PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry defeated North Wilkes 61-6 on Friday to move to 1-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference.
Friday’s game highlighted East Surry’s past, present and future. Former students were welcome back to campus as part of the school’s Homecoming celebration, the current seniors were honored with Senior Night festivities taking place before the game, and the Cardinal fans got their first look at East in its new 2A conference.
East Surry’s ten seniors helped lead the team to its 55-point victory over North Wilkes. The seniors are: Luke Bowman, Trace Tilley, Trey Armstrong, Layton Allen, Joseph Grezmak, Isaiah Arrington, Jose Campos, Sam Whitt, Eli Blose and Michael McMillan.
East Surry (4-0, 1-0 FH2A) finished with 509 yards of total offense, six yards short of a season high set seven days earlier.
”Offensively, our kids played with confidence and good tempo,” said East Surry coach Trent Lowman. “That’s one thing we’ve been able to do for years. There’s still a lot that we’ve got to get better at on offense that we’re working on. It’s different things each week.”
Junior quarterback Folger Boaz accounted for 283 yards passing and two passing TDs. Friday’s game put Boaz over the 1,000-yard mark for the season as well as the 3,000-yard mark for his career. Boaz’s two passing touchdowns, which both went to Allen, puts him at 30 for his career.
East used three different quarterbacks against North Wilkes (1-2, 0-1 FH2A). Boaz completed 18-of-23 passes, Colby Johnson completed 2-of-4 passes for 44 yards and Will Jones finished 2-of-2 for 10 yards.
The trio of QBs moved the chains by hitting eight different receivers. Allen led all receivers with five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Armstrong and Stephen Brantley each had four catches, with Armstrong going for 49 yards and Brantley 75. Before switching to QB, Johnson had three catches for 53 yards.
Bowman, Dylan Cox, Matthew Keener and Luke Brown combined for the remaining six catches for 68 yards.
Boaz and Armstrong each rushed for three touchdowns in the win. Boaz had seven carries for 83 yards, and Armstrong had four for 22. Brett Clayton had two carries for 10 yards, one of which was a touchdown run. Johnson rushed three times for 26 yards, Eli Beck rushed three times for 24 yards and Keener ran once for 7 yards.
East’s offense had zero turnovers and scored on its first nine drives. The only Cardinal drive that didn’t end with a touchdown ended with the fourth-quarter clock expiring. Brantley handled kicking duties for the Cardinals and made 7-of-8 PATs.
East Surry’s defense only gave up one touchdown, and it came on the first possession of the game. Viking QB Zach Wyatt completed two short passes for a first down, then Deandre Corpening rushed for a short gain. Wyatt then exploded for a 67-yard touchdown pass to Chris Kimmel.
It took less than two minutes for East Surry to tie the game at 6-6. North Wilkes racked up 83 yards on the opening drive, but would only get 145 more through the rest of the game.
On defense we were much better tonight, much more confident,” Lowman said. “We’ve got some good players, they’ve just got to bring that confidence each week on defense. We’ve got some really good special teams guys, too. Just little things we’ve got to keep getting better at. We’re not there yet. We’ve got a lot of improving to do”
The Cardinal defense held the Vikings to one first down in the first quarter, one in the second quarter, none in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter. For comparison, East Surry’s offensive moved the chains 18 times.
Five of North Wilkes’ possessions ended with three-and-outs. Of the Viks’ remaining five possessions: one ended with Kimmel’s touchdown reception, one saw North Wilkes punt after seven plays, another ended when East’s Grezmak recovered a fumble, one ended with Bowman intercepting Wyatt and the Vikings’ final possession ended with a turnover on downs.
North Wilkes passed for 213 yards on 11 completions. The Vikings rushed 22 times, but only gained 15 yards from scrimmage thanks to multiple tackles for a loss. Hatcher Hamm, Dylan Cox and Kyle Zinn all recorded sacks against North Wilkes.
East Surry continues conference play next week by traveling to North Surry (1-2). North Surry defeated Wilkes Central (2-1) 26-20 in its conference opener.
Scoring
North Wilkes – 6, 0, 0, 0 = 6
East Surry – 20, 27, 14, 0 = 61
1Q
10:16 NWHS 0-6 – Zach Wyatt pass to Chris Kimmel 67-yard TD reception, PAT no good
8:31 ESHS 6-6 – Folger Boaz 16-yard rushing TD, PAT no good
5:55 ESHS 13-6 – Folger Boaz pass to Layton Allen 23-yard TD reception, Stephen Brantley PAT
1:04 ESHS 20-6 – Folger Boaz 16-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
2Q
11:51 ESHS 27-6 – Folger Boaz pass to Layton Allen 28-yard TD reception, Stephen Brantley PAT
7:58 ESHS 34-6 – Trey Armstrong 8-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
5:48 ESHS 41-6 – Folger Boaz 19-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
2:20 ESHS 47-6 – Trey Armstrong 3-yard rushing TD, 2-point conversion no good
3Q
11:00 ESHS 54-6 – Trey Armstrong 6-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
1:50 ESHS 61-6 – Brett Clayton 4-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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