followed with a service error that would spark an 8-1 Bears run. Kennedy Gwyn started off with an ace, then Clabo and Isabella Allen recorded kills to bring the Bears back.

The Bears cut the Eagles’ lead to 20-18 before an O’Neal kill gave the home team momentum. Central ended the set with a 5-2 run.

Mount Airy matched its biggest run of the match in the third set. The Bears led 11-9 before scoring eight of the next nine points, and the only point earned by the Eagles during this time came from a Mount Airy service error.

Surry Central wasn’t able to return Allen’s serve on three consecutive points. When Central finally was able to get back over the net, attack errors proved costly and the visitors seemed to be on their way to a set victory up 19-10.

Kills from McCann and O’Neal showed the Eagles still had some fight left in them. Miscommunications by the Bears gave momentum to the Golden Eagles, and Mount Airy had to call a timeout with the lead trimmed to 19-16.

Southern came out of the timeout and gave Mount Airy trouble with her serve. A Southern ace capped off the 10-0 run and gave Central the 20-19 advantage.

The teams traded points until facing a 23-23 tie, then back-to-back attack errors by the Bears gave Central the overall win.

Two local tennis programs are in line to repeat as conference champions with the regular season winding down.

Mount Airy and East Surry both find themselves in similar position to late September during the 2021 season: undefeated in conference play and ranked in their respective state polls.

Mount Airy (13-1, 7-0 Northwest 1A), the defending 1A Dual Team State Champion, hasn’t left the top three of the N.C. High School Tennis Coaches Association (NCHSTCA) 1A Poll all season. The Bears started as the preseason No. 1, dropped to No. 3 for week one, went back to No. 1 in week two, fell to No. 2 in week three and have been No. 1 ever since.

East Surry (10-1, 9-0 Foothills 2A) didn’t appear in the NCHSTCA 2A Poll until week four. The Cardinals finished just outside the poll in week three after beating Forbush, which received votes the previous week, then jumped to No. 9 in week four. East currently sits at No. 10 in 2A.

Both programs are in the driver’s seat to repeat as conference champs with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Mount Airy holds at least a two-match lead over every other NW1A team, meaning the Bears only need to win one of their final three regular season matches to be guaranteed a share of the conference title. North Stokes sits at second with a 5-2 conference record (7-2 overall) and East Wilkes is third at 4-2 in conference (7-3 overall).

The Bears have already defeated East Wilkes twice – winning 8-1 on Aug. 23 and 9-0 Sept. 15. Mount Airy swept North Stokes in their only meeting on Sept. 1.

Mount Airy closes the regular season against North Stokes at home on Sept. 27, then the Bears go on the road to face Elkin on Oct. 4 and Alleghany on Oct. 6.

North Stokes and East Wilkes still have to play each other twice.

Mount Airy has a trio of seniors this season after having none in 2021: Kancie Tate, Audrey Marion and Charlotte Hauser. The trio, who play seeds No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, have a combined singles record of 35-1 when playing their primary positions.

Holding down the top two spots are sophomore Carrie Marion and junior Ella Brant.

Carrie is 10-2 in No. 1 singles, and both her losses were against teams outside the 1A division (2A public, 3A private). Brant is 11-3 in singles: 2-0 at the No. 1 spot, and 9-3 at No. 2. Two of her losses, like Carrie, came against opponents from higher divisions (2A public, 3A private), and only one was against a fellow 1A athlete. After dropping a three-set marathon against East Wilkes, Brant beat that same opponent in straight sets the second time around.

Rounding out singles is No. 6 seed Audrey Brown. Brown, a freshman, is 11-0 at the No. 6 spot.

Mount Airy has used six different combinations of doubles teams at each of the three spots. Overall, the Bears are 37-3 in doubles, so the combinations all seem to be working. The three losses came against schools in higher divisions (4A public, 2A public, 3A private).

Similar to last season, the FH2A race will come down to East Surry (9-0), Forbush (7-1) and Surry Central (5-2).

North Wilkes is still mathematically in the running at 5-3 in the conference. However, the Vikings have already lost twice to East Surry and, due to rescheduled matches, still have to play Surry Central twice as well as Forbush, Wilkes Central and North Surry once each.

East Surry already defeated Forbush earlier this season 6-2 on Sept. 6; the final doubles match was called off early due to weather. East won 5-of-6 singles matches against Forbush without dropping more than three games in any one match.

Surry Central gave East Surry its best match in the conference, but fell 7-2 on Sept. 15. Central did manage to force two singles matches into third-set tiebreakers, winning one.

East Surry closes the season at Forbush, then at home against West Wilkes and Surry Central.

The Lady Cardinals are led by two seniors that have yet to lose a match in 2022. No. 1 Tara Martin and No. 2 Evelyn Ruedisueli are both 11-0 in singles and are 11-0 as East’s No. 1 doubles team. When teaming together, Martin and Ruedisueli haven’t been defeated in a regular season doubles match in high school.

Juniors Sophie Hutchens and Chloe Koons are the primary No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. Hutchens is 9-1 at No. 3, and Koons is 1-0 in the match she played at No. 3. Koons is 6-4 at No. 4.

Sophomores Taylor Bullington and Mallory Estrada have served as the Cardinals’ No. 5 and No. 6 seeds for most of the season. Bullington is 9-1 at No. 5 and 10-1 in singles overall, while Estrada is 6-3 at No. 6 and 7-3 in singles overall.

Following Martin and Ruedisueli at No. 1 doubles, the juniors have been the most common No. 2 doubles team and the sophomores have been the No. 3 doubles team. Hutchens and Koons are 5-4 at No. 2 doubles, and Bullington and Estrada are 6-2 as a duo.

The Mount Airy Lady Bears golf team consistently set the bar in the Northwest 1A Conference this season.

Mount Airy won the outright Regular Season Championship, then tied for the Conference Tournament Championship at Cedarbrook Country Club on Sept. 21.

Senior Mercer Meadows will represent the Bears at regionals.

WALNUT COVE — Mount Airy’s defense locked down South Stokes Friday as the Bears recorded their first shutout victory of the season.

The Granite Bears forced five turnovers and held the Sauras to less than 30 total yards to win the Northwest 1A Conference game 58-0.

According to Mount Airy sports historian Doug McDaniel, Friday’s road win against South Stokes was Mount Airy’s 312th shutout victory of all time. The win also marked the 50th time the Bears had scored at least 50 points in a shutout.

Mount Airy improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the NW1A Conference. The only other unbeaten team in the conference is Starmount, which won its only NW1A game 34-6 against North Stokes on Sept. 23.

The Granite Bears’ defense set the tone for Friday’s game right off the bat. South Stokes received the opening kickoff, but Mount Airy’s Mario Revels picked off South quarterback Nolan Coe on the second play of the drive. Revels returned the interception 37 yards for six points.

Blake Hawks and Caleb Reid also picked off Coe in the win. Mount Airy limited South’s two quarterbacks to just four yards passing on 1-of-12 completions; Coe finished 0-for-5 passing, and Junior Hairston completed 1-of-7 passes.

Mount Airy also put the clamps on South’s running game. The Sauras rushed 21 times for 25 yards and fumbled twice, with fumbles being recovered by Mount Airy’s Ian Gallimore and Third Floyd.

Deuce Chalmers led South with 15 yards rushing on 10 carries, followed by Hairston with five yards on five carries and Jaryd Galloway with five yards on four rushes. Parker Barron and Coe each rushed once for no gain.

Galloway also had Mount Airy’s one reception for four yards.

The Bears finished with 353 total yards due in large part to strong rushing contributions across the board. Seven different Mount Airy players carried in the game, and the most any one player rushed was seven times.

Tyler Mason continued his incredible scoring streak by running in three touchdowns for the Bears. According to MaxPreps, Mason’s 19 rushing touchdowns this season are the most in the 1A division and tied for the most among all divisions in the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

By tallying 73 yards on seven carries, Mason has now averaged at least 10 yards per carry in five of Mount Airy’s six games in 2022.

Caleb Reid, Taeshon Martin and Traven Thompson each had four carries for Mount Airy. Reid followed Mason with 71 yards and two touchdowns, then Martin had 35 yards and Thompson had 8 yards.

Nas Lemon added three carries for 48 yards, Gallimore had three carries for 16 yards, and Logan Fonville rushed twice for 16 yards and a touchdown.

Gallimore added 87 yards passing on 3-of-5 completions to round out the Bears’ 353 total yards. Revels had two catches for 36 yards, and Walker Stroup hauled in a 51-yard touchdown.

Stroup also hit a 22-yard field goal and went 7-for-8 on PATs.

Mount Airy will return home on Sept. 29 to host Starmount (3-2, 1-0 NW1A) for Homecoming. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 30, but was moved up a day due to potential bad weather.

11:34 MAHS 6-0 – Mario Revels interception of Nolan Coe returned 37 yards for a TD, PAT no good

6:33 MAHS 13-0 – Tyler Mason 17-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

5:24 MAHS 20-0 – Caleb Reid 24-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

2:40 MAHS 27-0 – Walker Stroup 51-yard TD reception on Ian Gallimore pass, Walker Stroup PAT

10:07 MAHS 34-0 – Tyler Mason 1-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

5:55 MAHS 41-0 – Caleb Reid 10-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

1:30 MAHS 48-0 – Tyler Mason 36-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

0:11 MAHS 51-0 – Walker Stroup 22-yard field goal

2:37 MAHS 58-0 – Logan Fonville 16-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry improved to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in Foothills 2A Conference play with a 63-24 win over North Surry.

Everything clicked for the Cardinals early as they reached the end zone of each of their first five possessions while holding the Greyhounds scoreless for most of the first half. The visiting Hounds got on a roll late in the second quarter by returning a kickoff for a touchdown, then stopped East twice before halftime.

North Surry scored on its first two drives of the second half, but wasn’t able to slow the East offense down as the Cards forced a running clock at the end of the third quarter.

“Obviously we’ll never be satisfied with a loss, but I thought we came out of halftime and challenged our kids to fight through adversity. We as a team also wanted to finish strong for Ty,” said North Surry coach Jackson Smith. Greyhound junior Ty Gwyn went down with an injury during the second quarter and was carted off as a precaution.

“We had a lot of young guys having to step up because of injuries and we just asked our seniors to take the second and put us on an upward trend heading into the rest of our conference play, and they did that. They left it all out there against a really good team with fantastic players and a really fantastic coaching staff.”

It was a huge night for both passing offenses. East Surry’s Folger Boaz finished with a career-high 30 completions on 39 attempts (76.9%) for 300 yards. Boaz also tied a career high in passing touchdowns with seven.

With Boaz’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, which went to Luke Brown for 42 yards, he became East Surry’s all-time leader in career yards passing. The previous record was set by Folger’s older brother Jefferson (Class of 2020) at 6,738 yards.

“What an honor it’s been to coach both of them, and how special it is for them as competitive brothers to be No. 1 and No. 2,” said East Surry coach Trent Lowman. “Folger just broke the school’s all-time record set by his own brother, who just happened to be the NCHSAA Male Athlete of the Year, a state champion QB, and the holder of several NCHSAA records. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment.”

Folger Boaz is already Surry County’s leader in career completions with 463. He trails Jefferson in career passing touchdowns by 18, and trails North Surry’s Chase Swartz (Class of 2020) in career yards passing by 118.

Seven Cardinal players recorded receptions and five caught a touchdown pass. Kyle Zinn was the team’s leader in yards receiving with five catches for 72 yards. Luke Brown was next with three catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Stephen Brantley with five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown, Colby Johnson with eight catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, Brett Clayton with three catches for 34 yards and two touchdowns, Matthew Keener with four catches for 10 yards, and Gabriel Harpe with two catches for 3 yards.

Greyhound quarterback Colton Allen set a new career high for the second-consecutive week. Against East, the sophomore completed 13-of-30 passes (43.3%) for 264 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Jahreece Lynch was North Surry’s leading receiver in what Smith called “hands down one of the most dominant high school performances I’ve ever seen.”

Lynch caught 10 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Five of his receptions were for at least 20 yards, and three were for 39 or more yards. Lynch also scored North Surry’s first touchdown of the game by returning a kickoff 76 yards through a minefield of Cardinal defenders.

Makiyon Woodbury added one catch for 27 yards, Fisher Leftwich had one catch for 11 yards and Talan Vernon had one catch for seven yards.

According to North Surry football guru Tyler Beamer, Friday’s performance marks Lynch’s third career game of at least 200 yards receiving. He set his career high with 232 yards against Surry Central in March 2021, then recorded 220 yards receiving against North Forsyth in October 2021.

“We knew that Jahreece is a heck-of-a ballplayer, and we knew that stopping him was not going to be easy,” Lowman said. “He proved tonight why he’s got the attention that he has. He played an amazing game.

“I think we walk away from this defensively realizing we’ve got to tighten up in the secondary and lock in to get better there.”

The Cardinal defense started the game with a takeaway. After East scored first on a 9-play 4:55 drive, Will Jones picked off Allen’s first pass and returned it to the Greyhound 5-yard line. Boaz found Johnson the very next play, and Joshua Parker hit his first of six PATs to make it 14-0.

East Surry added another takeaway early in the fourth quarter when Clayton forced a fumble that was recovered by Hatcher Hamm for a touchdown.

The Cardinals contained North Surry’s running game and held the Hounds to 42 yards rushing on 31 attempts. Clayton led East with 4.0 sacks, and Hamm added one. Hamm and Zinn each added 2.0 tackles for a loss.

Jake Simmons rushed 21 times for 57 yards for North Surry, and Allen recorded 10 carries for -15 yards and a 1-yard touchdown.

Though the Cardinals elected to pass on more than 75% of their offensive plays, East also found success on the ground. Clayton had East’s only rushing touchdown by going for 73 yards to make it 21-0 in the first quarter. He was also the Cards’ leading rusher with 89 yards on two carries.

Boaz added three carries for 76 yards, and Zinn had six carries for 60 yards. The Cardinals’ 225 yards rushing brought the team’s total yardage to 525 for the game.

North Surry got on the board late in the first half. After East scored to go up 35-0, Lynch returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown. East Surry went into the red zone on its next drive and looked to score when Boaz connected with Brown. North’s Zeke Moore chased Brown down, forced a fumble and recovered it himself.

The Hounds had to punt deep in their own territory, but came up with another stop to get the ball back before halftime. However, a Brantley punt put North Surry on its own 4-yard line, so the Greyhounds elected to just run out the clock.

North Surry opened the second half with an 11-play 3:14 drive that ended with Allen finding Lynch for a 6-yard touchdown. The Hounds converted on fourth down twice during the drive.

Vernon nearly had the Greyhounds’ second kickoff returned for a touchdown after the Cards scored again, but East’s Daniel Villasenor saved a touchdown by dragging Vernon down on the Cardinal 17. North Surry used the excellent field position to set up an Allen rushing touchdown.

The Greyhound offense got into a better rhythm after halftime and the Hounds scored on three of their first four second-half possessions.

“I think it was a slow start,” Smith said. “We just had to find ways to get Jahreece Lynch the ball, and we did that and he did a lot of it on his own. I can’t describe the performance he put on. I know the scoreboard says otherwise, but he put on a historic performance for North Surry football and we’re hoping to really build on that.

“We’re going to meet on Sunday and come up with ways we can cultivate the defense and the offense to put our kids in a better position to win.”

The Cardinal offense continued to dominate in the third quarter. All three of East Surry’s third-quarter possessions ended with touchdowns, with Boaz connecting with Brantley, Brown and Clayton in the end zone.

East Surry’s 525 yards of offense all came in the first three quarters.

“We try to find things each week to get better at, so we had our things we wanted to get better at tonight and I feel like we did for the most part,” Lowman said.

North Surry started the fourth quarter with the ball, then Hamm scored a 13-yard fumble recovery less than two minutes in. North was able to add another touchdown in the fourth, with Allen finding Lynch for a 39-yard TD pass, then Surry’s Vernon recovered an onside kick for the Hounds.

Though the Greyhounds didn’t score again after Vernon’s recovery, Smith applauded his team’s resilience Friday night.

“We fought for four quarters, and we’re going to continue to do that. We’re going to continue to hold our kids to that standard and try to put some more tallies in the win column,” Smith said.

“They (East Surry) have every right to be at the top of that 2A poll. They have a fantastic coaching staff and personnel, and they have a lot of great things coming their way for the rest of the season. For us to come out in the second half and compete against them – that’s something we can build on.”

Conference play continues next week for both teams. East Surry (6-0, 2-0 FH2A) hosts Wilkes Central (4-2, 2-0 FH2A) in a battle of two unbeaten FH2A teams. North Surry (1-4, 0-2 FH2A) looks to break into the win column in conference play when they host Forbush (1-4, 1-0 FH2A).

