The East Wilkes Cardinals will head out to square off against the Starmount Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (East Wilkes: 14.5, Starmount: 3.3) so any points scored will be well earned.
East Wilkes took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They snuck past Elkin with a 15-10 win. Given the Cardinals' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 177th, while the Buckin' Elks are ranked 359th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Wilkes can attribute much of their success to Phoenix Blackburn, who rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns, and Colt Stowe, who rushed for 77 yards on only five carries. Stowe really tore up the turf during one magnificent 71-yard run.
East Wilkes didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Aiden Irwin and Austin Nash.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Starmount on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Carrboro out of the water with a 55-6 final score. The result was nothing new for the Rams, who have now won six matchups by 43 points or more so far this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Starmount to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kinston Crater, who rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. That's the most rushing yards Crater has posted since back in November of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Colton Allen, who picked up 81 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Starmount was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 334 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
East Wilkes' victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-1. As for Starmount, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-1.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. East Wilkes has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 276 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Starmount struggles in that department as they've been averaging 239.6. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
East Wilkes was taken down by Starmount 35-6 when the teams last played back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Starmount's Luke Collins, who threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Now that East Wilkes knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
