Getting out
In days gone by, especially when there were only eight public high schools in Forsyth County, The Journal was able to venture outside of the county often to cover games. And those trips to Surry, Wilkes, Stokes, Yadkin, Davidson and other outlying counties from our nerve center here in downtown Winston were always worth it to me.
Because we have so many teams here now, it’s tough to get out. But having most Forsyth County teams off last week gave me the opportunity to get out of town, and being able to go back to Starmount — where I have covered many games — was something I really looked forward to, especially since they were playing Elkin. What an awesome rivalry.
While the atmosphere at some places in Forsyth County is really nice, it’s a lot different — in a really good way — at most of the places in the Foothills. You can’t beat the smaller stadiums, packed houses and excitement at places like East Surry, Mount Airy, Elkin, Starmount, etc. And my game, a 42-12 win by Starmount over Elkin, didn’t disappoint.
The people up there love their teams, and for good reason. The teams hit hard, are led by wonderful coaches, and what a perfect fall night it was last Friday. It was great see the folks at Starmount I don’t often get to see, like David Norman and Deana King, who by the way in addition to being the No. 1 Starmount fan and statistician, is probably as big a fan of high-school sports you can find anywhere in the state.
Two things I discovered while there — Starmount has one of the best concession stands you’ll come across, and also, the Rams have one of the best players I have seen this season in Jake Barr, a junior quarterback and defensive back. One of the coaches told the 6-1, 205-pounder is receiving a lot of recruiting mail from LSU. He is a whale of a player.
It was also great to see Coach Scott Johnson of Starmount get a big win, one that will probably propel the Rams to the Mountain-Valley 2-A/1-A Conference title when it’s all said and done. But on the flip side, I hated to see Elkin lose like that. Richard Grissom, the Elks coach, is one of the best in the business, and his team is way better than that. I bet they’ll prove it from here on out.
And one last note — Scott Carter (Starmount’s athletics director and longtime assistant football coach) — thanks for the hospitality!
Well, back to local business this week with a nearly full schedule of Forsyth County games. Because of scheduling here at work, I won’t be able to cover a game this week, but we will have stringers at four or five games. Wish I could get up to Pilot Mountain, where unbeaten East Surry will take on unbeaten Bishop McGuinness. That’s going to be a good one, and in one of the best places around to see a game.