7:05 ESHS 7-0 – Kyle Zinn 10-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

6:44 ESHS 14-0 – Colby Johnson 5-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

1:28 ESHS 21-0 – Brett Clayton 73-yard rush TD, Joshua Parker PAT

7:07 ESHS 27-0 – Brett Clayton 10-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, PAT no good

4:36 ESHS 35-0 – Luke Brown 42-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker 2-point conversion rush

4:18 NSHS 35-6 – Jahreece Lynch 76-yard kickoff return for a TD, PAT no good

8:46 NSHS 35-12 – Jahreece Lynch 6-yard TD reception on Colton Allen pass, 2-point conversion no good

6:04 ESHS 42-12 – Stephen Brantley 22-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

4:56 NSHS 42-18 – Colton Allen 1-yard rush TD, 2-point conversion no good

4:29 ESHS 49-18 – Luke Brown 13-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

0:00 ESHS 56-18 – Brett Clayton 19-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

10:34 ESHS 63-18 – Hatcher Hamm 13-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown after Brett Clayton forced fumble, Joshua Parker PAT

6:04 NSHS 63-24 – Jahreece Lynch 39-yard TD reception on Colton Allen pass, 2-point conversion no good

EAST BEND — Forbush extended its undefeated streak by taking down Surry Central 4-0 on Sept. 21.

The Falcons’ offensive barrage threatened to score early, but the Golden Eagles held out for more than 25 minutes in the first half. Forbush finally broke free and scored in the 26th minute before adding another quick goal less than three minutes later.

Following the break, a rejuvenated Central squad switched to attack mode and put pressure on Forbush’s back line. The Eagles were held scoreless despite playing with new energy, and Forbush only needed a small opening to strike for a third time. One final goal in the closing minutes of the match led to a 4-0 Falcons win.

Forbush coach Seth Davis, who recorded career win No. 300 in Wednesday’s Foothills 2A Conference match, credited the team’s strong start for their success against Surry Central.

“I think that was it: coming out with some energy,” Davis said. “Getting around the corners on them a little bit and getting balls in service in the box, and we put a couple of those shots away. I don’t think you put those shots away every game – curling one into the back post and one under the crossbar doesn’t happen all the time. Things bounced our way.

“Coach [Adan] Garcia is a really good coach and they were really prepared, but they were down a guy tonight. We knew that, and it’ll be a different game there if they can get their guy back and have their whole team. It’ll be tough.”

Central (3-6-1, 1-1 FH2A) has been without one of its only two senior players, Eliazar “Eli” Gonzalez, for much of the 2022 season. Gonzalez is Surry Central’s only returning All-Region or All-Conference player from 2021 season.

“We’re still trying to figure things out as a team,” Coach Garcia said. “I’m not going to put any of our losses on one player. We’re still trying to mix some players around to try to fill Eli’s spot because his shoes are big to fill. That made us try things a little bit different, and unfortunately we slacked off a little bit too much in the first half. We gave them two crucial possessions that we lost in the middle and they hit us.”

Gonzalez’s absence has impacted Central’s ability to create offense, as some of the players Coach Garcia would like to use to make runs up the sidelines are needed at center mid. The Eagles only took one shot in the opening half against Forbush, and even that was taken by Daniel Urquiza from 40 yards out.

Central spent most of the first half either fending off Forbush attacks or possessing the ball on defense. Keeping possession in its defensive third was dangerous for Central, and Forbush even managed to get a steal and shot on goal less than 30 seconds after the opening whistle.

Forbush (8-0-1, 3-0 FH2A) did well to take away Central’s passing lanes and keep the Eagles from making sudden counters. Falcon senior Axel Garcia set up the home team’s opening goal this way. Axel picked off a pass from Central’s back line, then found teammate Omar Arzate to his left. Arzate settled, cut back to his right and fired a shot into the back of the net.

Three minutes later, Donovan Mingus intercepted a Central attempt to pass horizontally and shot from 30 yards out. The Falcon’s shot sailed perfectly over the hands of Eagle keeper Jose Marquez and just under the crossbar.

A 2-0 halftime lead wasn’t enough to comfort Davis. Even though the Falcons are one of only three unbeaten teams in the 2A West, as well as the only FH2A team that hasn’t lost a conference match, they have still had issues with consistency this season.

“We’ve been hit or miss,” Davis said. “We’ve played 40 minutes about every game pretty well, and the other 40 have been a little lackluster. If you come to see us one half you’re like, ‘Hey, this team’s pretty beatable,’ but if you see the other half, ‘This team is going places.’”

Central came out fighting in the second half. Striker Luke Creed quickly worked his way up the right sideline with Luis Gonzalez, but the Eagles were held without a shot. Soon after, Tino Martinez was able to cross in from the left to Creed and the sophomore got a shot off but it wasn’t on frame.

Forbush had its chances to strike in the second half, but possession was more balanced compared to the Falcon-dominated first half. Coach Garcia mentioned a change in formation, going from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3, but said the true difference between halves was the Golden Eagles’ sense of urgency.

“In the first half we were kind of relaxed and were passing it too safe in the back,” Coach Garcia said. “We got out of the half three or four times maybe. At halftime we as coaches told the guys that we had to have that sense of urgency or we were just going to play a lot of defense again. It showed because, even though most of our shots weren’t on frame, we were pressing them.”

Forbush goalkeeper Freddy Pena kept the clean sheet with a pair of second-half saves. The keeper also left his line to intercept crosses before Central could set up a shot.

Play was stopped deep in Falcon territory with 10 minutes left on the clock, and one player from each team was sent off with a yellow card. From here, Forbush earned a throw-in and progressed up its left sideline. Arzate created separation between himself and Golden Eagle defenders before sending a through ball ahead to Gabriel Angulo.

After chasing down the through ball, Angulo crossed to an open Axel Garcia to finish in the center. Garcia added another goal in the 78th minute to round out the 4-0 final score.

“That second half was a lot better for us all around, but one mistake cost us and it brought down our mood unfortunately,” Coach Garcia said. “We have a young team and it brought their heads down and allowed that final goal.”

Forbush picks up its third shutout victory of the season, while Central was held scoreless for the third consecutive match. The Eagles haven’t been playing just any teams, though, as their last three matches have been against MaxPreps’ No. 1-ranked team in the 1A West (Mount Airy), No. 6 team in the 3A West (Hibriten) and the No. 3 team in the 2A West (Forbush).

Surry Central’s strength of schedule is the third-highest of the 52 teams in the 2A West.

Coach Garcia was happy with the team’s second-half performance and said the Eagles’ top concern is maintaining that same mentality as they move forward.

“For some reason, the second half just seems to be our better one – even against Hibriten on Monday,” Coach Garcia said. “We need to have that sense of urgency in the first half because so far we’re losing games in the first half. We give up a couple of simple goals and we just can’t get them back. By the time we get our sense of urgency it’s a little too late.”

Davis had a similar message for his squad as they look to repeat as conference champions. Consistency is a big focus for the Falcons, which the coach believes will come with more time playing as a group.

“We’re still putting it together,” Davis said. “I think I’m trusting more guys…and guys are starting to understand more things. Just like Surry Central we’re young, so it takes a while.”

26’ Forbush 1-0, Omar Arzate from Axel Garcia assist

29’ Forbush 2-0, Donovan Mingus unassisted

70’ Forbush 3-0, Axel Garcia from Gabriel Angulo assist

78’ Forbush 4-0, Axel Garcia unassisted

A pair of wins over Surry County opponents helped East Surry extend a recent winning streak.

The Lady Cardinals swept both Mount Airy and Surry Central as part of a six-match winning streak. The defending 2A West Regional Runners-up improve to 12-3 overall and have won 10 of their last 11 matches.

Mount Airy at East Surry, Sept. 19

PILOT MOUNTAIN — Two win streaks were on the line when the Cardinals and Bears met for the first time this season.

Mount Airy entered Monday’s nonconference showdown riding a 6-match winning streak, which matched the team’s longest streak of the past five seasons. This streak followed a 1-3 start for the Bears in nonconference play.

The Cards cut the Granite Bears’ streak short with a 3-0 victory.

Two of three sets were balanced, with East Surry using late pushes to take the first and third sets. The Cardinals used a strong start in the second set to run away with the victory.

East led 19-16 in the first set before using a 6-1 run to win 25-17. The Cards carried that momentum into the second set and started with a 9-0 run.

Mount Airy started the second set with a service error, then Kate McCraw served the next eight points for East. The Cardinal attackers overwhelmed the Bears, and no matter how many attacks the Bears seemed to fend off the Cards just kept coming back. Bella Hutchens and Mckenzie Davis each had three kills during the initial run.

By the time Mount Airy closed the lead to single digits East Surry led 19-10. Late kills from Isabella Allen and Morgan Mayfield showed the Bears still had fight in them, but the early Cardinal lead was too much to overcome as East won 25-15.

A few strong serves from Kennedy Gwyn helped Mount Airy take a 4-2 advantage in the third set. The Cards countered with a 7-1 run behind serves from Hutchens and Addy Sechrist. Libero Samarin Kipple made a few dives to keep rallies alive, and Hutchens, Davis and Merry Parker Boaz helped put East up 9-5.

Mount Airy continued to fight and got back on the board with a Gwyn block. Allen and Mayfield patrolled the back line to counter Cardinal attacks, and Alissa Clabo found her groove at outside hitter thanks to sets from Kinlee Reece.

Mount Airy’s resurgence led to the Bears taking a 14-12 lead.

Back-to-back attacking errors by Mount Airy allowed East to tie the game at 14-14, then an ace from Boaz forced the final lead change of the match. The Cardinals closed the match with a 13-5 run to win the set 25-19.

East Surry at Surry Central, Sept. 20

DOBSON — East Surry returned to conference play the following day by traveling to Surry Central.

Similar to Mount Airy, Central had a tough time in the nonconference part of its schedule to start the season. The Golden Eagles started the season 0-4, but won 4-of-6 matches entering the bout against East Surry.

The Cards and Eagles kept it close for most of the first set before East Surry pulled ahead for the 25-15 win. Neither of the next two sets were as close, as East won the second 25-11 and the third 25-10.

The first set had four lead changes and four ties before either side reached double-digits. An ace from Central’s Lily O’Neal helped the Eagles take their largest lead of the night at 8-5, but it was met by a 6-0 Cardinal run. East’s plethora of hitters kept Central on its toes with five different Cardinals recording kills in the set.

Central stayed within a few points by keeping rallies alive and setting up the likes of Presley Smith, Marissa McCann and O’Neal for attacks. Libero Erica Coe coordinated the defensive specialists to best counter the Cards’ attacks.

A kill from McCann brought the Eagles within a point at 14-13. A Hutchens kill was the start of a run for the Cards, and Central didn’t help itself with service errors.

East Surry used an 11-2 run to win the first set 25-15, then started with a 5-1 advantage in the second. While the Cardinals had their best attacking set in the second – putting away 16-of-25 points with kills – early service errors kept Central in the match.

Seven of Central’s 11 points in the second set came from East Surry service errors.

The Cardinal offense was clicking once the ball was put into play. Boaz, Hutchens, Davis, Maggy Sechrist and Madeline Dayton all picked up kills in the set with McCraw and Addy Sechrist dishing assists.

The service errors slowed down once East took a 16-10 lead on a Dayton kill. Hutchens served the Cards on an 8-0 run, which included two aces, before committing the final service error of the set. East responded by winning the next two points and coming away with the win.

The Cardinals carried their momentum into the third set with a 7-0 start. Between the end of the second set and start of the third, East Surry went on a 17-1 run.

Central never got within five points of East from that point in the third set. After the Eagles scored to make it 15-9, East closed the set with a 10-1 run to secure the sweep.

A trio of second-half goals lifted Wilkes Central over East Surry on Sept. 19.

The Cardinals and Eagles both looked to pick up their first win of the season in Monday’s match. The teams played to a scoreless tie at halftime and looked evenly matched, but Wilkes Central put two goals in the back of the net in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

East battled back and had opportunities to strike later in the half, but the Cards couldn’t score. The visiting Eagles added another goal for insurance as they went on to win 3-0.

”At times we played great, and at times we struggled,” said Cardinal coach Samuel Lowe. “It’s hard for them to all play together for 80 minutes, and to be honest with you I haven’t had the same starting 11 two games in a row. It’s hard to get continuity.

“As a whole I’m pleased with the way they played tonight. They gave me all that they had and that’s all I could ask for – 110% the whole time. Tonight they didn’t quit, so I’m happy.”

Lowe’s message to the Cardinals all season has been to get better every time they step on the pitch. Instead of folding when they faced an all-out attack from Wilkes Central early, East Surry stood strong and kept a clean sheet during the first half.

The Eagles had three corner kicks in the span of 90 seconds beginning in the fifth minute. The Cards were able to weather the early storm of attacks and eventually modified their defense to force numerous offside calls. Wilkes Central had three shots in the first eight minutes of play, then didn’t take another until the 33rd minute.

East Surry moved more efficiently through the midfield against Wilkes Central than in any game prior. Lowe commended the team for not only their ball movement, but also the team’s ability to keep their shape as a whole.

“I’ve had a few boys on this team who have never played soccer in their life, and I can see their improvement,” Lowe said. “Their touches have started to get a lot better, they’re understanding the game better and can better read what’s happening. You can tell how much better we’ve got at moving the ball instead of just kicking and expecting something to happen.”

Striker Jonathan de la Cruz nearly put the Cards on the board with a pair of first-half shots. Levi Watson attacked up the right sideline before crossing to Cruz in the 13th minute, but his shot was off frame. Nine minutes later Cruz used a through ball from Lupe Chavez to shoot, this time having his attempt blocked out of bounds for a corner kick.

Mario Flores took the corner for East, and Chavez connected for a header but it was saved by Wilkes Central.

After neither team was able to strike in the first half, the Eagles scored their opening goal in the 45th minute off a corner kick. Three minutes later Wilkes Central used a counter to double its lead.

Though the Cardinals did play with better ball movement in the game, the team still struggled to score. East Surry’s only two shots of the second half came off an Alex Galvan free kick from close to midfield in the 59th minute, and a shot from Logan Fagg in the 71st minute that was set up by triangle passing between Sid Sutphin, Fernando Torres-Vega and Giovanni Flores-Haws.

Though most of the second half was contested place in the middle third, Wilkes Central did go on the offensive to close the game. The Eagles added a goal in the 68th minute to bring the game out of reach.

Wilkes Central added five shots in the final five minutes that were all saved by keeper Michael Youngblood.

The Cardinals fall to 0-5-1 overall and 0-3 in the Foothills 2A Conference with the loss.

“I really think these boys are improving every game,” Lowe said. “Sometimes the outcome doesn’t show it, but when I go back on film I can see the boys improvement over the course of the year. Having lost so many kids from last season, the main thing is just getting better every game and have a no quit attitude.

“There’s still a lot that we need to work on, and that stuff falls on me as a coach, but as long as these boys keep fighting we’ll be alright.”

North Surry battled Wilkes Central in Toast Sept. 16 to open league play in the Foothills 2A Conference.

The Greyhounds held a six-point lead at halftime before going down a score in the third quarter. North Surry was primed to tie things up with a red zone appearance early in the fourth, but a turnover-on-downs followed by an Eagle touchdown turned the momentum in the visitors’ favor.

The Hounds continued to fight and cut into the lead with a touchdown, but came up on the wrong side of an onside kick. Late touchdowns added to the Eagles’ lead, finishing the game with a final score of 51-32.

Friday night marked the 2022 debut of Wilkes Central’s Kamen Smith, who missed the first four games of the season with an injury. According to 247Sports, Smith is a 3-star recruit that has committed to N.C. State.

Kamen’s presence on the defensive line limited North Surry’s rushing offense. The Greyhounds (1-3, 0-1 FH2A) responded by taking to the skies, posting their first game of the season with more yards passing than yards rushing.

Quarterback Colton Allen finished with a career-high 174 yards by completing 8-of-14 passes. Kam McKnight added one pass for 26 yards to bring the Greyhounds over 200 yards passing for the game. Allen threw two touchdowns and an interception, and McKnight had one touchdown pass.

Jahreece Lynch paced the Hounds with five catches for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Jared Hiatt had one catch for 38 yards, Makiyon Woodbury added two catches for 27 yards and Fisher Leftwich had one catch for 16 yards.

All three of Lynch’s touchdowns came in the first half.

