The Foothills 2A Conference recently released its All-Conference selections for the 2021-22 football season.
The East Surry Cardinals won the FH2A Conference with a perfect 6-0 record. East Surry averaged 53.5 points in conference games, only allowed an average of 8.3 points and won each of its conference games by at least 26 points.
North Surry, Surry Central and Forbush tied for second in the conference with 4-2 records. All three schools lost to East Surry then split with each other: North lost to Forbush, Central lost to North and Forbush lost to Central.
The trio of Wilkes County schools split to each finish 1-5 in the conference. Wilkes Central’s only win was against West Wilkes, West Wilkes defeated North Wilkes and North Wilkes defeated Wilkes Central.
Each of the top four teams qualified for the 2A State Playoffs. East Surry was given the No. 2 seed and won four playoff games, reaching the West Regional Final for the fourth-consecutive season. The Cardinals fell to No. 1 Shelby in the Regional Final, and Shelby went on to dominate its way to a State Championship victory.
East Surry’s only three losses in the past three seasons were to teams that went on win a state title: Tarboro (1AA) and Reidsville (2A) in 2020-21, and Shelby in 2021-22.
No. 18 North Surry and No. 19 Surry Central both fell in the first round of the state playoffs. Surry Central was defeated by No. 14 West Lincoln, and North Surry was defeated by No. 15 Forbush. Forbush’s playoff win was just its fourth since 1972 and the program’s first in 17 years.
Forbush went on to lose to East Surry in the second round.
Coach/Players of the Year
COACH
East Surry’s Trent Lowman was named FH2A Conference Coach of the Year. Lowman has been named Conference Coach of the Year three times in his four seasons with the Cardinals.
Lowman holds a 48-7 overall record since coming to East Surry, including a 21-1 record in conference play. East Surry hasn’t lost a conference game since 2018.
Lowman also boasts a 14-3 record in the playoffs.
OFFENSE
East Surry junior Folger Boaz was named FH2A Offensive Player of the Year.
This is Boaz’s second All-Conference selection, also making the team in the 2020-21 season. The dual threat quarterback finished the year with 4,435 total yards. This was second in N.C. among all classifications and No. 26 in the country.
Boaz completed 227-of-324 passes for 3,475 yards and 29 touchdowns in 14 games. Folger was fourth in the state in yards passing, and his .701 completion percentage was the highest of any quarterback in the state that attempted at least 275 passes.
He is just the fifth player in N.C. history with a single-season completion percentage greater than 70% with at least 275 pass attempts. The state record holder in that category is big brother Jefferson Boaz, who completed 233-of-314 passes (74.2%) at East Surry in 2019.
Folger also rushed 147 times for 960 yards, scored 23 rushing touchdowns (tied for 22nd in N.C.) and had five games of at least 100 yards rushing.
DEFENSE
Forbush senior Ayden Gardner was named FH2A Defensive Player of the Year.
Gardner recorded 56 solo tackles (T-6 in FH2A), 92 total tackles (T-6 in FH2A), 23.0 tackles for a loss (No. 2 in FH2A), 7.7 tackles per game (T-5 in FH2A), 6.0 sacks (T-2 in FH2A) and 3 passes defensed.
His 23.0 tackles for a loss were tied for No. 49 in the state.
SPECIAL TEAMS
East Surry senior Trey Armstrong was named FH2A Specialist of the Year.
He led the conference with 10 punt returns for 199 yards, including one punt for a touchdown. Armstrong also had four kickoff returns for 111 yards to bring his total return yards up to 310, which was second overall in the conference.
Armstrong’s 19.9 yards per punt return was tied for No. 15 in the state, and his 199 punt return yards tied for No. 18 in the state.
All-Conference Selections
Only seven players in the conference were named All-Conference in multiple phases.
North Surry’s Jahreece Lynch, Jake Simmons and Zeke Moore, along with Surry Central’s Karson Crouse and Andres Gonzalez, and Forbush’s Ayden Gardner were named All-Conference on both offense and defense. East Surry’s Trey Armstrong was named All-Conference on both offense and special teams as Specialist of the Year.
Repeat All-Conference selections (for Surry Co. teams only) will have the number of teams for which they’ve been selected, including 2021-22, in parentheses.
OFFENSE
East Surry: WR Layton Allen (HM in 2020-21), RB Trey Armstrong, OL Eli Blose, QB Folger Boaz (2), WR Colby Johnson, OL Kole Pruitt, OL Sam Whitt (4)
Forbush: RB Luke Bennett, OL Ayden Gardner, OL Joe Hennings, RB Derek Matthews, OL Wesely Trivette
North Surry: WR Jahreece Lynch (2), QB James McCreary, OL Zeke Moore (2), RB Jake Simmons (2)
North Wilkes: RB Deandre Corpening, WR Chris Kimmel, QB Zack Wyatt
Surry Central: RB Karson Crouse (3), OL Andres Gonzalez (2), WR Dakota Mills (HM in 2020-21)
West Wilkes: none
Wilkes Central: OL Macklyn Harper, WR Terry Hodges
DEFENSE
East Surry: DB Luke Bowman, DB Isaiah Arrington, LB Kyle Zinn (2), LB Joshua Parker, DL Brett Clayton, DL Joseph Grezmak
Forbush: DB Devin Diclemente, DL Ayden Gardner, DB Nate Hampton, DL Luke Hurley, LB Baylee Ramey, DL Jesse Wooten
North Surry: DB Anthony Brown (HM in 2020-21), DB Jahreece Lynch (2), LB Jake Simmons (2), LB Kam McBride, DL Ryan Simmons (2), DL Zeke Moore (2)
North Wilkes: none
Surry Central: DB Memphis Bolatto (2), LB Kade Norman (HM in 2020-21), LB Karson Crouse (3), DL Graden Spurlin, DL Andres Gonzalez (2)
West Wilkes: none
Wilkes Central: none
Honorable Mentions:
East Surry: J.T. Simmons, Daniel Villasenor
Forbush: Chase Smitherman, Aiden Lyon
North Surry: Garrett Shore, Jace Hernandez
North Wilkes: Drew Winkler, Parker Moore
Surry Central: Avery Wilmoth, Logan Priddy
West Wilkes: Shane Gragg, Logan Wayne
Wilkes Central: Matthew Bell, C.J. McGill
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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