Only one team in The Tribune's coverage area survived the first night of the state football playoffs -- and it was the team facing the longest odds of winning (not to mention a very long bus ride).
East Wilkes, a No. 13 seed in the 1A West bracket, booted No. 4 Hayesville 17-14. The Cardinals won with a field goal in the waning moments of the game. East (4-8) now moves on to face North Stokes in next Friday's second round. North beat Bishop McGuinness 40-20.
East Wilkes, which faced a bus ride of more than four hours to get to Hayesville, had only won once since August coming into Friday's contest. Hayesville's season ends at 7-5.
Elkin and Starmount both lost their playoff openers at home. The No. 7 Buckin' Elks fell to No. 10 South Stanly 13-2, getting their only points on a safety in the second quarter.
Terry Shankle caught two touchdown passes and intercepted two throws for the Rebel Bulls, who will face Cherokee in next week's second round action. Elkin was picked off three times on the night.
This is the first time in several years that the Buckin' Elks' season has ended in early November. Coach Richard Grissom's teams had won four of the past five state titles coming into this season, and advanced to the Western finals the other year.
No. 8 Starmount lost a 32-29 heartbreaker to No. 9 Atkins. The Rams had scored the go ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter only to have the Camels answer with a TD pass with 1:15 left. This was Atkins' first-ever playoff game.
Still, with a 6-6 record, the Rams made major strides following last year's 1-10 campaign.
Stay tuned for more football playoff coverage in Monday's edition of The Tribune. Starmount coverage also will be featured in Thursday's edition of The Yadkin Ripple.
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