HobbsDailyReport.com
RALEIGH – Tarboro High ran for more than 300 yards on Saturday, sprinting to a 32-7 victory over Mount Airy to win the state 1AA football title at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Vikings (15-0, East No. 1 seed) won their first state football title since 2011 and their fifth all-time.
Both offenses sputtered early as the teams combined for just 79 yards of total offense in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Tarboro’s Deontae Williams got loose, running for 75 yards in the quarter on just five carries.
Williams’ running set the stage for a 6-yard TD run by Keon Caudle for a 6-0 lead with nine minutes, 32 seconds left in the first half and the Vikings never looked back.
Williams added two TDs in the fourth quarter – on runs of 1 and 14 yards – en route to being named the game’s MVP. His second TD increased Tarboro’s lead to 25-7.
Williams finished with 12 carries for 118 yards, while Cliffton Joyner was Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Vikings with 10 carries for 87 yards.
Jyron Albritton, who made five tackles, won the Most Outstanding Defensive Player for Tarboro.
Mount Airy (14-1, West No. 1 seed) struggled offensively, managing 175 yards of total offense and only 40 of those were rushing.
Ian Holder completed 11 of his 20 passes for 135 yards and one TD for Mount Airy. He found Donovan Greene from 35 yards for the Granite Bears’ only TD, and Holder was Mount Airy’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player.
Defensively, Greyson Tucker was the Granite Bears’ Most Outstanding Defensive player with a team-high 11 tackles.
NCHSAA OFFICIAL GAME SUMMARY: 2017 1AA State Championship Mount Airy vs Tarboro[1](1)