VALDESE — Mount Airy put the state on notice last Saturday with a 56-6 win over Jimmy C. Draughn High School.
The Granite Bears spent the better part of last week preparing to face the defending 1AA West Regional Champions, East Surry, on August 27. At 2:00 p.m. on game day, it was announced the game was cancelled “due to COVID-19 protocols” within the Cardinals program.
This left Mount Airy without a week two opponent…for about 29 minutes. Mount Airy quickly announced on Twitter that the varsity team would be traveling to Draughn High School on the 28. The situation wasn’t ideal – Mount Airy increased its travel time from 15 minutes to more than two hours, only had one day to prepare and had no film on Draughn – but it didn’t matter in the end.
Mount Airy forced a school record six turnovers to defeat the Wildcats 56-6. The Granite Bears grabbed four interceptions and recovered two fumbles in the win.
In week one against North Surry, Mount Airy’s Zeb Stroup and Mario Revels each hauled in an interception and the team defended 13 passes. Against Draughn, three more Bears joined in on the fun: Walker Stroup had two interceptions, Peyton Fonville and Logan Dowell each had one interception and the trio, as well as Blake Hawks, combined to defend an additional four passes.
Walker Stroup, Deric Dandy and Kasen Taylor all forced fumbles against Draughn. Two of those fumbles were recovered by the Bears, with Kasen Taylor and Reece Deaton each recovering one.
Deaton, Dandy and Nic Isom were the Bears’ leading tacklers, combining for 27 total tackles. Deaton led the team with 10, followed by Isom with nine and Dandy with eight. Dandy recorded 2.0 sacks and 3.0 tackles for a loss, while Deaton and CamRon Webster each had 1.0 sack and 1.0 TFL.
Mount Airy’s stout defense gave the offense ample opportunities to put points on the board, and the Bears spread the love when doing so. Nine different players put points on the board for the Granite Bears.
The only player to score twice for Mount Airy was running back Tyler Mason. Mason recorded 135 of the team’s 282 yards rushing and ran in two touchdowns. Quarterback Ian Gallimore had six carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, and Deaton scored the other rushing TD on a six-yard carry.
Josh Penn had five carries for 54 yards, Caleb Reid had one carry for 43 yards and Brison George had one carry for three yards.
The Bears also passed for 122 yards to bring their total yardage to 405 yards. Gallimore completed 5-of-8 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Penn had two receptions for 38 yards, Mario Revels had one reception for 52 yards, Dowell had one reception for 12 yards Walker Stroup hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Gallimore.
Zeb Stroup and Dylan Tilley each scored 2-point conversions, and Tilley went 4-of-5 on PATs.
The Bears resume non-conference competition this week by traveling to Surry Central (1-1).
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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