One encourages defenders to strip the ball when possible while making tackles. The second teaches ball carriers how to spot seams in the defense and then zoom through them on running plays.
Practice made perfect for the Rams on Monday night.
Starmount recovered four fumbles, picked off two passes and found holes aplenty for its running backs in a 37-20 win at North Surry. Ryan Johnson and Rashaun Gaither both scored twice, and the Rams captured a pivotal Mountain Valley 2A victory against an opponent that was playing for a share of first place in the conference.
Now, Starmount (5-5, 3-2 MVAC) stands to move past North Surry (6-5, 4-2) for state playoff positioning if it can beat North Wilkes this Friday night.
"We've made a lot of improvement," Rams coach Scott Johnson said after the game. "Both our offense and our defense were new this year. But they are starting to get it, and that's a big part of it. They are getting after it and playing harder."
Putting those strip-the-ball drills into action proved key in sinking the Greyhounds into an early hole from which they could never recover.
The 'Hounds fumbled near midfield on the second play of the game, and the Rams quickly made them pay for it. On the sixth play of their opening drive, Ryan Johnson ran untouched around the left end for a 22-yard score.
After trading touchdowns -- Starmount's coming on a 66-yard gallop by Gaither late in the opening period -- North Surry threw an interception and then fumbled the ball away after forcing a punt.
It took Starmount just five plays to turn that takeaway into seven points. Jerome Gadberry caught two big passes from quarterback Jake Barr during the series, and Jonathan Cooper capped the march with a four-yard TD run up the middle with 10:55 left in the second period.
"Turnovers, they come in bunches," Johnson said. "Ashe County dropped the ball (against us) six times and we didn't get any of them. It's something we've been working on -- trying to get them and capitalizing when we do."
The 20-6 score stood until halftime. North Surry had a chance to get on the board again right before the break but ran out of time with the ball inside the Rams' 10-yard-line.
North Surry coaches maintain they tried to call a timeout from the sidelines with two or three seconds still on the clock, following a completion from Tanner Hiatt to Cody Palmer to the 7-yard-line. But a heated discussion with the officials about the issue didn't change the head referee's ruling that the half was over.
"I thought the official would look to me on the sideline, but of course they went a different way," Martin told The Mount Airy News after the game. "Most of the game, the way we played, it probably wouldn't have mattered. Turnovers, not being able to play defense and their speed ... We're a bit slow, and they just had a lot of speed."
The fumble bug hit North Surry again coming out of halftime. The Greyhounds forced a punt, and the home team took the ball from its 10 to Starmount 46. But on third-and-three, Baldwin lost the handle on a handoff, and Caleb Pardue pounced on the loose ball near midfield.
Four plays later, Barr found Gaither all by himself in the end zone and hit him for a 13-yard touchdown. Instead of North Surry getting back into it, the Rams pulled out to a 27-6 lead.
The Greyhounds did score on their next possession but missed the two-point conversion. Gabriel Valdez tacked on a 32-yard field goal for Starmount early in the fourth quarter. That brought the score to 30-12, making it a three-possession game again.
The Rams' final touchdown came on a 48-yard run by Johnson around the right side with 7:36 left. Lineman Luke Shore sprung Johnson loose on the play.
Johnson (86 rushing yards) and Gaither (81) did a solid job of finding chinks in the North Surry defense and exploiting them, Johnson said. Starmount had 234 rushing yards in all, despite losing its leading ground gainer, Daniel Swaim, to injury in the first half.
The Rams were able to keep the Greyhounds off balance with a productive passing attack, led by Barr, a freshman. Barr completed seven of 11 passes for 138 yards and a score.
"We're trying to stretch the field and find the seams," Johnson said of his running backs. "They have just gotten better and better at it."
Fittingly for the night, Starmount ended the game by creating another turnover. Barr intercepted a Baldwin pass with 22 seconds left, then took a knee to finish off one of the most impressive wins for the Rams in several years.
If Starmount follows that up with a victory this Friday, it will take the third seed from the MVAC into the state playoffs. The Rams finished sixth in the league last season, beating North Wilkes on the final night to get its lone win.
Amazingly, the Rams could have been in contention for a share of this year's conference title had they not lost a 24-21 heartbreaker to Ashe before playing North Surry. Ashe County's 39-28 surprise win over Wilkes Central on Monday brought the defending champion Eagles back to pack.
Both Ashe and Wilkes Central have one MVAC loss, while North Surry and Starmount have two.
That was probably the only downer on the Rams' sidelines Monday night -- what could have been had the Huskies not kicked the game-winning field goal against them as time expired Oct. 19.
"It makes last week really hurt," Johnson said.
But Starmount still will have at least two more games to play. Pairings for the 2A playoffs will be released sometime Saturday, according to the N.C. High School Athletic Association.
"This has been a great group to be around," Johnson said. "I don't want it to end."
Starmount 37, North Surry 20
Starmount 14 6 7 10 -- 37
North Surry 6 0 6 8 -- 20
First Quarter
ST -- Ryan Johnson 22 run (Gabriel Valdez kick), 8:37
NS -- Mikey Shelton 4 run (kick failed), 5:19
ST -- Rashaun Gaither 66 run (Valdez kick), 3:34
Second Quarter
ST -- Jonathan Cooper 4 run (kick failed), 10:55
Third Quarter
ST -- Gaither 13 pass from Jake Barr (Valdez kick), 4:56
NS -- Justin Baldwin 5 run (pass failed), 3:12
Fourth Quarter
ST -- Valdez 32 field goal, 10:12
ST -- Johnson 48 run (Valdez kick), 7:36
NS -- Baldwin 3 pass from Tanner Hiatt (Steven Harris pass from Hiatt), 3:38
Starmount Stats
Rushing: Ryan Johnson 4-86; Rashaun Gaither 11-81; Bryan Gray 7-33; Jonathan Cooper 9-18; Jake Barr 4-16; Daniel Swaim 3-0; TOTALS: 38-234
Passing: Jake Barr 7 of 11 for 138 yards - 1 TD
Receiving: Jerome Gadberry 3-64; Jonathan Cooper 1-43; Rashaun Gaither 1-13; Ryan Johnson 1-13; Daniel Swaim 1-5
Total Yards: 372 yards
-- Stats courtesy www.starmountrams.com
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