By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

With yesterday’s Thanksgiving feast still digesting, here are some final football leftovers and tidbits heading into tonight’s Elkin-Robbinsville playoff clash. The teams kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Grissom Stadium:

Black Knights football coach Dee Walsh wouldn’t use the “R” word when talking with his hometown paper this week about tonight’s playoff game against Elkin.

Revenge, Walsh told The Graham Star, is not his group’s main motivating factor, despite the 21-20 heartbreak the Knights suffered last season at the hands of the Elks.

“Of course we would like to go back and win because we lost last year, but that’s not why we’re going,” Walsh told The Star. “We’re going to Elkin because we are in the state playoffs and they are next on the schedule.”

While that remark might keep Walsh off the bulletin boards and out of pre-game pep talks in the Elkin locker room, make no mistake: this game is a big deal to the Knights, aiming to return to their glory days of the 1970s and ‘80s when the school won numerous state championships.

Robbinsville faithful see beating Elkin, a four-time state champion this decade, as a big stepping stone toward that aim. The Knights have 12 state titles to their credit all-time, though none since the early 1990s.

Walsh tended to play more of an underdog card in his assessment of tonight’s game. Elkin (11-2) is the No. 2 seed, while Robbinsville (10-2) is the No. 3. Both have been impressive in the latter part of the season, rebounding from tough early losses.

“They are a good team, well coached, lots of speed and a good-sized line,” Walsh told The Graham Star of Elkin. “But, we’re hoping we can match up with them. We’re going to win, that’s our plan.”

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Robbinsville did not miss three extra point kicks in its playoff win over South Stanly, as reported in Wednesday’s Tribune. The Knights didn’t try kicking any PATs or field goals that night to give primary kicker Chris Daniels a chance to heal a leg injury. We regret the mistake.

Kicking has been a concern for both teams at various points of the season, however.

Elkin won last year’s game against the Knights on the foot of then-senior Russell Stewart, whose PAT with 1:58 remaining proved the difference in the one-point triumph. Robbinsville missed a 27-yard field goal with 4.6 seconds left.

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Elkin and Robbinsville fans will be keeping a close eye on developments further north in Surry County tonight. Mount Airy (13-0) is hosting Princeton (10-3) in the other 1A West semifinal. Tonight’s winners play each other next Friday for the West Region championship.

While top-seeded Mount Airy hasn’t been challenged that much this fall, some see Princeton as an intriguing match-up. While many small-school high school teams focus on the run, Princeton likes to spread the field and air it out quite a bit.

Quarterback David Gurganus threw for 269 yards on 17-of-29 passing last Friday in the Bulldogs’ 21-13 win over Hobbton. Gurganus has more than 3,300 pass yards on the season.

Teams around here don’t see many pass-first attacks. Will that novel approach be enough to pull an upset in the Granite City?

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If you can’t make the Elkin-Robbinsville game in person tonight, stay tuned to WIFM 100.9 on the FM dial. The Elks-Knights clash is the station’s game of the week. The game also will be streamed live at www.wifmradio.com. Just click on the “Streaming Sports Live” link at the top of the page.

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Robbinsville senior running back Kurt Odom may very well break the Smoky Mountain Conference all-time rushing record tonight.

Odom has 5,387 career yards. He’s chasing Cherokee’s Langston Wood, who finished his career with 5,426 — a difference of 39 yards.

According to an Asheville Citizen-Times report published this week, Odom is No. 6 all-time among Western North Carolina career rushing leaders. Langston is No. 5, while Jeremy Laster of North Buncomb is No. 4 with 5,563 yards.

Michael Angram of East Henderson tops the list with 6,792 yards.

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If Elkin can extend its playoff run another week or two, senior fullback Aaron Rabin may join teammate Tre Hayes in the 1,000-yard rushing club. Rabin has, unofficially, 838 yards on the season thus far. A big game tonight, or a couple of solid performances over the next two or three weeks, should put him over the top.

Hayes is hoping to build on his season tally of 1,347 yards tonight, reaching for the 1,500-yard plateau.

Elkin quarterback Ethan Creed is in the 1,000-yard passing club. He’s up to 1,065 yards (unofficially) for the season, with 10 touchdowns.

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Charlotte Latin, which beat Elkin 52-7 back in late September, captured the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship last Friday.

The Hawks avenged their only defeat of the season in a big way, topping Charlotte Christian 31-10.

Charlotte Latin has played in the last seven independent schools title games. The Hawks lost to Charlotte Christian last season.