Football season ends with a great game
Been a couple of weeks of beating a trail back and forth from the office and back and forth from Mount Airy, but the blog is back.
I can’t say that it was heartbreaking to watch Mount Airy lose such a close a game, 38-37 in overtime, to Wallace-Rose Hill in last Saturday’s Class 1-A state championship game. And I say that knowing all the class the Granite Bears exhibit under Coach Kelly Holder and his all-star staff.
WRH had a great football team this year, especially offensively with all their speed and the tricky misdirection of their Wing-T Offense. The Bears just couldn’t stop WRH, and on the other side, WRH couldn’t stop the Bears.
It came down to a decision by Coach Joey Price of the Bulldogs to go for two in overtime rather than kick the extra point. When Price sent his offense back on the field after the overtime touchdown, everyone at BB&T Field knew the game was getting ready to end.
And wow. What a close call. Fullback Omar Carr of the Bulldogs was so close to the goal line, I think he might be the only one to truly know if he made it in or not.
But the call was made, and everyone stood by it. Luke Wheeler, Mount Airy’s tremendous linebacker, had some stupendous things to say about the play in particular, and about the Bears season and run of 31 straight wins.
Back to the reason it wasn’t heartbreaking, and that’s mainly because the Bears didn’t act like it was. Brooks Mayberry, who had a great season as a two-way lineman for the Bears, spelled it out in the postgame, saying they played as hard as they could and had nothing to be upset about.
It was a great, see-saw championship game between two top-notch 1-A teams that were about as even as two teams could be. The Bulldogs, as Holder said several days after the game, were probably a little better man-for-man, but I think if the teams played again today that Mount Airy would win. It was that close.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mount Airy start a new streak next year. There is plenty of rebuilding to do — losing Wheeler, Andy Temoney, Justin Collier, Daryl Valentine, Mayberry, Tyler Hull, and many others will leave some large voids to fill.
But the Bears didn’t get this good by accident. I bet they’ll be back to work in short order.
Will try add another update or two before Christmas, but time is short. I finished adding up the coaches’ votes on the All-Northwest Football Team yesterday and will have the players in tomorrow for their pictures. That will be in the paper on Christmas Day — at least that’s the plan — and between now and then, I will work on that, as well as rounding up all-conference teams and try to get a handle on holiday basketball tournaments.
And after the Frank Spencer Classic, I hope to catch a break. Those in my business need one every once in a while, never more than this time of year.
Merry Christmas to our loyal readers and don’t forget to comment, call or email with any tips or anything interesting.