Mount Airy opened its spring 2021 football season with a 28-21 loss to Pisgah inside Wallace Shelton Stadium.
The Battle of the Bears, pitting the Pisgah Black Bears against the Mount Airy Granite Bears, was originally slated to be each team’s second game of the season. However, the game marked Mount Airy’s first appearance under Friday night lights after the team’s week one game against North Iredell was cancelled.
Mount Airy (0-1) led 21-14 at halftime, but Pisgah scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to spoil Mount Airy’s first game since Nov. 2019.
Friday’s game also marked the return of Granite Bear quarterback Holden Poindexter. Poindexter led the 1A division with 40 passing touchdowns and was second in the state with 3,135 yards passing during the 2018 season.
As a sophomore starter, Poindexter led the Bears to a 12-1 record and the Northwest 1A Conference Championship. He missed his junior season due to injury.
Poindexter completed 14-of-26 passes for 171 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception in his return for Mount Airy. He also rushed four times for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Poindexter capped off Mount Airy’s first drive of the season with a 9-yard TD pass to Dalton Nance. Junior Dylan Tilley split the uprights on the PAT to make it 7-0 for the Granite Bears.
After stopping Pisgah (2-0) on its next possession, Mount Airy committed two costly turnovers that led to 14 points for the visitors.
Pisgah QB Cain Early, who led the run-heavy Black Bears with 23 carries for 101 yards and two rushing TDs, evened the score with a 5-yard TD run. The second Bear turnover set up Early for his only completed pass of the night: a 40-yard TD pass to Ian Rogers.
Luke Pinkston hit both extra points to put the Black Bears up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Granite Bears moved the ball well in the air as well as on the ground. Junior Zeb Stroup led all receivers with three catches for 110 yards.
Mount Airy totaled 184 of its 355 total yards on the ground. Nathan Nance led the team in yards rushing, with eight carries for 71 yards, followed by Poindexter’s 50 yards rushing on four carries and Cameron Moore’s 49 yards on 10 carries.
Dalton Nance and William Mayfield each had one carry; Dalton rushed for six yards and Mayfield ran for eight.
Poindexter’s second-quarter rushing TD tied the game at 14. After stopping the Black Bears’ offense on the next possession, Poindexter connected with William Mayfield for a 10-yard TD pass. Tilley’s PAT made it 21-14 at the half.
Pisgah’s ground game sucked time off the clock in the second half. The Black Bears rushed 45 times for 347 yards in Friday’s game. In addition to Early’s 101 yards rushing, Rogers finished with 87 yards on seven carries followed by Levi Cagle’s 83 yards on 13 carries.
After neither team scored for 11 minutes of the second quarter, Pisgah’s Devin Dodgin broke through the Bears defense to cut the lead to just one. A bobbled hold on the PAT kept Mount Airy ahead 21-20.
The Granite Bears defense once again held Pisgah scoreless for most of the fourth quarter, but the offense struggled to put points on the board. The Mount Airy defense even forced two turnovers in Friday’s game.
Pisgah’s Early eventually punched in a 5-yard rush with 2:18 left in the game to go up by six.
Mount Airy started the ensuing drive on its own 35. Poindexter completed a 6-yard pass to Dalton Nance on first down, then Nathan Nance followed it up with a 21-yard gain. Poindexter targeted Stroup on the next play, but his pass fell incomplete.
The Granite Bears sat on the Black Bear 38 with 1:19 to play. Nathan Nance moved the chains once again on a 14-yard run, but couldn’t make it out-of-bounds to stop the clock. Mount Airy called a timeout with 51 seconds.
Poindexter found Dalton Nance on a 3-yard gain to put the Granite Bears just outside the red zone. The 3-yard gain was negated the next play as a five-yard ineligible receiver penalty set up second-and-12.
Swarmed with Pisgah defenders, Poindexter scrambled out-of-bounds with 39 seconds left to set up third-and-long. The Granite Bears put the ball in Nathan Nance’s hands but he was stopped at the line of scrimmage.
The clock continued to run as Mount Airy faced fourth-and-14 on the 25-yard line with the clock counting down. Poindexter took the snap and targeted Stroup inside the 10. The pass was broken up with seven seconds on the clock as Mount Airy turned the ball over on downs.
The young Granite Bears squad, consisting of just six seniors, 16 juniors, four sophomores and nine freshmen, doesn’t have the benefit of playing two non-conference games before beginning conference play.
Mount Airy travels to North Stokes (2-0) on March 12.
Scoring
Mount Airy – 7, 14, 0, 0 = 21
Pisgah – 14, 0, 6, 8 = 28
1Q
8:54 MAHS 7-0 – Holden Poindexter pass to Dalton Nance 9-yard TD reception, Dylan Tilley PAT
5:28 PISGAH 7-7 – Cain Early 5-yard rush TD, Luke Pinkston PAT
4:03 PISGAH 7-14 – Cain Early pass to Ian Rogers 40-yard TD reception, Luke Pinkston PAT
2Q
6:52 MAHS 14-14 – Holden Poindexter 7-yard rush TD, Dylan Tilley PAT
3:24 MAHS 21-14 – Holden Poindexter pass to William Mayfield 10-yard TD reception, Dylan Tilley PAT
3Q
0:58 PISGAH 21-20 – Devin Dodgin 4-yard rush TD, PAT no good
4Q
2:18 PISGAH 21-28 – Cain Early 5-yard rush TD, Devin Dodgin rush 2-pt conversion
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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