Wilkes Central (3-2, 1-0 FH2A) scored first at the 8:57 mark in the first quarter, but Owen McMillian stuck the Eagles on the 2-point conversion. North went ahead 7-6 after McKnight connected with Lynch three minutes later. Lynch scored later in the quarter on a 66-yard Allen pass, putting North Surry up 14-6.

Both squads scored in the second quarter, with North going up 20-14, but Wilkes Central looked to add another touchdown before halftime. The Eagles looked to the end zone but were picked off by Lynch.

The Eagles finally retook the lead in the third quarter with a rushing touchdown. The touchdown tied the game at 20, and the ensuing 2-point conversion put Wilkes Central on top. The visitors added to their lead by scoring a touchdown with 10:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The failed two-point conversion left it a one-score game at 28-20.

North Surry marched down the field and into the red zone looking to tie things up. The Hounds went for it on fourth down with less than eight minutes to play, but couldn’t convert. Wilkes Central responded with a 73-yard run to enter the red zone, then scored with 6:50 remaining to go up 36-20.

Even with Wilkes Central’s defensive wall, North Surry managed to rush for 161 yards – bringing the team’s total yardage to 361 for the game. Both of the Hounds’ late touchdowns came on the ground.

Jake Simmons, who led the team with 21 carries for 80 yards, scored with 5:28 left in the fourth. North Surry, however, failed the 2-point conversion to leave it a 10-point game at 36-26.

Following Simmons was Malachi Powers with one carry for 37 yards, Allen with four carries for 27 yards and a touchdown, Lynch with three carries for 17 yards and Talan Vernon with one carry for no gain.

Wilkes Central maintained possession until the 2:35 mark before scoring again. The touchdown and 2-point conversion increased the advantage to 44-26.

The lead increased to 51-26 after Wilkes Central scored another TD with less than a minute on the clock. Allen ran in a 12-yard touchdown late to round out the final score, 51-32.

Both schools continue FH2A Conference play on Sept. 23. North Surry travels to East Surry (5-0, 1-0 FH2A) and Wilkes Central hosts Surry Central (1-3, 1-0 FH2A).

CHAPEL HILL – The N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), in conjunction with Wells Fargo, released the final standings in the 42nd annual Wells Fargo State Cup competitions for the 2021-22 academic year on Sept. 16.

The award recognizes the high schools that achieve the best overall interscholastic athletic performance within each of the state’s four competitive classifications.

Mount Airy, East Surry and Elkin were all recognized as top-10 finishers in their respective divisions. This marks the first time since the 2014-15 school year that three Surry County teams have finished in the top-10. That year, all three schools were from the 1A division: Elkin finished No. 5, East Surry was No. 8 and Mount Airy was No. 9

East Surry makes its fifth consecutive appearance in the top 10, this time competing in the 2A division while the previous four were in 1A. The Cardinals have finished in the top 10 in seven of the past 10 school years: 2013, 2015 and 2018-22.

Mount Airy and Elkin both return to the Wells Fargo Cup top 10 after multi-year absences. Mount Airy last appeared in the 1A top 10 following the 2017-18 school year. The Granite Bears’ make their fifth top-10 appearance in the past 10 school years: 2015-18 and now 2022.

Elkin makes its first top-10 appearance since 2015. Prior to 2022, Elkin’s only top-10 appearances in the past 10 school years came in 2014 and 2015.

Since 1979, the Wells Fargo State Cup award has been awarded to the schools which have the best overall interscholastic sports programs in each of the four classifications: 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A.

All schools that finish in the top eight positions (plus ties) in an NCHSAA state championship event receive Wells Fargo Cup points. In events where 1A, 2A, 3A, and/or 4A schools compete together, such as lacrosse, points are awarded on a school’s standing against other schools in its classification.

In Cup competition, points are awarded for all sports on the basis of 50 points for first, 45 for second place, 40 for third, 35 for fourth, 30 for fifth, 25 for sixth, 20 for seventh and 15 for eighth.

In the event of a tie, the schools receive an equal number of points based on the number of teams that tie and the number of teams that finish higher in the standings.

Five points are awarded for each sanctioned sport in which a school competes.

Mount Airy’s No. 5 finish in the 2021-22 Cup was the highest of any traditional 1A school in the state; the top two spots were occupied by private schools, and the next two spots by public charters.

Since 2009, only one traditional public 1A high school has won the 1A Wells Fargo State Cup: Mount Airy in 2016-17.

The crowning achievement of the year’s Granite Bears was the school’s Dual-Team State Championship in girls tennis. The 22-0 Bears shut out 17 opponents, and never dropped more than three individual matches. Mount Airy only surrendered two individual matches through its final 13 matches of the season – including the entire postseason.

In the fall of 2021, Mount Airy also finished 1A West Regional Runner-up in boys soccer – marking the program’s second Regional Final appearance in three years and its third appearance in the past five years – and reached the quarterfinals of the football state tournament.

The Granite Bears had four top-8 finishes during winter sports and the wrestling team accounted for two of those. The Bears reached the quarterfinals of the dual-team state tournament, only losing to the eventual state champs, and finished No. 6 as a team at the Individual State Wrestling Tournament.

The boys swim and indoor track teams didn’t finish in the top eight overall since those championships are a combined 1A/2A, but the teams did earn Wells Fargo Cup points for finishing in the top eight of their division. Mount Airy’s indoor track team tied for the third-highest score of any 1A team (tied for 17th overall), while the swim team finished No. 5 among 1A competition (11th overall).

In the spring, Mount Airy added a quarterfinal appearance in boys tennis.

Elkin didn’t have any top-8 appearances in the fall, but had three each in the winter and spring.

The Buckin’ Elks girls swim team had the highest finish of any 1A team. Elkin finished No. 4 overall behind a trio of 2A charters. Elkin’s No. 4 finish was the only appearance by a traditional public school – in 1A or 2A – in the top 12.

Not far behind was the Elks’ boys swim team, who finished No. 2 in 1A. Elkin’s boys finished No. 5 overall behind three 2A charters and one 1A charter.

Elkin also finished tied for fourth in 1A for girls indoor track. Overall the girls were 12th in the team competition.

Continuing their success in the spring, Elkin’s boys tennis team reached the 1A West Regional Final before falling to the eventual state champs. The Buckin’ Elks boys golf team finished No. 5 in the 1A division, and the girls track team finished No. 8.

East Surry adjusted to the 2A division in its first year and made the top 10 of the Wells Fargo Cup. The Cardinals still have the numbers of a 1A school, but were moved up a division in the latest realignment cycle due to the NCHSAA factoring previous State Cup success into its formula.

East is the only Surry County school to rank in the top-10 of the 2A Wells Fargo State Cup since 2011. NCHSAA records for the top-10 Wells Fargo Cup teams only date back to 2011.

East Surry’s football and volleyball teams both reached the 2A West Regional Championship in the fall. It was the volleyball team’s second regional final appearance in three seasons, winning the 1A West Regional Title in 2019, and was the football team’s fourth-consecutive regional championship appearance. The Cardinal football team won the 1A West Regional Title three times from 2018-20.

Both the 2021-22 volleyball and football teams were eliminated by the eventual state champions.

During the winter East Surry earned points in the boys swimming state championship. The Cards were No. 16 overall, but met the cut to earn points as the No. 8 2A team.

East Surry’s golf team captured the 2A State Title one year after finishing runner-up in the 1A Championship. The Cardinals won the team championship by 11 strokes, and senior Bradley Davis Jr. finished State Runner-up individually.

Finally, the Cardinal baseball team earned points by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2A State Tournament. This marked East’s fourth-consecutive appearance in at least the fourth round, with the previous three coming in the 1A division. East Surry was eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual state champions.

DOBSON — Millennium Charter Academy hosted three cross country meets at Fisher River Park park during the first three weeks of September.

Coverage of the second MCA meet, held Sept. 8, was included in the Sept. 10 edition of The News. Though Millennium itself didn’t compete in the second meet, other local schools such as Mount Airy, Elkin, White Plains Christian School and Surry Homeschool did.

Millennium’s first meet of the year saw more than 220 high schoolers – 123 boys and 98 girls – compete at Fisher River Park on Sept. 1. Middle school races were also held.

The high school boys 5,000-meter run featured runners from 18 schools. Teams with at least five runners were eligible for the team competition, which assigned point values based on their individual finishes. The school with the lowest point total was the victor.

Only runners that were parts of the team competition were assigned points. As a result, point values don’t always equal a runner’s finish among the entire field.

Mount Airy had the highest finish of any local in the boys competition, finishing sixth of 12 eligible teams with 167 points. Next among Surry County schools was Elkin at No. 8 with 195 points, followed by No. 10 Millennium with 240 points and Surry Home Educators at No. 11.

Forsyth Country Day’s George Lawson won the boys race with a 5K time of 17:24.92. Elkin’s Connor Ball led all local competitors with a time of 18:37.57, good enough for the No. 7 spot among 123 runners.

Results for local runners in the high school boys race are listed below. Results are listed by finish, name, grade, school and then 5K time.

48 Nathan Luther 9 Surry Home E 21:57.85

93 Isaac Richland 9 Surry Home E 26:36.19

95 Noah Richland 9 Surry Home E 26:50.05

100 Daniel Bunke 10 Surry Home E 27:16.84

101 Caleb Luther 11 Surry Home E 27:19.52

107 David Lee Williams 10 North Stokes 28:09.10

There were 98 girls from 16 schools that competed in the high school girls race at the first MCA meet.

Calvary Baptist Day School won the team competition with 40 points. Mount Airy had the high team finish of any Surry County team by taking the No. 7 spot with 170 points. Elkin was next at No. 8 with 195 points, followed by Surry Home Educators at No. 9 with 245 points.

Calvary Baptist’s Anna Edwards won the race with a time of 18:58.93. Mount Airy’s Brooke Haynes had the highest finish from Surry County with a time of 23:04.89, good enough for the No. 8 spot.

Results for local runners in the high school girls race are listed below.

30 Lindsay Easter 9 Surry Home E 25:40.39

79 Lydia Jarrard 12 Surry Home E 31:38.45

90 Alie Gullion 10 Surry Home E 35:03.05

93 Maddie Gambill 9 Surry Home E 37:06.77

98 Helen Hendrickson 9 Surry Home E 44:09.10

Millennium’s third hosted meet of the year welcomed more than 213 high schoolers – 124 boys and 93 girls – compete at Fisher River Park on Sept. 15. Middle school races were before the high school races.

Runners from 18 school competed in the boys race. Mount Airy’s Freddy Hernandez finished on the podium this time, taking the No. 3 spot with a time of 18:42.49. The race’s winner, Central Davidson’s Austin DeGeorge, finished with a 5K time of 18:19.72.

Mount Airy and Surry Homeschool were the only Surry County teams with enough runners to qualify for the boys team competition. The Bears were No. 4 with 123 points, and the Runnin’ Patriots were No. 9 with 229 points.

Results for local runners in the high school boys race are listed below.

40 Steven Hendrickson 11 Surry Home E 21:50.39

62 Nathan Luther 9 Surry Home E 23:03.27

65 Sam Steinbruegge 9 Surry Home E 23:26.06

70 Isaac Richland 9 Surry Home E 24:03.29

86 Noah Richland 9 Surry Home E 25:06.41

105 Caleb Luther 11 Surry Home E 26:24.84

108 David Lee Williams 10 North Stokes 26:47.82

121 Daniel Bunke 10 Surry Home E 33:54.46

There were 93 girls from 15 schools that competed in the high school girls race at the third MCA meet.

South Iredell won the team competition with 48 total points. Mount Airy had the best finish of Surry County teams at No. 7 with 182 points, followed by White Plains at No. 9 with 237 points.

Central Davidson’s Jillian Parks won the girls race with a time of 20:15.09. Mount Airy’s Brooke Haynes was the only Surry County competitor in the top-25, which she accomplished by finishing No. 5 with a time of 21:59.80.

Results for local runners in the high school girls race are listed below.

28 Lindsay Easter 9 Surry Home E 25:06.44

50 Lydia Jarrard 12 Surry Home E 28:19.60

87 Maddie Gambill 9 Surry Home E 33:08.97

91 Helen Hendrickson 9 Surry Home E 41:10.72

Mount Airy ran for more than 400 yards for the third consecutive week to blow past East Wilkes 62-7.

East Wilkes scored first, but Mount Airy retaliated with nine unanswered touchdowns in Friday’s Northwest 1A Conference opener. The Granite Bears held the Cardinals to their lowest scoring total of the season while also handing East Wilkes its first loss of 2022.

When Mount Airy most recently played in Wallace Shelton Stadium in, junior Tyler Mason set a career high in yards rushing while also scoring five touchdowns in a 54-6 win over Surry Central. Two weeks later on Sept. 17 Mason did the same thing against East Wilkes.

The running back raised his single-game career high to 250 yards, this time doing so on 13 carries. Mason’s first two carries of the game – which both resulted in the junior reaching the end zone – went for a combined 131 yards.

The Granite Bears (4-1, 1-0 NW1A) have hit their stride in the running game in September. Mount Airy ran for 403 yards in the aforementioned win over Surry Central on Sept. 2, then went on the road to Ashe County to go for 443 yards rushing in a 51-29 victory.

Ian Gallimore and Taeshon Martin both ran for career highs against Ashe County. Gallimore led the team with 15 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns, Martin ran for 115 yards on 10 carries, and Mason added 151 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

Gallimore and Martin only needed to run a combined four times against East Wilkes (4-1, 0-1 NW1A) and Mount Airy still finished with 430 yards on the ground. Behind Mason’s 250: Martin had two carries for 71 yards and two touchdowns, Traven Thompson had two carries for 58 yards and a touchdown, a returning Caleb Reid had one carry for 36 yards, Gallimore ran twice for eight yards and Nas Lemon carried four times for seven yards.

Gallimore also completed 4-of-6 passes for 52 yards, bringing the Bears’ total yardage to 482 for the game. Walker Stroup, who also kicked seven touchbacks and six PATs, was the leading receiver with a 26-yard touchdown catch. Logan Fonville added one catch for 11 yards, Mason had one reception for 10 yards and Mario Revels had one catch for five yards.

East Wilkes was held to 126 total yards after going 80 yards on its first drive of the game. The Cardinals received the opening kickoff and got on the board after a 6:08 drive ended with a 1-yard run from senior Brody Martin.

Martin led the Cards with 12 carries for 37 yards, followed by Briggs Gentry with 8 carries for 33 yards, Easton Martin with four carries for 17 yards, Ayden Guessford with one carry for no yards, Eric Adams with two carries for -7 yards, Seth Lambert with four carries for -10 yards and Zac Helms with one carry for -16 yards.

Gentry passed for 72 yards by completing 3-of-10 attempts. Ethan Cass had one reception for 36 yards, followed by Adams with one catch for 28 yards and Brennan Arnder with one catch for 8 yards.

The Bears and Cardinals both continue NW1A play next week. Mount Airy travels to South Stokes (2-3, 1-0 NW1A), and East Wilkes hosts Elkin (1-3, 1-0 NW1A).

5:52 EWHS 0-7 – Brody Martin 1-yard rushing TD, PAT good*

5:36 MAHS 7-7 – Tyler Mason 80-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

1:16 MAHS 13-7 – Tyler Mason 51-yard rushing TD, PAT no good

8:17 MAHS 20-7 – Tyler Mason 23-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

3:26 MAHS 28-0 – Tyler Mason 32-yard rushing TD, Connor Burrell 2-point conversion reception from Ian Gallimore pass

1:08 MAHS 35-7 – Walker Stroup 26-yard TD reception on Ian Gallimore pass, Walker Stroup PAT

11:49 MAHS 42-7 – Taeshon Martin 63-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

7:09 MAHS 48-7 – Tyler Mason 11-yard rushing TD, PAT no good

3:24 MAHS 55-7 – Taeshon Martin 8-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

9:57 MAHS 62-7 – Traven Thompson 62-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

*No kicker listed on MaxPreps

This week, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) released the first National Participation Survey in three years. The survey was suspended for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic on high school athletic and activities programs across the country.

The data released saw a 4% drop in participation nationally from the 2018-19 survey to the data in the 2021-2022 survey. North Carolina specifically experienced a 9.1% decline in participation during that period, with a significant decline of 12.5% in women’s sports.

“As we look at the participation numbers from last year, it is obvious to us that we are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker. “We believe that last year’s data indicates we may be encountering some lingering effects of the COVID-19 shortened season. Perhaps shorter seasons coupled with overlapping seasons may have contributed to a sharper decline in participation for North Carolina than we have seen in other states.”

While the NFHS Survey data did not include information from the 2019-20 or 2020-21 academic years, the NCHSAA did maintain participation during those years. The NCHSAA annually gathers participation data from member schools, submitted by the athletic director at each school during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.

