By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

One of the biggest casualties of the last conference realignment was the Starmount-East Surry football rivalry.

The Rams and Cardinals had played nearly every year since Starmount opened in the 1960s, but the series went on hiatus from 2005-08 because of scheduling conflicts.

East Surry was part of the nine-team Northwest 1A Conference then and only had three non-conference dates to fill. After scheduling 2A county rivals Surry Central and North Surry, that left room for only one other opponent. The Rams and Cards just couldn’t make things work.

Starmount, meanwhile, had lots of non-conference openings since it was playing in a seven-team league. The result was several match-ups that were less than appealing to the average Yadkin County football fan (East Burke, Davie County, etc).

The latest realignment opened the door for the renewal of the popular East Surry-Starmount series. When the new conferences were announced more than a year ago — East Surry to the Northwest 1A/2A with all of its county rivals except Elkin, and Starmount to the Mountain Valley 1A/2A — one of the first football priorities for both schools was to get each other back on the schedule.

The first meeting since 2004 comes Friday night in Boonville.

“We’re excited to get back to playing teams like East Wilkes and East Surry,” Starmount coach Scott Johnson said. “Those have traditionally been good rivalry games with good crowds.

“With East Surry, our kids and their kids compete real hard against each other. There are never any problems, just always a good, hard-fought rivalry — nose to nose.”

Friday’s meeting looms as an pivotal early season test for both squads. Starmount lost its opener to Mount Airy 41-28, but the Rams felt they played well in stretches against the defending 1A state champions. A win over East Surry would validate those beliefs

East Surry beat 3A St. Stephens 28-13 on the road in its 2009 debut. All of St. Stephens points came late in the game, with the Cardinals holding their hosts to just 34 yards rushing for the night.

Senior quarterback Hunter Diamont piloted the East Surry attack, rushing for 119 yards on 13 carries. Diamont scored touchdowns on runs of 47 and 23 yards. Teammate Markus Brown added 78 yards on 12 totes. He also scored a touchdown.

Joe Reid Denny added a defensive TD for the Cards, returning an interception for a score.

The most intriguing in-game match-up to watch could be Starmount’s modified Wing-T against East Surry’s stingy stopping unit. The Rams are working out how to replace last year’s star back, Rashaun Gaither, and so far have several workhorse options.

M.J. Bryant led the Rams against Mount Airy, earning 108 yards on nine carries. He scored on a 44-yard run right before halftime, keeping the Bears within reach on the scoreboard.

Blaine Nicholson added 69 yards on 10 carries, while Israel Murphy rushed for 60 yards on 15 touches. Fondae McDaniel was a fourth option, scampering for 37 yards on two carries.

Murphy was slowed somewhat by a shoulder injury, coach Johnson said. He could emerge as the No. 1 back this season.

“We rotated our fullbacks quite a bit,” Johnson said of the Mount Airy game. “M.J. had a couple of productive runs. He ran the ball hard.”


EAST WILKES (1-0) AT SURRY CENTRAL (0-1): The Cardinals burst onto the 2009 scene in a bold way, racing past 2A West Davidson by a 50-26 count.

Aaron Bauguess galloped for 184 yards on 21 carries (scoring three times). Micah Bryan threw two touchdown passes (on his first two throws of the game), rushed for another and accounted for three two-point conversions. Trendon Harris carried a kickoff back 86 yards for a score in addition to a receiving score.

The big question looming is whether the Cardinals can sustain their early season explosiveness. Friday night will provide some answers.

Surry Central struggled early to contain Elkin's big offensive front and four-back rushing attack. But the Golden Eagles seemed to learn on the job and kept the Elks more in check after halftime, aside from a 72-yard TD gallop by Tre Hayes.

The Eagles' stopping unit will be under the gun again.

"I told all the preview guys that we're little," Central coach Monty Southern said. "We know that. We've just got to be tough, play low and play with good technique.

"And we've got to be in a little bit better shape. That's my fault. I told the guys, I felt like we wore down (against Elkin). Maybe we need to do a little bit more running."

East Wilkes and Surry Central also will renew their football series after a four-year hiatus. The two were conference partners before Surry Central moved up to 2A in 2005-06.


NORTH SURRY (0-1) AT ELKIN (1-0): Normally, watching your team fumble four times (including twice near the goal line) and losing a 60-yard touchdown run to a penalty will be enough to send a coach into a headset-throwing tizzy.

But Elkin coach Richard Grissom took his team's first-game mistakes in stride last Friday night. Yes, the Elks had the chance to blow things open early and didn't convert. But the long-time sideline chief saw the things he wanted to see from the season opener.

Namely, that the line established itself right from the get-go and the entire stable of running backs -- Jamie Anthony, Tre Hayes, Aaron Rabin and Jermaine Hayes -- each ripped off some nice runs. Junior quarterback Ethan Creed ran the offense effectively in his first start since last year's season opener, needing to complete just one pass.

Tre Hayes finished with 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Anthony neared the 100-yard mark. All told, Elkin piled up 350 yards on the ground for the night.

"The line played well until they got tired," Grissom said. "We feel like we should never fumble, but we were pleased overall."

Elkin's defense will face a spread-type attack this Friday against North Surry. But the Greyhounds have a question mark at quarterback heading into the contest.

Junior signal caller Tanner Hiatt, last year's starter, did not play last week against Forbush. His status looks doubtful for this week.

Forbush beat North Surry 32-20, a final that some considered a surprise since the Falcons were picked by conference coaches to finish last in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A.

Elkin beat North Surry last season 27-21 on opening night at home.

"North Surry has some good athletes and good players," Grissom said. "We're preparing for (Hiatt). We saw him last year and thought he was a real good quarterback with good speed."


WIFM 100.9 GAME OF THE WEEK: The play-by-play team of Joel Hooper and Daron Atkins will be at Grissom Stadium this Friday night for the Elks-Hounds contest. The pregame show starts at 7:05 p.m.

If you can't tune in the contest on your radio, WIFM will stream the game live at www.wifmradio.com.


'DOGS AND BEARS: One game plenty of area football fans will want to track this Friday night is the Mount Airy at Thomasville showdown. The two met in the playoffs a few years ago and are playing a non-conference series beginning this year.

Thomasville is a 2A school now, which means that no matter which bracket Mount Airy ends up in come playoff time (1A or 1AA), the Bears won't see the Bulldogs. Plenty of bragging rights and pride will be on the line Friday in Thomasville.