East Surry vs. Tarboro
Chapel Hill, NC- It was a picture perfect day for a North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) football championship game. The Tarboro High School Vikings were set to take on the East Surry Cardinals in a rematch from their last meet up in the championship game pre-pandemic.
Cheers rang out from the sparse crowd at Kenan Stadium on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s campus. Fan bases of both teams traveled fairly equally. And though the crowd wasn’t large – there were fans in the stands and it created an exciting environment that many players, coaches, and fans haven’t experienced in a while.
As a cool breeze blew through the stadium, both teams were ready for kick off. East Surry was looking to repeat as the state champion against the same team they beat last time, and Tarboro was looking for one thing: revenge.
East Surry looked as if they might be too much for Tarboro to handle right out of the gate. They threatened to score on their first drive, quickly marching down the field in just a few plays. But then Tarboro’s defense suddenly woke up.
The Vikings were able to hold the Cardinals from scoring and quickly took the ball over on downs when East Surry missed a field goal attempt. That seemed to be the only push Tarboro needed, as it opened a scoring frenzy for the Vikings in the first half.
Tobias Joyner and Jalen Razor both put touchdowns on the board and things seemed to be looking up for the team. But there was one problem: extra points. Tarboro couldn’t seal the deal with any of their point after attempts – something that has plagued the team all season.
In spite of the point after challenges, Tarboro’s scoring continued as Tobias Joyner intercepted the ball and ran it back 31 yards for a touchdown. East Surry still couldn’t find an answer to Tarboro’s sudden surge and was yet to put any points on the board.
Everything seemed to go Tarboro’s way in the first half. Even when East Surry forced the Vikings to punt the ball, Tarboro pinned the cardinals on their own four yard line midway through the second quarter. Though East Surry was able to get a first down on their first attempt, the rest of their drive didn’t materialize. Tarboro’s defense and East Surry’s own mistakes caused the Cardinals to punt and Tarboro took over the ball with 2:49 left in the second quarter.
East Surry’s mistakes continued when they were called for a facemask penalty, giving the Vikings even better field position than they already had. But a holding penalty on Tarboro thwarted their drive and the quarter ended without the Vikings scoring. At the end of the first half, Tarboro led East Surry 18-0.
Tarboro came roaring out of the gate in the third quarter – running the ball to the East Surry 43 yard line. In spite of a penalty setback on the next play, Tobias Joyner ran the ball to the East Surry 14 yard line as the Vikings continued to threaten to score. The Vikings made it into the endzone with ease on their first drive in the third quarter. Trevon White ran the ball in and Tarboro was finally successful with a point after attempt, pushing the score to 25-0 Vikings.
East Surry showed some signs of life late in the third quarter – making it to the Tarboro 12 yard line with just over two minutes left in the quarter. But Tarboro’s defense proved to be too much for the Cardinals, as a near interception by the Vikings forced East Surry to turn over the ball on downs.
As the third quarter ended, Tarboro players engaged with the crowd as they erupted in cheers in hopes that a state championship was just one quarter away. East Surry continued to fight and ended up putting up 7 on the board with a little over three minutes left in the game. But the Vikings couldn’t be stopped and Tarboro won the game and the state championship – avenging their loss to East Surry in their last clash for the championship. The final score was 25-7 Tarboro.
ENC Sports Review 