The NCHSAA data for the two COVID-impacted years shows a significant adjustment in student participation trends. With sport seasons shortened, moved from their traditional time of the year, and in many cases, overlapping with other sports, the NCHSAA data from 2020-21 indicates many student-athletes chose to focus their participation, or not participate during the impacted season.

Examples of this impact include a 5000 student-athlete decline in football participation with nine schools not fielding a program in the sport. The Indoor Track season being cancelled saw over 11 thousand student athletes not participate in that sport for the 2020-21 academic year. Men’s Lacrosse saw a decline of 14 programs and 34.3% less student-athletes participate while the Women’s game experienced a decline of four programs and 22% of student athletes.

The NCHSAA data for 2021-22 show a 3700-student rebound in football, a 17.3% increase from 2020-21, with 11 programs returning to the field. Lacrosse experienced a similar return with all 14 men’s programs that did not field teams in the COVID year returning to play for 2021-22. The Men’s Lacrosse total participation numbers bounced back 895 students, increasing 32.7% from the COVID-shortened year. Women’s Lacrosse saw an increase of six teams and 299 students, up 13.7%.

Commissioner Que Tucker added, “We remain encouraged that student-athletes and their communities are returning to normal and continue to expect rebounds in participation at our member schools. We continue to believe that education-based athletic programs are tremendous enrichment opportunities for young people in our state’s schools and remain committed to ensuring those opportunities remain available for all young people across our state.”

The NCHSAA will have more information on participation trends in the coming weeks through the NCHSAA Website.

Full participation numbers can be found at bit.ly/3DuUNKY

DOBSON — Surry Central outlasted West Wilkes in a defensive battle Friday night as the teams opened league play in the Foothills 2A Conference.

After each team scored a touchdown in the first half, neither defense gave up a first down in the third quarter. Central took a 10-7 lead after capping off an 11-play, 5:36 drive with a Chris Nava field goal, then the Eagles put the game on ice when Eli Scott grabbed an interception.

“I’m feeling a little bit of relief to be honest with you,” said Central coach Monty Southern. “When you start 0-3, you don’t want to tell the kids but you as a coach feel a little bit of pressure. And we didn’t play great tonight offensively, but man defensively we did really good. I thought as the game went on that defensively as the game went along we got more physical, which is something that we have been talking about and lacking.

“So, it was good to see the guys doing a little bit of hitting and getting downhill to make some plays.”

The 10-7 victory was not only Surry Central’s first of the season, but served as the first varsity win for most of the team. The young Eagles squad, which is predominantly filled with sophomores and juniors, knew it was in for an uphill battle after graduating 17 seniors from the 2021 team.

Overcoming those obstacles made Friday’s win even sweeter, and the team celebrated accordingly to cap off an unforgettable Homecoming game.

“I think with a young team that wins are really important,” Southern said. “It took me a second to get brave enought to jump into that pile because there was a lot of raw emotion in there; they were pumped up.”

Southern’s message to his team during Friday’s game was the same it’s been all season: put in the work and good things will come.

“I do a devotional with the kids every week,” Southern said. “Before Alleghany, the devotion was basically ‘God can see things coming in your life that you can’t see’ and I told them ‘I know we’re young, and for a lot of you it’s going to be your first varsity game, but we feel like we have the talent to be good. But, you gotta trust us. It may take us a little bit to get there.’”

Just as the Eagles ran into road blocks during the first few weeks of the season – whether it be the heartbreaking 1-point loss to Alleghany in the season opener or a 48-point loss to Mount Airy – the team had to fight through adversity against West Wilkes.

The Blackhawks defense did a good job of taking away Central’s ground game, holding the Eagles to just 44 yards rushing on the night. West Wilkes’ rushing offense, meanwhile, caused problems for Central. The visitors rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone.

The Eagles countered the Blackhawks’ restrictive rush defense by taking to the skies. Sophomore quarterback Mason Jewell led the Golden Eagles’ aerial offense with 189 yards passing. The QB completed 6-of-11 passes (54.5%) while also throwing one touchdown and one interception.

Kyle Inman led the home team in yards receiving by scoring an 81-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Ayden Wilmoth had three catches for 42 yards, Brian Williams added one receptions for 41 yards and Evan Wall had one 25-yard reception.

As for the Blackhawks’ rushing offense, the Eagles made adjustments at halftime when the teams were tied up at 7-7. Surry Central not only held West Wilkes scoreless in the second half, but also limited the Blackhawks to just 51 yards rushing through the third and fourth quarters.

Neither side was able to move the chains in the third quarter. Business picked up in the fourth when Central started on its own 28-yard line with 8:54 to play.

Back-to-back runs from Allen Huffman, who led the team with 36 yards rushing on 12 carries, gave Central its first first down of the half. Jewell then connected with Ayden Wilmoth for a 33-yard gain, then two plays later the QB threw a 25-yard pass to Evan Wall. Wall dragged defenders inside the Blackhawk 10 before he was finally taken down at the 1-yard line.

The Eagles were stifled on first and second down, then a miscommunication the snap led to Jewell falling on the ball on the 10. Nava came in to nail the 27-yard field that gave Central a 10-7 advantage with 3:18 to play.

“We gotta find a way to punch that thing in,” Southern said. “That was disappointing, but it’s always good to have a good kicker. Chris really came through for us.”

West Wilkes got its initial first down of the second half on the ensuing drive. Blackhawk QB Travis Walsh called his own number on a run, then completed a short pass to Jaheim McDougald to move the chains. Walsh followed with his only other completed pass for positive yardage, which went to Hayden Frye for 22 yards.

A holding penalty backed the Hawks behind midfield, but a double reverse put them on the Eagles 42 to set up third-and-11. Ethan Day took over as quarterback for the next play and faced immediate pressure from Central. Day was leveled by Clay Whitaker as he attempted a pass, then it was intercepted by Scott to effectively end the game.

Whitaker, Wyatt Wall, Graden Spurlin and Blaise Gwyn all recorded tackles for a loss for Surry Central in the win.

“I just want to say that I thought the defensive staff had a great gameplan, and the kids did a great job of carrying that game plan out,” Southern said. “You start 0-3 and it’s easy to get down, so I thought these kids showed some resilience.”

Surry Central improves to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference with the win. The Golden Eagles will continue conference play next week by traveling to Wilkes Central.

“We’re 1-0 in conference, and that’s what we’re focused on right now, because we know that ultimately if you make the playoffs or not is based on how well you do in the conference,” Southern said.

8:32 SCHS 7-0 – Kyle Inman 81-yard TD reception on Mason Jewell pass, Chris Nava PAT

2:53 WWHS 7-7 – Jarrett Minton 10-yard rush TD, Walker Brondos PAT

3:18 SCHS 10-7 – Chris Nava 27-yard field goal

DOBSON — East Surry went on the road Thursday and defeated Surry Central 7-2 in tennis.

The defending Foothills 2A Conference Champions control their own destiny with an 8-0 conference record. Defeating last season’s runner-up brings the Cardinals (9-1) one step closer to repeating as conference champs.

The three seniors in Thursday’s match all went undefeated in their respective matches. East Surry’s top two seeds, Tara Martin and Evelyn Ruedisueli, both won their singles matches and teamed together to win No. 1 doubles. Central’s lone senior, Kaesi Blythe, was part of the Eagles’ victorious No. 3 doubles team.

Martin and Ruedisueli have yet to lose a match in 2022. Martin, the defending FH2A Conference Player of the Year, is 10-0 in No. 1 singles, while Ruedisueli has the same record in No. 2 singles.

Martin/Ruedisueli are not only 10-0 as a doubles team, but the unit has only lost a combined seven games all season.

Martin defeated McKenna Merritt 6-0, 6-0 on court No. 1, and Ruedisueli beat Karlie Robertson 6-1, 6-1.

East Surry’s No. 3 Sophie Hutchens increased the East Surry lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Priscilla Gentry. Hutchens improves to 8-1 in No. 3 singles with the victory.

The remaining straight set match was on court No. 5. East’s Taylor Bullington defeated Madelyn Wilmoth 6-2, 6-4.

Surry Central’s lone singles win came at the No. 4 spot. Freshman Emma Bryant topped Chloe Koons in three sets, winning 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

Also going to three sets was the No. 6 matchup of Surry Central’s Mitzy Vasquez and East Surry’s Mallory Estrada. Estrada took the opening set 6-3, but Vasquez won the second 6-4.

Estrada went on to take the tiebreaker 10-5 to win both the individual match and clinch the overall team competition for East.

Martin/Ruedisueli shut out Merritt/Robertson 8-0 in No. 1 doubles, marking the Cardinal duo’s seventh shutout of the year.

Hutchens/Koons added a win in No. 2 doubles by defeating Gentry/Bryant 8-4. Blythe picked up her win with partner Wilmoth in No. 3 doubles by defeating Bullington and Estrada 9-7.

East Surry sits atop the FH2A rankings with an 8-0 conference record. Forbush, Surry Central and North Wilkes are the only other teams still mathematically in contention for the conference title, sitting at 5-1, 4-2 and 2-3 respectively.

North Surry is fifth at 2-4, followed by West Wilkes at 1-6 and Wilkes Central at 0-6.

Surry Central is back in action on Sept. 19 against Wilkes Central, and East Surry travels to North Surry the same day.

1. Tara Martin (ES) def. McKenna Merritt 6-0, 6-0

2. Evelyn Ruedisueli (ES) def. Karlie Robertson 6-1, 6-1

3. Sophie Hutchens (ES) def. Priscilla Gentry 6-3, 6-0

4. Emma Bryant (SC) def. Chloe Koons 6-3, 4-6, 10-8

5. Taylor Bullington (ES) def. Madelyn Wilmoth 6-2, 6-4

6. Mallory Estrada (ES) def. Mitzy Vasquez 6-3, 4-6, 10-5

1. Martin/Ruedisueli (ES) def. Merritt/Robertson 8-0

2. Hutchens/Koons (ES) def. Gentry/Bryant 8-4

3. Wilmoth/Kaesi Blythe (SC) def. Bullington/Estrada 9-7

DOBSON — The No. 1-ranked team in the 1A West remained extended its undefeated streak Thursday with a shutout win over a county foe.

Mount Airy, now 9-0 overall, put one in the back of the Surry Central net just a few minutes after the opening whistle, then added another goal late in the first half. Central found new life in the second half after going down 3-0, but wasn’t able to convert on the scoreboard.

The Granite Bears have now won five consecutive meetings against the Eagles dating back to 2017.

“Honestly, I’m not as disappointed as I thought I was going to be,” said Surry Central coach Adan Garcia. “All respect to Mount Airy; they have a great squad. I like to schedule these tough nonconference games to give us experience so when we get into our tough conference games against the likes of Forbush we’ll be ready.”

Mount Airy has yet to lose through nine matches this season, which was true in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons as well. New faces have continued to step up and help the team succeed, especially now as the team has been dealing with injuries.

”It’s the third game of the week and we played last night,” said Bears coach Will Hurley. “We had four starters out for a while, and still have three out, but hopefully they’ll get healed and time will be on our side. Through this experience, though, I thought it’s been good for those kids that stepped up.

“We got a little gassed in the second half…our legs were like spaghetti, but I thought we did a good job of possessing the ball and probably could’ve scored a few more goals. But, that’s just how soccer is sometimes.”

The opening half was all Mount Airy as the Bears built a 2-0 lead. Agripino Perez scored the opener off a Gavin Guerrero corner kick, and Elkin Lopez netted the second of an assist from Angel Osorno.

Surry Central (3-4-1) was held without a shot for the first 55 minutes of play.

“The first half I felt like we just weren’t hustling. We were just jogging to balls and getting outworked,” Garcia said. “They (Mount Airy) came out and got us on two mistakes immediately. At halftime I told them that we have to be physical. We’re playing on our home field and we have to put up a fight.”

Hurley loved what he saw from the back line, consisting primarily of Edwin Agabo, Carson Hill, Pablo Salmeron and Christopher Flores.

“Overall I thought our back line played tremendous,” Hurley said. “Central had one good chance to score, and our goalie came up.

“We tried having Pablo push up that side and he did great, and Edwin was great at covering for him. You know Edwin moves so well, and I like to joke with him saying that he proves to me that a guy that wrestles heavyweight can play soccer. I told him, ‘It’s going to help you wrestle and get a state championship this year. Just wait and see.’”

Central made changes to its lineup and formation in the second half. While the first 10-15 minutes of the half were similar to the first, with Mount Airy’s Osorno scoring off an assist from Lopez six minutes out of the break, Central was able regroup and put pressure on the Bears’ goal.

Chris Nava moved to offense, which Garcia said really opened up the offense and helped reenergize the Eagles.

“That relieved some pressure off the back and we were able to press up high, and Chris was a running machine up there with Luke [Creed],” Garcia said. “He lost some balls, but he immediately hustled back – which is exactly what I expect out of my players. That’s what lifted everybody’s spirits.”

A long Central throw from the corner in the 55th minute went through the box to Nava, and his shot sailed just wide of the left post. Still, it made Mount Airy keeper Edwin Ramirez dive for the first time Thursday night.

Even though Central spent much more time in Mount Airy’s defensive third in the second half, the Eagles still only put up two shots. This was because Ramirez covered every square foot of the 18-yard box and would intercept any attempt at a though ball.

“I’m glad the guys didn’t quit,” Garcia said. “That’s a really good team we just played, and they didn’t back down. Even down 3-0, we managed to get a shot off. Their keeper, Edwin, did a great job of coming out and pouncing on balls to prevent shots too. Some of those were played really well and, I’m not saying it would have been a goal against someone else, but it would’ve been dangerous.”

For both teams, the biggest takeaway from the nonconference meeting was experience. With conference play just beginning – Mount Airy is 2-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference and Surry Central is 1-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference – every match counts, and the Bears and Eagles both look to make a run at their respective conference titles.

Surry Central will play its final two nonconference matches of the season next week, traveling to Hibriten (6-1-3) and Ashe County (8-3).

Mount Airy will meet another NW1A-title contender, Starmount, on Sept. 19. Starmount is ranked No. 5 in the 1A West by MaxPreps and sits at 7-1-1 overall.

6’ Mount Airy 0-1, Agripino Perez from Gavin Guerrero assist

29’ Mount Airy 0-2, Elkin Lopez from Angel Osorno assist

46’ Mount Airy 0-3, Angel Osorno from Elkin Lopez assist

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A second-half scoring surge from North Surry lifted the Greyhounds over East Surry on Sept. 14.

The Wednesday-night match featured six second-half goals after just two were scored in the opening half.

North opened with a 2-0 lead, but East battled back and made it 3-2 with less than 30 minutes left on the clock. The Greyhounds ramped their offense up when the Cards went down a man, leading to three more goals for the visitors.

North Surry’s Edgar Vazquez scored a hat trick and added an assist in the 6-2 Foothills 2A Conference win. Bali Raya added two goals for the Hounds, and Jimmy Burnete had one.

Juan Caro and Logan Fagg each scored for the Cardinals.

A focal point for North Surry this season has been how they begin games. The Greyhounds (4-4, 2-2 FH2A) have had mixed results at times this season due to slow starts. The team will go down after a few early goals then spend most of the night playing catch-up.

The Greyhounds got off to a booming start Wednesday night by scoring less than 10 minutes into the first half. Vazquez found the back of the net on just the team’s second shot, pulling up from 30 yards out and striking with his left foot.

North Surry continued to pepper shots at the East Surry goal throughout the half, posting 11 through the first 40 minutes. Seven of the shots were on target; five were saved by East Surry goalkeeper Michael Youngblood, and two got past the keeper.

Bali Raya added the Hounds’ second goal in the 23rd minute. Vazquez found himself outside the Cardinals’ 18-yard box facing East Surry’s back line. He played a through ball to his right, and Raya finished it for his first goal in the game.

North Surry held East (0-4-1, 0-2 FH2A) to one shot in the first half. Fagg sent a through ball over the Greyhound defense for Levi Watson, setting the forward up for a 1-on-1 against North Surry keeper Josh Garcia. Watson got a shot off with defenders nipping at his heels, and the shot was saved by Garcia.

It was East Surry’s turn for a strong start in the second half. A shot from Mario Flores three minutes in match the Cardinals’ shot total from the first half, but this time it didn’t stop there.

Flores took a corner kick in the 47th minute that led to Caro scoring his first goal of the season.

Fagg, who moved up to striker for the second half, had a shot at equalizing in the minutes following the goal. The Cards sent Fagg a through ball and it became a footrace between Garcia and the striker. Fagg got there first and managed to push the ball away from the keeper, but it was too far left for him to make a shot on goal.

