By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

One play seemed to turn the tide in Robbinsville’s 40-6 win over Elkin on Friday night.

But actually, the play before “The Play” may have had a bigger impact on the outcome.

With the score tied 0-0 early in the second quarter, Elkin mounted a 76-yard drive to move from its 20 to the Robbinsville 4. The Black Knights’ defense seemed on its heels trying to figure out if quarterback Ethan Creed was going to keep the ball or hand off to backs Grayson Kimrey, Aaron Rabin and Tre Hayes. All four were getting positive yardage.

But on the 11th play of the series, the Buckin’ Elks made a slight misstep, getting whistled for a motion penalty. That flag turned third-down-and-two — a very favorable situation for Elkin’s four-back attack — into third-and-seven from the 9-yard line.

That’s when “The Play” happened and Creed threw for the end zone, only to have his pass picked off by Randy Hernandez and returned to the Elkin 32.

On the following snap, Robbinsville’s Blake Anderson scored on a 32-yard run from a shotgun snap, completely changing the complexion of the game.

It’s not to say that if Elkin scores on that drive, the Buckin’ Elks are preparing this week to play Mount Airy in the 1A West championship game. But the five-yard penalty and subsequent interception set in motion a cascade of events that led to the Robbinsville runaway victory.

“Momentum in high school football is important,” Robbinsville coach Dee Walsh said. “Kids’ emotions are big. When you have it, kids can play better.”

Elkin’s momentum took another hit on its next series. Hayes, Kimrey and Aaron Rabin rushed the Elks from their 26 to the Robbinsville 27. But on second and four, Elkin essentially lost a down by fumbling the snap. Two plays later, on fourth and one, another motion penalty sent Elkin backwards five yards.

A fourth down pass by Creed into the end zone was batted away. Maybe Elkin runs on fourth-and-1 instead of feeling the need to throw.

From there things kept rolling down hill. When Robbinsville scored on the last play of the first half and the first play of the second, the game was essentially over. The Elks were beaten mentally and that translated into a five-touchdown defeat instead of the close game many expected.

“Every game we’ve lost this year, that’s pretty much the way it has been. It snowballs,” Grissom said.

Not about payback

Robbinsville players and coaches maintain that revenge wasn’t the biggest motivating factor coming into Friday’s contest. Yes, the Knights were sent home by the Elks 21-20 last season in a game that featured a late Elkin touchdown and missed Robbinsville field goal in the final seconds.

But coach Dee Walsh maintains that his squad is playing for bigger prizes than erasing a bad memory from 2008.

“It ain’t about this game we were playing for,” Walsh said. “Our goal was a conference championship and a state championship. This was on the schedule.

“This (Elkin) is a great football program and a great coaching staff. I know several of those coaches and they do a great job. But there was no vengeance. It’s who you play in the playoffs.”

Finishing 2008 on a losing note did, however, provide an extra boost of motivate for Robbinsville players in the off-season.

“We had a great year in the weight room. From that last game until now, our kids have worked hard and it has paid off,” Walsh said.

Elkin coach Richard Grissom is hoping his returning players follow the same path in the coming weeks and months, letting a painful ending to 2009 drive the Elks to bigger and better things in 2010.

“I’m pleased with our season overall,” Grissom said. “I guess a lot of people would be tickled to death to win 11 ball games, but I think here we expect more. I hope they will take that as a challenge for next year and get better.”

The Wild Elk formation?

The “Wildcat” offense, with a running back taking direct snaps and then running what amounts to the triple-option, is all the rage in football these days.

Elkin showed a little Wildcat late in Friday’s game and that could be a building block for the future. With the outcome decided, Grissom had multi-purpose threat Jermaine Hayes and running back Tre Hayes take direct snaps out of the shotgun formation several times.

Jermaine Hayes completed six of 10 passes to four different receivers. His presence as another rushing threat opened up lanes for Aaron Rabin, who earned some big yardage late in the game and reached the end zone with 5:47 left.

The Elks may have lost big on Friday night but may have found a little something for the offense in 2010.

Notes and Tidbits

• Elkin lost for the first time on Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) since the calendar rolled into the 2000s. The Buckin’ Elks had been 6-0 in Black Friday games before Friday.

This will be only the second time since 2002 that Elkin has failed to reach the 1A Western Regional final. The other time came in 2007.

• Friday’s loss snapped a seven-game win streak for the Buckin’ Elks.

It also ended a streak of six games in a row where Elkin’s defense had surrendered eight or fewer points.

• Robbinsville is seeking its 13th state title in football. But first, the Knights have to get to the Dec. 12 title game. That will be no easy task, with Mount Airy up next in the 1A Western Regional final.

The Granite Bears have won 30 games in a row, with their most recent a 51-20 triumph over Princeton on Friday night in the Granite City.

Luke Wheeler scored four touchdowns and rushed for a game-high 191 yards to lead the Bears.

• Wallace-Rose Hill (No. 4 seed) and North Edgecombe (No. 7) are still alive in the 1A East bracket. Friday’s winners will meet at Wake Forest on Saturday, Dec. 12.

• Starmount fans can take solace in the fact that the team that knocked them out of the 2A playoffs is still alive. Lexington topped Thomasville 28-21 on Friday night. The ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets (8-6 record) face No. 2 Mountain Heritage (12-2) for the 2A West title this Friday.

• Hendersonville, which knocked East Wilkes out of the playoffs on Nov. 20, lost to West Montgomery 17-14 on Friday in the 1AA bracket. West Montgomery will play Albemarle for the 1AA West title this week. Albemarle barely beat Swain County 28-27.

• Newton-Conover, which beat Starmount in last year’s 2A West final, will play in the 2AA West title game this week. The Red Devils, the No. 7 seed, will host eighth-seeded Salisbury for the right to advance to the state title game.

• Only 32 teams remain in the state playoffs coming out of the Thanksgiving weekend, four in each of the eight playoff classifications.

Only seven of 16 teams that were seeded No. 1 overall in their respective bracket are still alive.

Both No. 1 seeds were knocked out of the 2AA, 3A and 4A playoff divisions. Both top seeds have survived this long only in the 1AA and 4AA divisions.