Special to the TRIBUNE/ Tim Weatherman
All-State quarterback, Jake Barr on Starmount's first score during Friday's match up against the visiting Granite Bears from Mount Airy. Barr had nine carries for 74 yards during Friday night's game.
The more experienced and physical Rams ruled the roost from the get-go, as Jake Barr, M.J. Bryant and Israel Murphy combined for 209 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Six turnovers — four fumbles and two interceptions — doomed the Bears from the start, as running back Demetrius Rucker was stripped on the second play from scrimmage to set up the first of four Ram first-half touchdowns.
Barr scampered down the left side for 22 yards; Bryant found the end zone twice in just more than two minutes on runs of 5 and 30 yards apiece; and Murphy had a pair of big runs to gash the Bear defense.
Mount Airy was able to mount a few drives in the first half, the first of which stalled inside the 10, forcing a field goal.
Rucker added the only touchdown of the first half just before the break on a 16-yard dash, but Starmount countered back with a frenzied drive to close the second quarter and break the Bears’ back.
With time running down and Mount Airy hanging around at 22-10, Barr engineered a stellar drive, taking the ball to the Bear goal line with 22 seconds left.
The Bears stopped the first attempt at a score by the Ram senior quarterback, but just as the buzzer sounded Barr finally found pay dirt to make it 29-10 at the half.
Starmount came out in the second half and again scored quickly, this time with Aubrey McDaniel fighting his way in from five yards out.
The Bears stepped up their defensive efforts after the opening score of the half and were able to somewhat stop the inside running attack of the Rams.
Zaqwan Dobson bulled in from the 1 to cut the lead to 36-16 with 3:22 left in the third, but the damage had been done.
The final quarter was a shootout with Starmount’s Tanner Vestal scoring on a 65-yard run, shortly followed by a 75-yard scamper by Mount Airy’s Ty Simmons.
A stoic coach Kelly Holder said after the game that his team was simply outplayed in all areas.
“We really didn’t do anything good,” he said. “A lot of that has to do with Starmount. They are pretty doggone good. We killed ourselves on offense many times. Turnovers killed us and penalties killed us, and we couldn’t even line up a couple times. You’ve got to take that blame yourself. We can’t tackle anybody either.”
All-in-all, the Bears put the ball on the ground a total of nine times, losing four of those fumbles.
Senior quarterback Ben Hinson had his troubles, with two interceptions and a fumble of his own while completing just 2-of-9 passes for 42 yards.
Rucker ran 16 times for 79 yards and a score, while Jordan Schwartz had 10 carries for 41 yards.
Bryant had 13 carries for 59 yards and two touchdowns; Barr, who sat most of the second half with an injury, carried nine times for 74 yards; and Murphy, who left late with an injury, carried the ball six times for 76 yards.
“We’ve got a long way to go if we are going to be a good football team,” Holder said. “Our kids need to know that, and our coaches need to know that. We just didn’t play very well.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Bears, as they will host perennial powerhouse Thomasville next Friday at Wallace Shelton Stadium.
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