East Surry went down a man in the 52nd minute when Alex Galvan was presented a red card.

Momentum seemed to be on the side of the Hounds after Burnete scored less than a minute later, but the Cards didn’t back down. Fagg was fouled inside the Greyhounds’ 18 in the 54th minute. He put the penalty kick away himself, making it a 3-2 game.

East fared well with just 10 men on the field for a while, but the numbers game caught up to them. The Cards only had one shot in the final 20 minutes of the game after posting five in the 20 minutes prior.

North added to its lead with a Raya goal in the 62nd minute. Vazquez then scored his second and third goals in the final 12 minutes to pick up his second hat trick of the season.

East Surry looks to rebound on Sept. 19 when they face Wilkes Central (0-3-3). North Surry is in FH2A action the same day against Forbush (6-0).

8’ North Surry 0-1, Edgar Vazquez unassisted

23’ North Surry 0-2, Bali Raya from Edgar Vazquez assist

47’ East Surry 1-2, Juan Caro unassisted

52’ North Surry 1-3, Jimmy Burnete unassisted

54’ East Surry 2-3, Logan Fagg penalty kick

62’ North Surry 2-4, Bali Raya unassisted

68’ North Surry 2-5, Edgar Vazquez unassisted

79’ North Surry 2-6, Edgar Vazquez unassisted

The Mount Airy Bears defended their home course in Monday’s Northwest 1A Conference Golf Match.

Five of the seven Northwest 1A Conference teams were in attendance at Cross Creek Country Club: Mount Airy, Elkin, Alleghany, East Wilkes and South Stokes. North Stokes and Starmount did not compete.

Only Mount Airy, South Stokes and Elkin had at least three golfers each and were able to take part in the team competition – which takes the top three individual scores from each school.

Mount Airy came away with the team victory with a three-person total of 186 strokes. South Stokes finished second at 189 stokes, and Elkin was third at 194 strokes.

South Stokes’ Haley Tyndall was the medalist for the match with a score of 51 strokes. East Wilkes’ Lauren Macemore took second at 52, while Mount Airy’s Mercer Meadows finished third at 60.

Full results are below and sorted by school:

Two conference leaders took a break from league play recently to rekindle a rivalry on the volleyball court.

East Surry holds sole possession of first place in the Foothills 2A Conference as the only FH2A team without a conference loss, while West Stokes is tied with McMichael for the top spot in the Mid-State 2A Conference. Both East Surry and West Stokes are 4-0 in league play.

The Cardinals traveled to King on Sept. 12 and came away with the 3-0 win. East won with set scores of 25-11, 25-20 and 25-19.

Bella Hutchens led the Cards with 17 kills in the victory. Madeline Dayton and Maggy Sechrist each added six kills, Merry Parker Boaz had four, Mckenzie Davis had two and Khloe Bennett had one.

East Surry has now won nine of its past 10 meetings against West Stokes dating back to 2013. Six of those nine wins have been 3-0 sweeps.

East resumed conference play the following night at home against Forbush. Another sweep, this time with set scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 25-10, gave the Cardinals their eighth win of the season. The victory also put the Cards at 5-0 at home.

The defending 2A West Regional Runners-Up sit at 8-3 overall in 2022. East Surry’s three losses have come against teams from higher divisions in nonconference play, those coming against: Reagan, who is currently 20-0 and ranked No. 1 in 4A by MaxPreps; West Forsyth, who is 8-4 overall and No. 14 in the 4A West; and West Rowan, who sits at 10-3 overall and is No. 5 in the 3A West.

MaxPreps’ Sept. 12 rankings place East Surry at No. 7 in the 2A West.

East Surry has three nonconference games remaining as part of their 22-match regular season. The Cards will play Mount Airy twice, first on Sept. 19 and again on Oct. 3, then host West Stokes on Oct. 10.

East returns to the court Sept. 15 by traveling to West Wilkes.

Mount Airy continued its undefeated September campaign by sweeping North Surry on Tuesday.

The Granite Bears led by double digits in all three sets in the rematch from two weeks earlier. Both squads went on 9-0 runs at one point in the match, but only Mount Airy was able to come away with a set victory.

Set scores of 26-24, 25-8 and 25-14 lifted the visiting Bears to their fifth-consecutive win of the season and third-consecutive sweep.

The turning point for Mount Airy’s season was its initial match against North Surry on Aug. 29. North came away with the win in that match 3-0, bumping Mount Airy to a 1-3 overall record.

The Bears (6-3) have not lost a match since.

Mount Airy followed the first North Surry match with back-to-back five-set victories over East Wilkes and South Stokes. The Granite City girls then posted consecutive sweeps over Starmount and North Stokes, which moved them to 4-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference.

North Surry had a chance to win its third straight match on Tuesday. The Greyhounds (5-6) have been up and down in 2022, never winning more than back-to-back matches but also not losing more than two straight.

North also opened conference play after the Aug. 29 match at Mount Airy. The Hounds dropped matches to Wilkes Central and East Surry as they began Foothills 2A Conference competition, but then won consecutive matches over Forbush and West Wilkes.

Mount Airy looked like it would run away with the match early by taking a 23-13 lead in the first set. Kills from Callie Robertson and Haylee Smith cut into Mount Airy’s lead, but a service error from North put the visitors within a point of winning.

What followed was a complete turnaround for the Greyhounds. Smith served the next nine points as North won rally after rally, slowing closing the nearly-10 point gap. Most of the rallies saw multiple exchanges instead of ending quickly.

The teams were tied up 24-24 when a Greyhound attack sailed behind the baseline. Granite Bear senior Kennedy Gwyn put away the next rally with a kill to lift Mount Airy to the 26-24 win.

The Bears carried momentum over to the second set with a 6-0 start. The Hounds responded with kills from Ella Riggs and Aniya Joyce, as well as an ace from Riggs, but then Mount Airy scored 10 of the next 11 points.

Southpaw Alissa Clabo led the Bears’ offense with kill-after-kill set up by Kinlee Reece. North Surry, however, struggled to get its offense going at all and only had two kills in the entire second set. Mount Airy cruised to a 25-8 set victory to go up 2-0.

Neither school could score back-to-back points early in the third set. The teams were tied at every number through six until North went on a 4-0 run beginning with a Sadie Badgett kill. Joyce added a block and a kill as the Hounds rallied behind Smith’s serving, going up 9-6.

Consecutive service errors left North Surry with an 11-8 lead. An attack error by the Hounds put the ball in Morgan Mayfield’s hands, and this served as the final momentum shift of the match.

Mayfield led off with an ace on a run of four-consecutive points in which North Surry failed to return her serve. The Hounds followed with three attack errors, then a Clabo kill capped off the 9-0 run.

Mount Airy closed the third set with a 17-3 run to pick up the sweep.

Both teams continue conference play on Sept. 15. North Surry will travel to Surry Central, and Mount Airy goes on the road to face Elkin.

North Surry is putting everything together on the soccer field as its season progresses.

After suffering one-goal losses on back-to-back days, the Greyhounds regrouped to start conference play with a 1-0 record.

North Surry scored late in the first half of Monday’s match to break a scoreless tie against Wilkes Central. The Greyhounds piled on three more goals in the second half, then withstood an Eagle comeback to clinch the Foothills 2A Conference win 4-2.

“We came out and played very strong like we finished against Elkin,” said Greyhound coach Kevin Shore. “I think it helps our team build confidence, and that’s one thing we need: confidence that we can put the ball in the net, we can make a pass and we can make that first touch. It’s good for them to have some confidence and for them to know that they can play to their potential. That’s our goal.

“The guys played very well tonight and I’m happy for them.”

Shore’s objective for the team has always been to compete in every match, with wins and losses merely being “side effects.” He knew the wins would come with time as long as the team focused on controlling what they could control.

Now, the Greyhounds are seeing the rewards of their hard work manifest.

“We did some film review about 30 minutes before we came to the field. The boys came out and were able to put together some of the things we’ve been telling them, ” Shore said. “It really helped them being able to see what they were doing and what we as coaches were talking about.”

Putting into practice what they had discussed as a team, North Surry came out and battled Wilkes Central in an evenly matched first half. It looked like the match might go into halftime 0-0 before the Hounds were awarded a corner kick in the 38th minute.

Jimmy Burnete sent the corner kick into the 6-yard box where a cluster of Eagle and Greyhound players were waiting. The ball bounced around before making contact with the hand of a Wilkes Central player, giving North Surry a penalty kick in the closing moments of the half.

Junior Edwin Vazquez scored the PK to give North the 1-0 lead and momentum heading into the second half.

Fast-forward to the next half and the Hounds have been awarded another corner kick in the 52nd minute. Emiliano Calderon took the corner, but this time it was punched out of the 18 by the keeper. Defender Hector Hernandez, who was pressed up for the corner, trapped the goalkeeper’s deflection and fired it right back at the goal from 35 yards out. Hernandez’s shot hit the back of the net and doubled the Hounds’ lead.

North found itself celebrating again four minutes later. Oliver Fajardo helped the Greyhounds spark a quick counterattack near midfield with the Eagles’ back line pressed up. Fajardo found Vazquez open in the circle, then Vazquez took down two defenders off the dribble.

Fading to his left, Vazquez launched a shot to the near post and made it 3-0.

Vazquez has scored in six of North Surry’s seven matches this season, with the exception being a shutout loss against Mount Airy. The junior has scored multiple goals in three of those matches.

The Hounds held the 3-0 advantage for another 15 minutes until a miscommunication by the defense allowed the Eagles to get on the board.

Vazquez nearly completed a hat trick in the 76th minute. The forward intercepted a Wilkes Central goal kick and shot just outside the 18 with the keeper charging. His shot was deflected back to him, and instead of firing again Vazquez dished to an open Fajardo to put away the goal.

Wilkes Central added a goal with less than a minute left on the clock, but time expired before the visitors could close the gap any more.

The 4-2 win puts North Surry at 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the FH2A Conference. Playing in the first FH2A match of the season, North Surry sits alone at the top of the table.

The Greyhounds look to continue their winning ways in a conference match against East Surry on Sept. 14. The Hounds then travel to Alleghany for a nonconference match Sept. 15.

Goals: Edgar Vazquez (NS) Penalty Kick 38’ | Hector Hernandez (NS) 52’, Edgar Vazquez (NS) 56’, Wilkes Central No. 12* 70’, Oliver Fajardo (NS) from Edgar Vazquez assist 76’, Wilkes Central No. 12 79’

*Wilkes Central’s roster was not available on MaxPreps

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — New Clemson coordinator Wes Goodwin didn’t expect to face questions about his defensive unit so soon.

But Goodwin has plenty of things to fix after Furman of the Football Championship Subdivision outgained the fifth-ranked Tigers 386-374 in Clemson’s 35-12 win on Saturday. They allowed the Paladins to go 10 of 18 on third downs a week after holding Georgia Tech to 237 yards and 2 of 16 on third-down conversions.

“You’re coming free for a reason,” Goodwin said of Clemson’s rushers continually getting beat on screen plays. “So you’ve got to put on the brakes.”

Goodwin expects a tighter, mentally ready group when Clemson plays Louisiana Tech at home on Saturday night.

The Tigers were largely set loose on Georgia Tech in the opener and contained quarterback Jeff Sims to 164 yards with an interception and two sacks. Tyler Huff, a Presbyterian transfer making his second start for Furman, connected on 31 of 40 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. He, too, was sacked twice.

“Obviously, we did not play screens and the quick game well at all,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just a poor start. I did not like how we played defensively at all.”

Few had questions about Clemson’s defensive prospects with so many talented, fiery, experienced players returning, like defensive ends K.J. Henry and Myles Murphy, and tackles in Bryan Bresee and Tyler Davis.

However, Davis missed the Furman game as a precaution after Swinney said he was “banged-up” earlier in the week. Goodwin did not know Monday if Davis could play Saturday night against Louisiana Tech.

Another wild card is Bresee, who’s younger sister Ella was honored at Clemson last Saturday in her fight against brain cancer. Bresee went to his family’s home in Maryland following the game when Ella had a setback. Goodwin did not know how long Bresee would be absent.

Tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, who started in place of Davis on Saturday, said the group’s issues were all minor and correctable at practice.

“There (are) just a lot of little mental mistakes, just a lot of fixable stuff,” said Orhorhoro, a fourth-year junior. “Sometimes you need stuff like that to happen so, you know, your strong areas and your weak areas, just little mental stuff that we can fix as a whole.”

Clemson’s defense had its moments against Furman. The Tigers got an interception by linebacker Barrett Carter to end a second-half drive and had a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to end another Furman drive.

“Just responding to adversity, you want to see your guys rise to the occasion and I thought they did,” said Goodwin, who replaced longtime Clemson coordinator Brent Venables, now Oklahoma’s head coach. “Good to see them show up and respond the right way.”

Cornerback Malcolm Greene is one of two new starters in the secondary this season following the departures of Andrew Booth and Mario Goodrich. Greene said the defense gave up too many quick throws and won’t let that happen again.

“To see a guy wide open in a zone where you know somebody should be on them, it was really rough,” Greene said. “But I know we have guys in the room that love to step up.”

Goodwin has seen his defenders bring a strong focus into each practice since spring and knows they’ll do that this week in preparing for Louisiana Tech of Conference USA. Goodwin was even asked to weigh in on Orhorhoro’s claim that the 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender was the best basketball player on the team.

“I got bigger things to worry about right now than basketball,” Goodwin said with a smile.

The North Surry JV and Varsity Cheerleading Squads braved the wet weather Saturday morning to lend a hand at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

The event was held at Riverside Park from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants flooded the park despite less-than-ideal weather to walk on the Ararat River segment of the greenway.

The cheerleaders served as a joyful welcome to greet participants, painted faces and cheered on walkers when starting the route.

JV head coach is Karen Romero, and varsity head coach is Hope Ward.

“It was a great way to get involved in the community and support a great cause,” Ward said. “The girls enjoyed it, and I know we brought the cheer!”

PILOT MOUNTAIN — The good times continued to roll for East Surry as the Cardinals defeated South Stokes to improve to 4-0 on the season.

The Cards surpassed 400 yards of total offense for the third time this season while holding the visiting Sauras to 160. The combination of East Surry’s dynamic offense and stingy defense led the team to a 54-0 win in its nonconference finale.

East has won its last 11 meetings against South Stokes, and is now 25-1 versus its foe from Walnut Cove since the 1998 season.

The Cardinals wasted little time building a lead against the Sauras. In the first quarter, East Surry scored three touchdowns on just six offensive plays. The Cards then began the second quarter with a two-play drive that resulted in a 67-yard touchdown pass from Folger Boaz to Luke Brown.

Boaz, who finished the game with a season-high 337 yards passing on 19-of-25 attempts (76%), connected with Brown three times in the win over South. The first went for a 42-yard touchdown, the second for the aforementioned 67-yard touchdown, then the third was a 27-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the second quarter.

Brown was one of nine Cardinal players to log a reception against the Sauras. Brown led the team with 136 yards, followed by Colby Johnson with 63 yards, Kyle Zinn with 58 yards and a touchdown on two receptions, and Matthew Keener with two receptions for 29 yards.

Stephen Brantley, Gabriel Harpe, Matthew Edwards and Stevie Keener each grabbed one reception.

East Surry added 148 yards on the ground to finish with a season-high 485 total yards. Boaz was the team’s leading rusher with four carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, bringing his total yardage for the game up to 421.

Zinn added 17 yards on two carries, followed by Johnson with two carries for 15 yards and a touchdown, Hayden Sammons with one carry for 15 yards and a TD, Lindann Fleming with one carry for 10 yards and a TD, and Edwards with two carries for seven yards.

South Stokes’ offense warmed up as the game progressed. After a three-and-out on the first drive and just one first down on the second drive, the Sauras (1-3) got into the red zone on their third drive due to their passing success.

Quarterback Nolan Coe began the game 0-of-3 before completing his next five passes. Coe led the Sauras on a 7:12 drive that spanned the latter half of the first quarter into the second. During the drive, Coe connected with Daniel Martin twice, Junior Hairston twice and Noah Booe once.

A 25-yard pass to Hairston put South Stokes on the Cardinal 20-yard line as the first quarter winded down. East Surry’s Brett Clayton ended the quarter by sacking Coe, then Fleming opened the second quarter with a big tackle for a loss. South ended up going for a fourth-down conversion with Coe targeting Hairston in the end zone, but the receiver couldn’t bring it in.

South didn’t get a first down for the remainder of the half, and East was able to add two more touchdowns in the quarter to go up 35-0 at the break.

East Surry added a touchdown early in the second half, with the Boaz-Brown connection scoring for the third time in the game, then the Cards forced a fumble to regain possession. Clayton forced the Hairston fumble, and it was recovered by Levi Surratt.

