By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

One of the biggest casualties of the last conference realignment was the Starmount-East Surry football rivalry.

The Rams and Cardinals had played nearly every year since Starmount opened in the 1960s, but the series went on hiatus from 2005-08 because of scheduling conflicts.

East Surry was part of the nine-team Northwest 1A Conference then and only had three non-conference dates to fill. After scheduling 2A county rivals Surry Central and North Surry, that left room for only one other opponent. The Rams and Cards just couldn’t make things work.

Starmount, meanwhile, had lots of non-conference openings since it was playing in a seven-team league. The result was several match-ups that were less than appealing to the average Yadkin County football fan (East Burke, Davie County, etc).

The latest realignment opened the door for the renewal of the popular East Surry-Starmount series. When the new conferences were announced more than a year ago — East Surry to the Northwest 1A/2A with all of its county rivals except Elkin, and Starmount to the Mountain Valley 1A/2A — one of the first football priorities for both schools was to get each other back on the schedule.

The first meeting since 2004 comes Friday night in Boonville.

“We’re excited to get back to playing teams like East Wilkes and East Surry,” Starmount coach Scott Johnson said. “Those have traditionally been good rivalry games with good crowds.

“With East Surry, our kids and their kids compete real hard against each other. There are never any problems, just always a good, hard-fought rivalry — nose to nose.”

Friday’s meeting looms as an pivotal early season test for both squads. Starmount lost its opener to Mount Airy 41-28, but the Rams felt they played well in stretches against the defending 1A state champions. A win over East Surry would validate those beliefs

East Surry beat 3A St. Stephens 28-13 on the road in its 2009 debut. All of St. Stephens points came late in the game, with the Cardinals holding their hosts to just 34 yards rushing for the night.

Senior quarterback Hunter Diamont piloted the East Surry attack, rushing for 119 yards on 13 carries. Diamont scored touchdowns on runs of 47 and 23 yards. Teammate Markus Brown added 78 yards on 12 totes. He also scored a touchdown.

Joe Reid Denny added a defensive TD for the Cards, returning an interception for a score.

The most intriguing in-game match-up to watch could be Starmount’s modified Wing-T against East Surry’s stingy stopping unit. The Rams are working out how to replace last year’s star back, Rashaun Gaither, and so far have several workhorse options.

M.J. Bryant led the Rams against Mount Airy, earning 108 yards on nine carries. He scored on a 44-yard run right before halftime, keeping the Bears within reach on the scoreboard.

Blaine Nicholson added 69 yards on 10 carries, while Israel Murphy rushed for 60 yards on 15 touches. Fondae McDaniel was a fourth option, scampering for 37 yards on two carries.

Murphy was slowed somewhat by a shoulder injury, coach Johnson said. He could emerge as the No. 1 back this season.

“We rotated our fullbacks quite a bit,” Johnson said of the Mount Airy game. “M.J. had a couple of productive runs. He ran the ball hard.”

WIFM 100.9 GAME OF THE WEEK: The play-by-play team of Joel Hooper and Daron Atkins will be at Grissom Stadium this Friday night for the Elks-Hounds contest. The pregame show starts at 7:05 p.m.

DOGS AND BEARS: One game plenty of area football fans will want to track this Friday night is the Mount Airy at Thomasville showdown. The two met in the playoffs a few years ago and are playing a non-conference series beginning this year.

Thomasville is a 2A school now, which means that no matter which bracket Mount Airy ends up in come playoff time (1A or 1AA), the Bears won’t see the Bulldogs. Plenty of bragging rights and pride will be on the line Friday in Thomasville.

UNIFI BOWL ON THE HORIZON: Two weeks and counting from this Friday until the annual Starmount-Forbush game. This year’s meeting, scheduled for Sept. 11, will be played in East Bend.