By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

Elkin chewed up nearly 500 yards worth of total offense Friday night and spit North Duplin out of the playoffs with a 26-0 victory.

The Buckin’ Elks gained a season’s best 471 yards on the ground, led by a pair of 100-yard backs and another rusher who galloped for 84 on just three carries.

The convincing win pushes Elkin (11-2) back into the 1A quarterfinals for the second year in a row, where a rematch with Robbinsville (10-2) awaits this Friday. The winner of that game will play for the 1A West title next week.

While the Buckin’ Elks had problems at times getting into the end zone Friday, they had little difficultly moving up and down the field against North Duplin (5-8). The onslaught began with the first two carries of the game from sophomore Tre Hayes, who picked up 17 and 30 yards.

Four plays later, Hayes found the end zone on a 1-yard plunge for a quick lead, and Elkin controlled things from there.

Hayes finished with 125 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns in the first half. He might have had an even bigger game stat-wise had a knee injury early in the third quarter not shortened his night.

Grayson Kimery led the rushing assault with 172 yards on 20 totes. He scored on a 24-yard run in the third quarter.

Jermaine Hayes added 84 yards, including an electric 71-yard touchdown scamper that put things out of reach midway through the fourth period. Aaron Rabin provided 77 more yards for good measure on 10 carries in what was easily the most prolific rushing performance of the season.

Obviously there were a lot of pats on the back to go around, both for the rushers and the guys blocking for them up front.

“We should have scored a lot more than we did,” Elkin coach Richard Grissom said. “We made too many mistakes. But all in all, I thought we did a pretty good job. Some of our kids are stepping up pretty big in the latter part of the year. You’ve got to give credit to the offensive line. They’ve done a really good job.”

Friday marked Elkin’s second straight playoff shutout, coming on the heels of a 52-0 first-round win over Union Academy. The Elks have blanked three foes in all this season and haven’t given up more than eight points in a game since beating West Wilkes 43-20 on Oct. 9.

North Duplin was missing a handful of its key players Friday night, including starting quarterback Alan Schilling, who had scored three touchdowns in the Rebels’ final regular season game. It was unclear why North Duplin coaches sat the players. Apparently it was a decision made late in the week.

“We didn’t know about it until before the ball game when somebody was telling us about it,” Grissom said. “I don’t know what happened. But you’ve got to play with what you’ve got. We lost a kid, too (Tre Hayes, injury).”

The missing starters made North Duplin’s offense pretty one dimensional. Sophomore running back Devin Oliver carried the ball 36 times out of the Rebels’ 48 offensive plays, usually taking a direct snap from the shotgun formation.

Oliver finished with a healthy 213 rushing yards. But North Duplin misfired on all four of its pass attempts and didn’t do much else. Oliver’s longest gain, 44 yards, came on North Duplin’s second snap. But the Rebels eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Elkin 31.

The Elks had two first-half drives stall deep in North Duplin territory. Grissom opted to go for it on fourth and seven at the 13 early in the second period, but an Ethan Creed-to-Kimery pass came up one yard shy of a first down.

On the next Elkin series, a fourth down run by Creed was stopped just shy of the goal line. North Duplin had to punt deep in its territory after not moving the ball. The Elks converted this time on a 47-yard drive, capped by Tre Hayes second TD jaunt of the night with 53.1 seconds left in the half.

Hayes’ 2-point run put Elkin ahead 14-0 at the break.

North Duplin made two forays inside the Elks’ 35 in the second half but came up empty each time. The Elks held on downs once and forced a fumble on the other, covered by Justin Strickland.

Elkin’s defense preserved the shutout after a 34-yard Oliver run put North Duplin at the 16 with less than five minutes to play. Three plays only went one yard, and the Rebels missed a 32-yard field goal try on fourth-and-nine.

Robbinsville won its playoff game 46-7 over South Stanly on Friday. The Knights have been eyeing a rematch with the Buckin’ Elks since losing last year’s third-round game 21-20.

Then-senior Russell Stewart threw the game-tying touchdown for Elkin with 1:58 left, then kicked what would be the game-winning PAT. Robbinsville drove the length of the field but missed a 27-yard field goal with 4.6 ticks remaining.

Most of the players from that game — on both sides — will be in uniform this Friday, making the match-up that much more compelling. “Robbinsville always plays tough,” Grissom said. “It’s not going to get any easier. You‘ve just got to play hard. Our kids have got to realize that.”

Elkin 26, North Duplin 0

Friday • at Elkin

North Duplin 0 0 0 0 — 0

Elkin 6 8 6 6 — 26

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

E — Tre Hayes 1 run (kick failed), 9:40

Second Quarter

E — Tre Hayes 5 run (Tre Hayes run), 0:53.1

Third Quarter

E — Grayson Kimery 24 run (kick blocked), 0:41.6

Fourth Quarter

E — Jermaine Hayes 71 run (kick failed), 5:49