The next play, Boaz ran in a 74-yard touchdown to go up 47-0 and activate a running clock. Sammons plugged in a 15-yard run in the fourth quarter to make it 54-0.

South Stokes finished with 160 total yards from 97 passing and 63 rushing. Coe completed 5-of-10 passes for 67 yards, and Hairston was 2-of-8 for 30 yards. Martin was the Sauras’ leading receiver with four catches for 47 yards, followed by Hairston with 33 yards on two catches and Booe with one catch for 17 yards.

Deuce Chalmers recorded 10 carries for 23 yards as the Sauras’ leading rusher. Arlyn Durrell was next with four carries for 21 yards, followed by Hairston with eight carries for 18 yards, Coe with five carries for two yards and Jaryd Galloway with four carries for a loss of one yard.

The Cardinal defense finished with 13 tackles for a loss. Clayton, who led the team with 13 total tackles, had six tackles for a loss, followed by Fleming, Hatcher Hamm and Anderson Badgett with two each, and Kyle Zinn with one. Fleming also defended three passes.

East and South are scheduled to begin conference play in Week Five. The Cardinals go on the road to play North Wilkes (3-1) in their Foothills 2A Conference opener, and the Sauras open Northwest 1A Conference play at Alleghany (1-2).

11:08 ESHS 7-0 – Luke Brown 42-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

9:54 ESHS 14-0 – Kyle Zinn 34-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

5:32 ESHS 20-0 – Lindann Fleming 10-yard rush TD, PAT no good

9:36 ESHS 27-0 – Luke Brown 66-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

0:00 ESHS 35-0 – Luke Brown 27-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Kyle Zinn 2-pt conversion reception on Folger Boaz pass

7:13 ESHS 41-0 – Kyle Zinn 12-yard rush TD, PAT no good

5:11 ESHS 47-0 – Folger Boaz 74-yard rush TD, PAT no good

8:30 ESHS 54-0 – Hayden Sammons 15-yard rush TD, Joshua Parker PAT

DOBSON — Well over 100 runners from 23 schools competed in the second Millennium Charter Academy Cross Country Meet on Sept. 8.

Eighty high school-aged boys and fifty girls competed in 5,000-meter runs on Thursday. Public, private and home schools ranging from Independence, Va., to Jamestown, N.C. competed in the meet.

Elkin, Mount Airy, Surry Homeschool and White Plains Christian School represented Surry County in the meet. Other local schools competing included East Wilkes, Starmount, South Stokes and North Stokes.

Though Millennium Charter hosted the event, the Lions did not have any competitors in the high school races.

The boys ran first and Oak Hill Academy (Va.) came away with the team victory. Among schools with at least five boys competing, Oak Hill had finishes in the Nos. 3, 6, 8, 10 and 14 spots for a total of 41 points.

Forsyth Home Educators finished second with 56 points, Elkin was third with 57 points and Surry Home Educators finished fourth with 127 points.

Elkin’s Connor Ball had the highest finish of any local competitor, taking third place with a time of 18:32.61. Mount Airy junior Caden Ratcliff wasn’t far behind at fourth with a 5K time of 18:49.33. Of the 80 runners in the boys race, only five finished in less than 19 minutes and only seven finished in less than 20 minutes.

Mount Airy freshman Freddy Hernandez also beat the 20-minute mark with a seventh-place finish at 19:49.41.

Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood won the race with a time of 18:05.71, followed by High Point Christian’s Cole Johnson in second 18:19.08.

Results for local competitors in the boys race are listed below. Results are listed by finish, name, grade, school and then time.

15 Nathan Luther 9 Surry Home E 21:00.45

23 Steven Hendrickson 11 Surry Home E 21:59.86

49 Sam Steinbruegge 9 Surry Home E 25:29.69

51 Isaac Richland 9 Surry Home E 25:37.97

60 Noah Richland 9 Surry Home E 27:13.24

63 Caleb Luther 11 Surry Home E 27:54.59

65 Daniel Bunke 10 Surry Home E 28:06.89

Forsyth Home Educators won the girls team competition with 47 points. South Stokes was second with 66, followed by Wheatmore at 99 at Mount Airy at 103.

Forsyth also had a runner take the top spot. Senior Sami Portman was the only runner to finish in less than 22 minutes by crossing the finish line at 21:54.85.

A pair of Surry County runners rounded out the podium. Mount Airy freshman Brooke Haynes finished second at 22:49.29, and Elkin junior Ragan Speer finished third at 23:06.40.

Only nine girls finished before the 25-minute mark. In addition to Haynes and Speer, there were three other local girls to meet this standard: South Stokes’ Hayley Fultz at 24:12.22, Mount Airy’s Emilee Corn at 24:13.06, and Surry Homeschool’s Lindsay Easter at 24:44.39.

Results for local competitors in the girls race are listed below. Results are listed by finish, name, grade, school and then time.

9 Lindsay Easter 9 Surry Home E 24:44.39

30 Lydia Jarrard 12 Surry Home E 29:10.72

46 Maddie Gambill 9 Surry Home E 32:49.80

50 Alie Gullion 10 Surry Home E 35:56.08

DOBSON — Surry Central hosted its first cross country meet of the 2022 season on Sept. 6.

The Eagles came away with team victories in both the high school boys and girls’ competitions, while having the top finisher in the boys 5000-meter race.

Runners from four schools in the Foothills 2A Conference competed in the meet: Surry Central, North Surry, East Surry and West Wilkes.

For the boys, Surry Central took the first and third spots on the podium while North Surry occupied the No. 2 spot. Surry Central sophomore Brangly Mazariegos was the only runner to finish in less than 19 minutes, doing so in 18:55.52.

North Surry sophomore Miguel Vega clinched second place with a time of 19:31.05, and Central junior Ignacio Morales took third at 20:20.82.

The future is bright for the FH2A as only two of the top-11 runners in the boys competition were upperclassmen. There were no seniors, two juniors, six sophomores and three freshman.

Schools needed at least five runners in order to compete in the team competition. Only North Surry and Surry Central had enough runners, and Central took the advantage by a single point 27-28.

Full boys results are below and listed by result, name, grade, school and then time.

Each of the top three spots in the girls competition were occupied by a runner from a different school.

North Surry senior Cynthia Chaire won the 5,000-meter run in her first season with the team. Chaire posted a time of 23:34.51, which won the race by 15 seconds.

Surry Central senior Abigail Hernandez was the only other runner to finish in less than 24 minutes, taking second at 23:46.89. Next was East Surry sophomore Addison Goins at 24:15.75.

The Golden Eagles were the only team with at least five members, giving them the automatic win in the team competition. East Surry had four girls, and North Surry and West Wilkes each had three.

A second-half comeback fell one goal short for North Surry in a Sept. 7 home match against Starmount.

The visiting Rams built up a 2-0 lead by halftime of Wednesday’s match. The Greyhounds got on the board less than 30 seconds into the second half, but weren’t able to strike again despite the team’s collective improvement from the first 40 minutes of play.

Starmount improved to 5-1-1 with the victory, while North Surry dropped to 2-3.

“We are a very young team, so we’re trying to find our chemistry,” said North Surry coach Kevin Shore. “In the first half of tonight’s game specifically, we were off; we didn’t win very many 50-50 balls and our defense just got beat a few times. Our keeper did an outstanding job keeping us in the game.

“We kind of got our feet back under us and found a defensive lineup that would work for the second half. We had some good shots on goal, it’s just their keeper did a really good job of keeping them out.”

While Shore didn’t make any major schematic changes at halftime, he said that he and the team, “called it like it was,” during the break since the team wasn’t playing up to its potential.

Junior Edgar Vazquez led the charge in the second half and only needed 16 seconds to put one in the back of the net. The Hounds played with new energy in the half, but failed to equalize before the final whistle.

“We didn’t play North Surry’s style of soccer in the first half,” Shore said. “We did a better job of it in the second, we just couldn’t close out the game. I’m not upset with our effort in the second half because we took a lot of shots at the keeper, and there were some really good shots.

“Tonight came down to the fact that we just didn’t play well in the first half and that cost us.”

Even with a young team, North Surry has had moments in which everything clicked this season. The Hounds ground out a win over West Stokes in the season opener, had close games in both meetings with Starmount and defeated Alleghany 10-1.

Three Greyhounds – Vazquez, Hector Hernandez and Emiliano Calderon – recorded hat tricks against the Trojans. Salvador Rodriguez and Jonathan Lopez each added one goal in the win.

“The Alleghany match was one where we really put it all together,” Shore said. “We practiced well that week and were able to make good passes while spreading the field.”

Game experience is the No. 1 thing that North Surry needs to build chemistry between the experienced players and younger players, Shore said. When playing as a collection of individuals instead of a team, North Surry has halves like they did against Starmount.

The Rams came into Wednesday’s match riding a four-match winning streak. Starmount averaged 3.3 goals per match during the streak, which wasn’t hard to believe after seeing how many shots the team got off right out of the gate at North Surry.

Starmount peppered shots at the Greyhound goal, including one from Anthony Real that made it past everyone but hit the post, until Christian Maya scored in the 17th minute. An assist from Manny Ferretiz set Maya up for the goal.

The North Surry defense, anchored by keeper Josh Garcia, kept Starmount from running up the score in the first half. Starmount had 14 shots to North Surry’s seven in the first 40 minutes, but only scored twice.

The latter Ram goal game with just two minutes left in the half. Keeper Sebastian Rodriguez saved a shot from North’s Vazquez, then punted well-beyond the midfield line. A few opportune bounces set up Pablo Alvarez for a goal.

North Surry emerged from the halftime break looking like a different team. Vasquez’s strike 16 seconds in got the hounds on the board, then follow up shots from Olivio Vega and Bali Raya nearly gave the Hounds the edge. The Greyhounds took a 5-1 shot advantage in the second half and were able to keep pressure on the Rams’ back line.

“On our shots in the first half we did not strike the ball well,” Shore said. “Then in the second we struck the ball well and were getting more opportunities.”

Starmount regrouped by weathering the second-half storm of North Surry. Alvarez and Ricardo Mendoza each made threatening runs in the second half for the Rams, but struggled to put shots on target.

The Hounds also found it difficult to put shots on target late as the Rams switched their formation to a 4-4-2. By crowding an already narrow defensive third, Starmount took away the possibility for North to take shots from 30 yards and back. This played in the Rams’ favor and helped them hold on for the win.

“We didn’t play bad in the second half, we just didn’t play well in the first,” Shore told his team following the match. “We’re not doing bad, but we can’t come out and play a terrible half and expect to win ball games.”

Shore said he think that when North Surry enters conference play on Sept. 12 that the team will be much better off. By playing multiple matches a week, as opposed to a somewhat sporadic nonconference schedule, North will gain valuable game experience.

“We’re definitely getting closer to a starting lineup and finding where everyone fits best on the field,” Shore said. “The kids need some experience when it comes to the game situations. These are what we call growing pains. We’re going to be fine, we just need to get our feet under us a little bit.”

Goals: Christian Maya (ST) from Manny Perretiz assist 17’, Pablo Alvarez (ST) from Sebastian Rodriguez assist 38’ | Edgar Vasquez (NS) 41’

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has partnered with Crisis Text Line (CTL) to encourage mental health support for teens across the country.

Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, high-quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention in English and Spanish by empowering a community of trained volunteers to support people in their moments of need.

This partnership aligns with the 2021-2025 NFHS Strategic Plan and the NFHS Board of Directors Priorities, both of which have identified Student Mental, Emotional and Physical Wellness as one of the most important areas of concern in high school sports and performing arts programs.

“The last several years have been particularly challenging for many students in high school activity programs, with the pandemic and other pressures felt by students today,” said NFHS CEO Karissa Niehoff. “We are glad to be able to offer another avenue of help for students nationwide through this partnership with Crisis Text Line. We need to let students know there are individuals who can help in times of need.”

Crisis Text Line promotes mental well-being for individuals, wherever they are. Individuals are encouraged to text a keyword to 741741 if they are experiencing a mental health crisis – anything from suicidal thoughts or abusive relationships to difficult conversations with parents or anxiety about school workload. At any time, texters can connect with volunteer Crisis Counselors who will provide confidential support. Crisis Text Line recently expanded its service to include Spanish language support, becoming the first organization to provide free, text-based mental health support for Spanish speakers in the United States.

“We truly admire the work NFHS does for student-athletes by promoting respect, integrity and sportsmanship as well as fostering the inclusion of diverse populations,” said Dena Trujillo, CEO at Crisis Text Line. “Our goal is to provide all teens with text-based mental health support 24/7 so they never feel alone.”

This agreement furthers the relationship between the NFHS and Crisis Text Line that began at the 2019 NFHS National Student Leadership Summit in Indianapolis. Attendees of the Summit were provided bag tags advising those in crisis to text the keyword “SHIELD” to 741741. The NFHS will continue to promote the use of “SHIELD” as its keyword through this agreement.

While individuals of any age can utilize the service, approximately 70 percent of Crisis Text Line’s texters are under the age of 25.

“The NFHS is excited about this relationship because it provides an exceptional resource not only for the young people in our nation’s schools, but for our member state associations who will be able to receive data on the issues affecting students in their states,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS Director of Sports and Student Services. “Identifying these issues greatly impact the targeted response. We want to promote this option to those who need support and encouragement.”

KING — A five-touchdown second quarter helped East Surry conquer West Stokes in the 20th edition of the “Battle for the County Line.”

The Cardinal defense held the Wildcats, who averaged 32.5 points through the first two weeks of the season, scoreless for three quarters while amassing a 42-0 lead. The Cats scored a touchdown late to make the final score 42-7.

East Surry (3-0) was clicking in all three phases as it posted the largest margin of victory in the history of the East Surry-West Stokes rivalry. East leads the all-time series 12-8 and has won five of the past seven meetings.

The Cardinals started the Sept. 2 game with a score on the opening drive. Despite playing without their leading rusher from the first two weeks of the season, East was able to move efficiently on the ground. Six Cardinals combined for 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns, including an early touchdown run from Colby Johnson.

Brett Clayton added a touchdown run in the second quarter, and a pair Joshua Parker PATs put East up 14-0. Zinn led the team with nine carries for 53 yards, followed by Clayton with two carries for 41 yards, Johnson with five for 20 yards, Lindann Fleming with six for 11 yards and Boaz with two carries for two yards.

The Cardinals did the most damage offensively in the air. Quarterback Folger Boaz completed 16-of-22 passes (72.7%) for 300 yards and three touchdowns, which earned him the honor of being WXII 12 News’ Standout Stat of Week 3.

With his 300-yard performance, Boaz has surpassed the 6,000-yard mark for career yards passing. He is just the third Surry County athlete to do, joining 2020 North Surry graduate Chase Swartz (7,059) and 2020 East Surry graduate/older brother Jefferson Boaz.

Colby Johnson, Matthew Keener and Stephen Brantley all logged touchdown receptions from Boaz. Johnson was the team’s leading receiver with six catches for 161 yards, followed by Keener with four receptions for 86 yards and Luke Brown with three receptions for 31 yards.

Clayton, Brantley and Kyle Zinn each had one reception and combined for 22 yards receiving.

Zinn scored the remaining Cardinal touchdown by returning an interception 19 yards. Will Jones picked off the Wildcat QB twice to bring the Cardinal defense’s turnover total to three.

Daniel Villasenor led East Surry with two sacks, while Parker and Anderson Badgett each had one.

East Surry returns home for the first time since Week One to face South Stokes (1-2) on Friday.

North Surry overcame a slow start against Forbush to win Tuesday’s Foothills 2A Conference match 3-1.

The visiting Falcons, eager for their first victory of the 2022 season, came out of the gate and led for the majority of the opening set. The Greyhounds turned around and played one of their best sets to even the score at one set apiece.

The final two sets were back-and-forth, but North utilized late runs in both to come away with the overall victory. The Hounds won the match with set scores of 22-25, 25-13, 25-21 and 26-24.

North Surry and Forbush are used to playing close matches the past few years. Neither team has swept the other since 2019, when members of the Class of 2023 were freshmen. In the six matches during that time, three have been five-set matches and the other three have been four-setters. Two of North Surry’s three five-set matches in 2021 were against Forbush.

Match results have also been more balanced the past few seasons. North Surry won 20 consecutive matches against Forbush from 2008-17, then Forbush had two stellar years and won six-straight versus North.

Since 2020, the Greyhounds have won 4-of-6 meetings against the Falcons.

The win over Forbush gives North Surry its first win in the FH2A Conference.

