North Wilkes scored first, hogging the ball for much of the first quarter before Josh Johnson hit a 26-yard field goal. But the Rams recorded 41 unanswered points following that boot, finishing the regular season 6-5, 4-2 in the Mountain Valley 2A Conference.
Starmount earned the No. 8 seed from the West in the 2A playoffs and will host No. 9 Atkins on Friday night. The Rams could get another shot at conference rival Wilkes Central with a first-round victory.
Wilkes Central dominated the Rams the past two seasons, including a 41-14 victory in Moravian Falls on Sept. 28. The Rams, though, are 3-1 since that defeat, which seemed to mark a turning point. The only defeat -- the 24-21 heartbreaker against Ashe County a few weeks back.
But before thinking about Wilkes Central, Starmount must deal with Atkins. The Camels won their last two games, over McMichael (40-32) and West Stokes (32-27) to get into the playoffs.
Starmount also played West Stokes this season, defeating the Wildcats 26-7 on Aug. 24.
The Rams will need to keep tabs on Atkins quarterback James Booker, who rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 156 yards in last Friday's victory over West Stokes. Booker threw for 204 yards and two scores a few weeks earlier against Southern Guilford.
Against North Wilkes on Friday, Sam Coe caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with a second left in the first quarter to start the Rams' scoring. Ryan Johnson added a 63-yard TD run early in the second period, and Jake Barr plunged in from the one for a 21-3 halftime lead.
That cushion quickly grew, with Keith Bryant returning the opening kickoff of the second half 75 yards for a score. Bryan Gray and Blaine Nicholson scored the last two touchdowns on runs of 45 and four yards, respectively.
North Wilkes' season ends at 1-10 overall, 1-5 in the MVAC. Carter, who has been coaching football for the past 40 years in western North Carolina, announced plans earlier this fall to step away from the game and run for Congress.
While Carter didn't earn a win in his final game, the final offensive drive he directed ended with a touchdown. Jared Brooks plunged in from short yardage with 17 seconds left for the Vikings' lone touchdown of the night.
Starmount 41, North Wilkes 10
North Wilkes 3 0 0 7 -- 10
Starmount 7 14 14 6 -- 41
First Quarter
NW - Josh Johnson 26 yd FG, 2:56
ST - Sam Coe 16 yd pass from Jake Barr (Gabriel Valdez kick), :01
Second Quarter
ST - Ryan Johnson 63 yd run (Valdez kick), 10:15
ST - Barr 1 yd run (Valdez kick), 6:46
Third Quarter
ST - Keith Bryant 75 yd kickoff return (Valdez kick), 11:43
ST - Bryan Gray 45 yd run (Valdez kick), 3:30
Fourth Quarter
ST - Blaine Nicholson 4 yd run (kick failed), 8:30
NW - Jared Brooks 1 yd run (Johnson kick), :17
Starmount Stats
Rushing: Cooper 7-65; Johnson 4-61; Gray 1-45; Nicholson 2-31; Gaither 5-27; K. Bryant 2-22; Barr 4-(-5); TOTALS: 25-246
Passing: Barr 3 of 7 for 89 yards
Receiving: Gaither 2-73; Coe 1-16
Total Yards: 335 yards
North Wilkes Stats
Rushing: Shumate 23-98; TOTALS: 51-202
Passing: 2 of 11 for 17 yards
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