Tarboro beats Carver, 21-13, for second straight 2-A state title

By The Associated Press

 

Todd Gurley II scored two touchdowns and Tarboro's defense came up with an insurance score Saturday to beat Winston-Salem Carver 21-13 in the Class 2-A North Carolina High School Athletic Association championship.

 

Gurley, named the game's MVP, ran for 105 yards and one touchdown, and pulled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jamias Williams late in the third quarter that gave the Vikings a 14-13 lead.

On the Yellow Jackets' next possession, linebacker Markell Howell returned an interception 36 yards for a Tarboro score. The Vikings' defense then stopped a potential game-tying drive at the goal line to give Tarboro (16-0) its second straight 2-A title and the third state title overall.

"We knew they were going to be the best team we've played all year," Vikings coach Jeff Craddock said. "We didn't play that great in the first half ... but our confidence wasn't shaken at all. We knew we just had to play our best half."

Madison Mills threw for 140 yards and one touchdown, and Channon Crawford ran for 52 yards and another score for Carver (13-3), which fell short in its bid to win its third state title.

Crawford put the Yellow Jackets in the lead late in the first quarter, scoring on a 2-yard run with 1:07 remaining. But Gurley's 39-yard breakaway with 2:07 left in the second quarter tied the game.

However, Carver — aided by a 49-yard kickoff return by B.J. Lowery — scored again 33 seconds later on Mills' 25-yard TD pass to Jamel Baker. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the TD pushed the extra-point attempt back 15 yards, with Jonathan Hill's kick going wide left to leave the Yellow Jackets up 13-7 at the half.

"Unfortunately, we fell a little short of our goal," Carver coach Melvin Palmer Jr. said. "But (Tarboro's) kids rose to the occasion...We just came up one or two yards short."