The Falcons (0-7, 0-2 FH2A) came into Tuesday’s match having not won a set all season, though that would quickly be changed. Forbush took advantage of North Surry errors to take a lead in the first set, then saw its offense come alive to clinch it.

North (4-5, 1-2 FH2A) gave away nearly half of the set’s 25 points with errors: five from service errors, four from attack errors and three from other violations, including net and double hit violations. Kills from Katena Morrison and Mallory Chapman helped the Falcons secure the set win 25-22.

North Surry led for just one point in the first set. Then, in the second set, Forbush only led twice: at 1-0 and 2-1. Everything else went the way of the Hounds.

North took its initial lead after an Aniya Joyce kill and a pair of aces from Sadie Badgett. Joyce continued to be the Greyhounds’ leading attacker throughout the night, finishing the set with four kills and the match with 17.

North Surry led 14-10 when Joyce dropped the hammer for a momentum-shifting kill that started a 5-1 run. Haylee Smith added a kill to put the home team up 19-11 and force a Forbush timeout. The Falcons scored two of the next three points before North Surry closed the set with a 5-0 run, winning 25-13.

The third set featured eight lead changes after just two in the first two sets combined. The largest run by either team in the set was four uninterrupted points, which North used to win the set.

The Falcons took a 20-19 lead in the set to force a Greyhound timeout. Callie Robertson came out of the timeout and evened the score with a kill, then a Forbush attack error forced the final lead change of the set. The Falcons briefly tied the score at 21, but North used a 4-0 run to win 25-21.

On the run: Joyce won the first point with a kill, Ella Riggs served back-to-back aces, then Forbush hit an attack into the net.

The final set only had three lead changes, but the score was tied seven times.

A block from North’s Kyra Stanley tied the score at 15-15 before a Falcon attack error forced the final lead change of the evening. From here North Surry went on a 7-3 run to lead 23-18.

Forbush refused to quit and won the next three points: Chapman and Ellie Southern had kills, and another point came from a Greyhound attack error. Joyce interrupted the run with a kill for North Surry, but then Forbush scored another three points to tie the score at 24-24.

A well-placed attack from Stanly landed in the back corner of Forbush’s court and the Falcons weren’t able to return the volley, giving North the 25-24 lead. Riggs set Stanley up for a kill on the next point to cement the match victory.

Both teams continue conference play on Sept. 8. North Surry travels to West Wilkes, and Forbush hosts Surry Central.

Mount Airy rebounded from a tough two-point loss by trouncing Surry Central 54-6 on Sept. 2.

The Granite Bears forced three takeaways and scored eight touchdowns – all in the first half. Mount Airy ended the game with more than 400 yards of offense while holding Surry Central in the negative for most of the night.

Mount Airy (2-1) operated almost entirely on the ground. Junior Tyler Mason set new career highs by finishing with 209 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns. Even more impressive was the fact that Mason did all that on just 11 carries.

On a night in which the Bears rushed for 403 yards, Taeshon Martin and Traven Thompson also set career highs.

Martin, a freshman, scored a career high three times on just four carries, also adding 54 yards rushing. Thompson set a career high in yards rushing with 92 on eight carries.

Nassir Lemon and Ian Gallimore rounded out Mount Airy’s 403 yards rushing. Lemon rushed five times for 34 yards, and Gallimore rushed six times for 15 yards.

Gallimore add 39 yards passing on three completions. Mario Revels caught two passes for 35 yards, and Connor Burrell had one reception for four yards.

Mount Airy’s rock-solid defense caused all kinds of problems for Surry Central’s young offensive core. The Eagles’ quarterback, top four running backs and second-leading receiver are all sophomores, while the No. 1 and No. 3 receivers are juniors.

Granite Bear Blake Hawks picked off Mason Jewell on the first play from scrimmage. Six plays later, Mount Airy got on the board with a Mason touchdown.

Central was held to one yard of offense. The Eagles (0-3) rushed 19 times for a loss of 23 yards, then added 24 yards passing on three completions. Not counting the two fumbles Mount Airy caused – one recovered Lemon and the other Cam’Ron Webster – the Bears held the Eagles to no gain or a loss of yards on 12 plays.

Gallimore, Revels, Josh Chavis, Walker Stroup, Deric Dandy and Logan Fonville were among the players to force tackles for a loss.

The only time Central moved the chains was late in the third quarter. The Eagles’ Ayden Wilmoth recovered a Mount Airy fumble deep in Bears territory, then Central moved into the red zone with a first down.

Mount Airy pushed Central back four yards to the 22 on the following first down, then Wilmoth caught a touchdown pass from Jewell to begin the fourth quarter.

The one area Mount Airy struggled with Friday night was penalties. The Bears were flagged 13 times: eight times on offense, three times on defense and twice on special teams.

Surry Central was flagged once each in all three phases.

Mount Airy concludes the nonconference portion of its schedule on Sept. 9 by traveling to Ashe County (2-1). Surry Central has a BYE next week, but will begin Foothills 2A Conference competition the following week against West Wilkes (1-2).

8:41 MAHS 7-0 – Tyler Mason 9-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

6:33 MAHS 13-0 – Tyler Mason 38-yard rushing TD, PAT no good

4:33 MAHS 20-0 – Tyler Mason 12-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

2:29 MAHS 27-0 – Tyler Mason 48-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

1:18 MAHS 33-0 – Taeshon Martin 10-yard rushing TD, PAT blocked by Graden Spurlin

8:40 MAHS 40-0 – Taeshon Martin 34-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

3:27 MAHS 47-0 – Tyler Mason 51-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

2:30 MAHS 54-0 – Taeshon Martin 2-yard rushing TD, Walker Stroup PAT

11:41 SCHS 54-6 – Ayden Wilmoth 22-yard TD reception on Mason Jewell pass, 2-point conversion no good

PILOT MOUNTAIN — Even after losing a few multi-year varsity starters to graduation, East Surry has set its expectations high for the 2022 season.

The defending 2A West Regional Runners-up reloaded and are ready to make a repeat run at the Foothills 2A Conference Championship. The Cardinals took step one in that process by sweeping its first two FH2A games.

The Cardinals went on the road and topped North Wilkes 3-0 on Aug. 30, then beat North Surry 3-0 at home on Sept. 1.

“There was definitely a lot we still need to clean up, but it did feel good to start off 2-0 in the conference,” said East Surry coach Katelyn Markle, who is 40-6 as the Cardinals head coach.

“We’ve had moments this year where everything came together and we looked really good, like when we played at North Wilkes. Other times it’s been a little up-and-down, but we’re getting better and getting used to playing with each other so that’s the most important thing.”

The win over North puts East at 5-2 on the season.

Coming off a 26-2 season in which the Cardinals started 16-0, went undefeated in the conference play and came within a few points of a state championship appearance, Markle said she wanted to test the girls early with a tough nonconference schedule.

East Surry opened the season in the most challenging way possible: a road game at 4A Ronald Reagan High School. Reagan – who won the match 3-0 – is currently 9-0, hasn’t lost a set all season and is ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps.

The match vs. Reagan was one of the 4A opponents the Cards have faced this season. East Surry also won a five-setter against Davie, and lost a five-set match against West Forsyth – ranked No. 15 in the 4A division.

North Surry coach Shane Slate is no stranger to grueling nonconference schedules meant to challenge a promising team. Slate is in his 24th season as North Surry head coach, during which he has guided the Greyhounds to more than 500 wins, multiple state titles and countless player of the year awards.

The Greyhounds, who drop to 3-5 with the loss to East Surry, began the season with matches against Davie and West Forsyth as well. The junior-heavy Hounds recently opened conference play with a loss to Wilkes Central, though every set was decided by four points or fewer.

In Thursday’s match, East Surry never trailed in either the first or third set.

The Cards led 4-3 early in the first before going on a 6-1 run. East Surry’s arsenal of attacking players took turns sending attacks over the net that were set up by Kate McCraw, though Greyhound libero Reece Niston and the North Surry back line did well to weather the early storm.

Callie Robertson and Aniya Joyce rallied the Hounds back by putting away Ella Riggs’ sets, though a service error derailed the team’s momentum. East capitalized with a 4-1 run that forced a Greyhound timeout, then put away the next two points to force another timeout.

The regrouped North Surry squad crossed into double digits to make it 18-12, but East closed the set with a 7-1 run to win 25-13.

The Hounds took their only lead of the night early in the second set. A kill from Madeline Dayton was East Surry’s only point during a 3-1 North run. The Greyhound girls held on to their lead until up 4-3, then East rattled off seven-consecutive points.

Bella Hutchens and Merry Parker Boaz combined for nine kills in the second set. The duo finished the night with a combined 21 kills.

North Riggs and Haylee Smith rallied the team back within a handful of points before East Surry went off. The Cardinals ended the set on a 13-3 run to win 25-10.

The final set began with a 4-1 Cardinal lead. East Surry service errors allowed North to fight back within two points at 6-4, then Lily Watson had a block and a kill to go with a Maggy Sechrist kill on a 3-0 run.

The Cards and Hounds continued to scrap until East took control late in the set. East Surry led 12-9 before going on a 5-0 run. For the remainder of the match, East earned two points for every point North scored, winning 25-14 to complete the sweep.

East Surry and Surry Central are the only FH2A teams undefeated in conference play. The Cards and Eagles are both 2-0, followed by Wilkes Central and West Wilkes at 1-1. Forbush and North Wilkes are both 0-1, and North Surry is 0-2.

East Surry is set to host Wilkes Central (3-5, 1-1 FH2A) on Sept. 6, and North Surry hosts Forbush (0-6, 0-1 FH2A) the same day.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry and West Stokes got all tied up during a nonconference soccer match on Wednesday.

Both squads were looking for their first wins of the 2022 season, but instead both added a “one” to the tie column. East Surry is now 0-2-1 on the season, and West Stokes is 0-4-1.

“We’ve definitely still got work to do,” said East coach Samuel Lowe. “I’m not unhappy about the outcome, of course 0-0 was not what we wanted but it wasn’t a loss either. But, I’m still happy about how the boys are working. They’re still working hard at practice.”

East and West have been evenly matched for nearly a decade in the boys soccer chapter of the “Battle for the County Line.” Since 2013, the Cardinals and Wildcats have played 15 times: East Surry won four times, West Stokes won six times and the teams tied five times.

“That’s a well-coached team over there,” Lowe said. “They’ve got a great coach and they’re a disciplined team, so I knew it was going to be a tough game. But, I’m extremely happy with the way my boys played tonight.

“Tomorrow, we just have to go back to the drawing board, maybe watch some film and get some pointers to see where we messed up at.”

Both sides looked to utilize their speed up top, leaving each back line on their toes for the better part of all 80 minutes. For East, Alex Galvan and Logan Fagg were the primary center backs while Kevin Blakeney and Levi Watson manned the outside. Michael Youngblood earned his first clean sheet as East Surry’s keeper.

Lupe Chavez rotated to the back line when needed, but spent most of his time in the midfield.

The Cardinals struggled to time their runs throughout the game and were often called offside. East retaliated in the second half with a modified offside trap of their own that caught the Wildcats off guard multiple times.

East thought it broke the scoreless tie as early as 12 minutes into the first half. Fagg floated a free kick from midfield to the top of West Stokes’ 18-yard box where it was received by striker Jonathan De La Cruz. Cruz one-touched a pass to Mario Flores who placed a shot into the back of the net, but the goal was called back due to an offside call.

Galvan and Chavez each sent through balls to Cruz in the first half, but most were intercepted by the Wildcat keeper (note: West Stokes’ roster was not available on MaxPreps). Cruz had a few shots deflected out for corner kicks, but none of the corners led to shots on goal.

West Stokes pushed into East territory late in the first half and put a number of shots on goal. The Cardinals defense fended off some of the attacks up the middle, but the Cats’ best weapon was utilized when attacking up the wing. A West Stokes player with a cannon-like throw-in could place the ball inside the six-yard box easily, leading to a number of 50-50s in dangerous territory.

East Surry’s best chance to strike came in the 62nd minute. Chavez took a throw-in near the Cards’ bench and the throw was passed back to him on the sideline. The junior crossed into the 18 to Kade Talton, who redirected the lob to Cruz. Cruz zigzagged through three defenders to face the keeper one-on-one, but sent the shot over the crossbar.

“We’ve still got to work on our touches,” Lowe said. “Our touches let us down some tonight. We definitely should’ve had a goal; Jonathon, he got a little excited there and kicked the ball through the uprights. That’s something that we’ll get more comfortable with after more playing experience.”

The teams fought until the final whistle. West Stokes even had a long throw in as the announcer counted down the final 10 seconds of the game, but it was headed out by the Cards to keep the tie alive.

Though the Cards have yet to win a match this season, Lowe said he isn’t concerned and is instead focusing on the team’s progression from match to match.

”I really do think that we’ll be fine. We just need time and things will work out,” Lowe said. “I’ve got freshmen, and I’ve got kids that – I’ll be honest with you – have never played before that want to play, which is fine. I’ll take anybody that wants to come out here and play with us. But, it’s going to take time. Touching the ball always comes with time.”

The Cardinals do have experience mixed in with youth, but it’s been difficult to build team chemistry with only three matches through the first three weeks of competition. Two of those matches were against Mount Airy, a perennial powerhouse that’s only lost four matches since the beginning of the 2019 season.

“I hate that we didn’t have a better schedule than we had,” Lowe said. “Hopefully we can get another game scheduled next week. We’re working on that so we can give them some more practice before we actually start in the conference.”

Surry Central volleyball broke into the win column Tuesday by defeating West Wilkes 3-0.

The sweep of the Blackhawks, with set scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-19, gives the Golden Eagles a 1-0 record in the Foothills 2A Conference. Central’s first win comes after starting the season 0-4.

“Winning our first game means the world to me,” said first-year Central coach Maddison Payne. “I’m just glad the girls were finally able to show everyone what they are made of, and that their hard work finally paid off.”

Despite a rough start to the season, Payne had plenty of reasons to keep her eyes on Central’s bright future.

The Eagles recently graduated five players from a near-20 win squad, many of whom were multi-year starters. This meant the 2022 team would need time to adjust with new faces taking on some of the top roles.

“We played hard with everyone our first four games, but we were still adjusting to our new roles,” Payne said. “We are really young, and the nerves got the best of them when we played Mount Airy. Alleghany has a great program, and we played them tough but they made us a better team. We made a lot of changes, and I think that is what led us to our victory tonight.”

The Golden Eagles opened the season on Aug. 16 with a 3-0 loss at Mount Airy. Two days later, Payne saw improvement in Central’s home opener but the team came up short 3-2 against Alleghany.

The Eagles dropped a close match to West Stokes the following week. West won 3-1, but all four sets were decided by three points or fewer.

Surry Central followed with another five-set thriller against Alleghany, which also went the way of the Trojans.

“The girls have developed so much these first two weeks of the season,” Payne said. “Most of the girls have never played together, so it’s been a huge adjustment getting everyone to trust and play together. We are a really young team. I’m just so proud of the improvement they have made with each set and game they have played.”

Payne added that everything clicked for Central (1-4, 1-0 FH2A) in the match against West Wilkes.

After trailing early in the first set, Central used a 5-0 run behind Lily O’Neal’s serving to go up 9-8. The visiting Blackhawks (2-5, 0-1 FH2A) interrupted the run to tie the score at 9-9 before an Aubrey Hodges block started another big run for the Eagles.

West Wilkes cut Central’s advantage to a point at 17-16, but never tied the game up again in the set. Marissa McCann, who is Central’s leading returning attacker from last season, put away a kill as part of 3-0 run that forced West Wilkes to call timeout.

The Blackhawks never recovered an dropped the first set 25-21.

West took its only lead of the second set early on by going up 3-2. O’Neal got the Eagles going with a kill, then McCann went to the baseline and served up a pair of aces as part of the set’s only lead change.

A Central net violation put West Wilkes within one at 8-7. Then, the Eagles went off for a 10-3 run. Surry Central first-years Presley Smith and Mallie Southern put away attacks at the net to garner a few “she’s a freshman,” chants from the crowd during the run.

The Eagles won five of the final six points in the set to increase the lead to 2-0.

Like the two previous sets, the third set started close before Central went on a big run. The biggest of these runs came in the final set when the Golden Eagles won 14-of-17 points during one stretch.

West Wilkes took a 9-8 lead after an attack error from Surry Central, then the Eagles tied the score at 9-9 thanks to a McCann kill. The senior then served Central on a 5-0 run before West scored again.

Kylee Schendel had a big block for Central before serving an ace of her own during a 3-0 run. The Eagles committed an attack error to make it 16-11, then scored the next six points to go up 22-11. Smith had a trio of blocks during the final run.

West Wilkes rallied late with a 6-2 run before a McCann kill ended the set at 25-19.

“I knew it was coming, because with each set and game the girls have been improving so much,” Payne said on the Eagles’ first win. “I’m just so proud of them.”

Following a nonconference game against Elkin, Surry Central resumes FH2A competition against Wilkes Central on Sept. 1.

North Surry swept Mount Airy Monday to give the Greyhounds their third win of the season.

The Hounds won the opening set 25-18 before facing heavy resistance in the second. The Bears came back from a four-point deficit to lead 25-24, but the Greyhounds still managed to pull away for the win 28-26.

The third and ultimately final set was all North Surry. The Greyhounds never trailed and went on to clinch the match with a 25-17 victory.

Though North Surry has just two seniors on its roster, the team has more varsity experience that meets the eye. Last year’s team had four seniors, but – due to various injuries – a plethora of underclassmen received significant minutes throughout the season.

The Greyhounds continue their evolution as a junior-heavy team this season.

“The experience we have together helps us look toward advancing the level of offense we are trying to run,” said North Surry coach Shane Slate. “If we wish to continue to improve, our consistency passing the ball and not committing unforced errors are the two things that are better from last year but still need to get better.”

This year’s team has two seniors, seven juniors and a sophomore.

Both the Greyhound seniors, Aniya Joyce and Kyra Stanley, are multi-year varsity players. Stanley is an outside hitter, and Joyce a middle hitter.

Joyce has been the team’s top attacking option the past two seasons. She’s continued to develop her game, and has become even more deadly as a senior.

“Aniya has started to come into own and play with more confidence,” Slate said. “She has hit above .400 in three matches this year and has a run every match where she really pounds the ball.”

When Mount Airy mounted its comeback in the second set, it was attacks from Joyce that helped North Surry pull away for a 2-0 set advantage. Had Mount Airy won the second set, the match then becomes a best 2-of-3 with momentum on the Bears’ side.

North led 22-18 when a kill from Mount Airy’s Morgan Mayfield started a 3-0 run. Abby Epperson got an ace to cut the lead to two, and a block by Kinlee Reece led to Mount Airy coming within a point. North’s Callie Robertson kept the Greyhound lead alive with a back-row kill, but the Bears followed with two more points to tie the game at 23.

A kill from Joyce put North Surry within a point of winning the set, prompting Mount Airy to call a timeout. Isabella Allen and Alissa Clabo flipped the script for the Bears and then the Hounds used a timeout.

North came out of the timeout and tied things up at 25 with a Joyce Kill. Stanley aced the Bears to take an advantage, but an attack error from the Hounds tied the game once again. Yet another Joyce kill put North on top once again, and this time it led to the Hounds winning the set.

North Surry came out serving strong in the third set. The Hounds jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back.

A key piece of the Greyhound offense is the team’s lone sophomore Ella Riggs. Riggs served as setter her freshman year and has continued her ascent at the position as a sophomore.

“Ella is getting more comfortable running the offense, and as her understanding of situations improves things will get easier,” Slate said.

A kill from Allen cut the lead to one point at 8-7, but then the Hounds followed with a 7-1 run. North Surry led by as many as eight in the final set, going on to win 25-17.

The Hounds still have a lot of work to do to get where Slate wants them to be. However, being able to building chemistry this season with a group of experienced players will help greatly as North Surry enters conference play.

“We need to just focus on some basic things being consistent so we can play faster and more aggressively,” Slate said.

Mount Airy and North Surry both opened conference play on Aug. 30.

The Bears traded sets with East Wilkes before winning it all 3-2. Mount Airy won its Northwest 1A Conference opener with set scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 20-25 and 15-11.

Mount Airy improves to 2-3 overall with the victory and returns to action Sept. 1 at South Stokes.

North Surry hosted Wilkes Central and fell 3-0 to the Eagles. Central won the Foothills 2A Conference matchup with set scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-21.

The Hounds drop to 3-4 overall and return to action Sept. 1 at East Surry.

The Mount Airy tennis team took on its biggest challenge in years by facing Forsyth Country Day in a nonconference match on Monday.

The match was the latest obstacle in the Granite Bears’ gauntlet of nonconference opponents from higher divisions. The defending N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 1A Dual Team State Champions, Mount Airy looked to push itself during nonconference play in preparation of another deep run this season.

A challenge is exactly what the Bears got in Forsyth Country Day: 4-of-6 singles matches were decided in third-set tiebreakers, Forsyth became the first school to win more than two singles matches against Mount Airy since the 2020-21 season, and the overall match went down to the final doubles competition.

Forsyth Country Day ended Mount Airy’s 27-match winning streak by defeating the Bears 5-4.

“I tried to stress to the team after the loss that I know it hurts right now and we could’ve played it safe and scheduled to protect our record, but that doesn’t make us any better,” said Luke Graham, who is in his third season as the Lady Bears’ head coach.

“I think you need to feel the pressure and the stress and be uncomfortable against a team as good as they are. Win or lose, you have that experience to draw on for the next time you’re in that situation.”

Mount Airy began the season with three matches against teams from higher divisions, taking on 4A RJ Reynolds, and 2A teams Surry Central and East Surry. After opening Northwest 1A Conference play with a win over East Wilkes – who ranked No. 4 in 1A at the time – the Bears defeated 3A Central Davidson before falling to Forsyth Country Day.

“I’m extremely proud of our effort,” Graham said. “I hate we came up short, but firmly believe we’ll be better collectively in the long term because of that match, along with the other teams we played in the first two weeks of the season.”

Forsyth Country Day competes in the N.C. Independent School Athletic Association (NCISAA), which features most of the state’s private schools. The Furies finished 15-3 in 2021-22 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCISAA 3A State Tournament.

Mount Airy came into Monday’s match ranked No. 1 in the NCHSAA’s 1A Division by the N.C. High School Tennis Coaches Association. The Bears were No. 1 in the NCHSTCA Preseason Poll, dropped to No. 3 in the Week One Poll then took the top spot back for Week Two.

No. 5 and No. 6 singles were the only singles matches to end in straight sets. Mount Airy’s Audrey Brown defeated Mary Brooks Hall 6-3, 6-3 on court six, and Forsyth’s Erika Choopani defeated Charlotte Hauser by the same score.

Courts one through four all needed third-set tiebreakers. On all four courts, the girl that won the first set went on to win the match.

The top two seeds followed a similar script. Forsyth’s No. 1 Sophia Spalcke defeated Carrie Marion 6-4 in the first set, and the Furies’ No. 2 Sydney Simmons topped Ella Brant by the same score.

Spalcke led 5-2 in the second set before Carrie won the next five games to win the set 7-5. Spalcke went on to win the tiebreaker 10-4.

Brant trailed 5-4 in No. 2 singles before winning three consecutive games, taking the set 7-5. The pair went back-and-forth in the tiebreaker before Simmons came away with the 10-8 victory.

The Bears No. 3 seed Kancie Tate pulled away from Julia Kincaid to win the first set 7-5. Tate dropped the second set 6-0, but then rallied to win the third-set tiebreaker 10-8.

Audrey Marion won the first set of the No. 4 singles match 6-4 for Mount Airy. Her opponent, Forsyth’s Zayla Smith, took the second set 6-3.

The Granite Bear senior won the third-set tiebreaker 10-7 to tie the teams up at 3-3 entering doubles.

Brant and Carrie Marion earned Mount Airy’s fourth win by taking No. 1 singles by an 8-6 score. However, the Furies won No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to come away with the overall win.

Simmons and Kincaid defeated Tate and Hauser 8-4 to win No. 2 doubles, and Choopani and Hall defeated Brown and Audrey Marion 8-6 to take No. 3 doubles.

Mount Airy’s next two nonconference games aren’t for another few weeks, when the team hosts West Stokes on Sept. 19 and travels to Wheatmore two days later.

The Granite Bears resume NW1A Conference Play on Sept. 1 by traveling to North Stokes.

Match results vs. Forsyth Country Day

1. Sophia Spalcke (FCD) def. Carrie Marion 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4)

2. Sydney Simmons (FCD) def. Ella Brant 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)

3. Kancie Tate (MA) def. Julia Kincaid 7-5, 0-6, 1-0 (10-8)

4. Audrey Marion (MA) def. Zayla Smith6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7)

5. Erika Choopani (FCD) def. Charlotte Hauser 6-3, 6-3

6. Audrey Brown (MA) def. Mary Brooks Hall 6-3, 6-3

1. C. Marion/Brant (MA) def. Spalcke/Smith 8-6

2. Simmons/Kincaid (FCD) def. Tate/Hauser 8-4

3. Choopani/Hall (RJR) def. A. Marion/Brown 8-6

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Mount Airy and East Surry last played in April 2021. In the 16 months between meetings each school graduated two classes of seniors, one of the schools made two regional championship appearances and one state championship appearance, and both football programs shattered records as part of 13-1 seasons last fall.

Despite many new faces on both sides, the 58th edition of Mount Airy-East Surry went a lot like the previous installment: a low-scoring defensive battle at Wallace Shelton Stadium in which the winner scored all of its points in the first half, holding a double-digit lead at halftime. Then, the other team rallies late to make it a one-score game, but comes up short in the end.

East Surry emerged victorious on both occasions, winning Friday’s game 14-12.

The Cardinals have now won four consecutive meetings against the Granite Bears and eight of the past 11.

“We knew coming in that East Surry returned a lot of starters from a team that was very good last year,” said Mount Airy coach JK Adkins. “Had hoped that we would have been more effective moving the ball in the first half. We were so proud to see our defense play like they did. I thought our defensive coaching staff did a phenomenal job and our kids played with tremendous effort.”

Cardinal coach Trent Lowman called Friday’s game “eerily similar,” to the April 2021 battle between East and Mount Airy, saying he felt like he had déjà vu at points.

“I walked off the field at halftime and, looking at the score, it struck me that we’ve been here before,” Lowman said. The Cards had scored their first touchdown late in the first quarter, then added another score with less than 30 seconds remaining in the second to go up 14-0 at the half.

“We did some good things offensively and we got a touchdown in late in the half, so much like that game in the spring. You kind of knew what was coming in the second half. You knew they were going to come out with some fire, they were getting the football and they were pumped up.”

The coach was correct, and the Bears stormed back and scored on the opening drive of the second half. Colby Johnson jumped in the way of the PAT to leave the score at 14-6, which would come into play later in the night.

Mount Airy’s offense went on to move the chains nine times in the second half after doing so just twice in the first 24 minutes of play. The Bears were also able to move on the ground more after being held to -25 yards rushing in the first half.

East Surry, alternatively, moved the chains 10 times in the first half, but only twice in the second half. The second instance didn’t occur until there was less than 60 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Following the 2021 Bears-Cardinals game, Adkins said he felt his defense played well enough to win the game while the offense’s struggle to move the ball on the ground ultimately hindered them. He echoed that sentiment after Friday’s game.

“A lot of different factors contributed to that,” Adkins said. “East Surry’s defensive speed, our inability to protect the passer to hit big plays in the passing game, confusion up front and a couple key injuries all played a part.”

“Their defense out-played our offense,” Lowman said. “But, we made some mistakes and let them outplay us. So we’ve got to go in and get some things fixed.”

Down eight points entering the fourth quarter, Mount Airy began a drive on its own 20 following a Stephen Brantley punt. The Granite Bears’ drive started with 11:43 on the clock and spanned 8:45 of game time over 17 plays. During the drive, the Cardinals where flagged for disconcerting signals, pass interference and encroachment, while the Bears were flagged for a false start and assisting the runner.

The Bears faced fourth-and-12 on the drive and survived thanks to an Ian Gallimore pass to Taeshon Martin. Later in the drive, Mount Airy faced third-and-goal from the 10 and Gallimore once again looked to pass. When pressured by Cardinal defenders, Gallimore scrambled and ran the touchdown in himself with 2:58 to play.

Mount Airy lined up to go for two down 14-12, but had to burn a timeout to set a play up. When lining up after the timeout, the Bears’ coaching staff noticed something was off and had to use another timeout. The Cardinals were still able to stop the Bears short on the conversion and maintain the lead.

Mount Airy’s Walker Stroup took a short kickoff in hopes of recovering it for the Bears, but the Cards’ Gabriel Harpe dove on the ball.

Two short runs from Cardinal QB Folger Boaz set up third-and-5, then Devin Williams converted the first down to effectively end the game. Williams added another short run to force Mount Airy to burn their final timeout, then Boaz kneeled twice.

Lowman said he didn’t really get nervous during Mount Airy’s comeback, but added that it wasn’t for the reason one might expect.

“I didn’t really have time to get nervous during the game. I was just focusing on what we needed to do to win,” Lowman said. “If anything, I was more anxious this week about coming into a place like this where, yeah, it’s a rivalry, but you’re also going up against a really good football team. They’re in the hunt for a state championship every year for a reason.

“They’re extremely well-coached, they play extremely hard and they have good players on the field – and that’s a deadly combination.”

Both sides had defensive standouts in the rivalry game.

Mount Airy’s defense forced 13 plays of either no gain or negative yards. Gallimore, Stroup, Tyler Mason, Cam’Ron Webster, Blake Hawks and Deric Dandy each picked up tackles for a loss, while Gallimore and Dandy each picked up sacks.

The Bears also held Boaz to 9-of-21 passing for 120 yards, marking just the third time in Boaz’s three-year career as a starting quarterback that he was held to single digit completions while playing an entire game. Boaz did throw for both Cardinal touchdowns, but was picked off by both Stroup and Logan Fonville.

East Surry’s defense forced 21 plays of no gain or negative yards. Brett Clayton, Kyle Zinn, Trey Grubbs, Anderson Badgett and Hatcher Hamm each picked up tackles for a loss. Zinn and Badgett recorded multiple sacks, and Eli Becker added one.

The Cards held Gallimore to 4-of-10 passing for 64 yards. This is Gallimore’s lowest completion percentage in 16 games as a starting QB, and is just the third game in which he hasn’t thrown a passing touchdown. Gallimore was picked off once by East’s Will Jones, and the QB lost a fumble that was forced by Zinn and recovered by Colby Johnson.

East Surry (2-0) finished the game with 240 total yards coming from 120 yards passing and 120 yards rushing. Matthew Keener led the Cards in yards receiving with three receptions for 74 yards a touchdown, followed by Johnson with four receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Williams with two receptions for three yards.

Williams led East Surry’s ground game with 13 carries for 75 yards. Boaz was next with 17 carries for 25 yards, followed by Zinn with four carries for 14 yards and Johnson with one carry for 6 yards.

Mount Airy (1-1) finished with 118 total yards coming from 64 yards passing and 54 yards rushing. Stroup grabbed two receptions for 50 yards, Martin had one reception for 20 yards and Mario Revels caught one pass for a loss of six yards.

Mason led the Bears’ running backs with 18 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown, followed by Martin with four carries for three yards, Gallimore with 15 carries for -2 yards and a touchdown, and Traven Thompson with one carry for -3 yards.

Both squads have big expectations for the 2022 season and look to use this game as a jumping off point.

In the preseason, Lowman said the goal for the Cardinal coaching staff is to have the team peaking at the end of the regular season and beginning of the postseason. Playing Mount Airy, one of if not the outright toughest team they’ll play in the regular season, just two games in didn’t change that strategy.

“We didn’t change much before this, and we’re not going to change,” Lowman said. “We’re doing it the same way this year as we always have. Our entire playbook is in, and we’re just trying to get better at everything as the season goes as opposed to trying to do two things now, a third thing next week and a fourth thing after that.

“We’re not changing because our method has worked, and I hope it works again. I hope we’re peaking in late October/early November for a run. It’s on our guys to stay healthy, and take care of their bodies and keep learning what we do and just get cleaner and crisper as we go along.”

For Mount Airy, the loss breaks an 11-game winning streak of regular season games. The loss itself stings, but Adkins said he believes this game – much like the season opener against North Surry – will be extremely beneficial to the Bears in the long run.

“There is no such thing as a good loss, but our team grew exponentially tonight,” Adkins said. “Things like this galvanize a team and a coaching staff.”

Mount Airy’s focus now shifts to getting players healthy, while also maintaining a “commitment to basics and fundamentals,” Adkins said.

“I’m proud of our guys. We move forward from here.”

2:29 ESHS 0-7 – Colby Johnson 9-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

0:22 ESHS 0-14 – Matthew Keener 22-yard TD reception on Folger Boaz pass, Joshua Parker PAT

7:19 MAHS 6-14 – Tyler Mason 1-yard rushing TD, PAT blocked by Colby Johnson

2:58 MAHS 12-14 – Ian Gallimore 10-yard rushing TD, 2-point conversion no good

© 2018 The Mount Airy News