East Surry avenges last season's loss to Tarboro, wins 1AA title
Last season, East Surry fell to Tarboro in the 1AA state championship game by a score of 50-10. That East Surry team, which was led by an assortment of highly talented juniors, was driven to get back to that game this year and give Tarboro some payback.
The Cardinals succeeded in their quest. East Surry beat Tarboro 56-28 to capture the 1AA NCHSAA State Championship.
East Surry quarterback Jefferson Boaz was incredible. Boaz set the state championship game records for passing yards (478) and passing touchdowns (7). The previous records were 426 and 5, respectively. Boaz’s 8 total touchdowns also tied T.J. Logan’s record of 8 touchdowns in a state championship game.
“I guess you can say I was kinda feeling it,” Boaz said. “I mean, I was just gelling off of other people… I had time and everyone was open.”
The win also snapped Tarboro’s 44-game winning streak, which was the 4th longest active streak in the entire country.
East Surry led 35-21 at the half and continued to thrash the Tarboro defense throughout the second half.
After throwing for 4 touchdowns in the first half, Boaz threw for 3 more in the first half. East Surry led 42-21 at the end of the third quarter following a 1-yard pass from Boaz to Dillon Mosley. In the fourth quarter, Boaz found Landon Stevens for a 23-yard score and Mosley again for an 11-yard touchdown.
Tarboro’s Cameron Powell scored from three yards out with 9:21 left in the game to prevent the Vikings from being shut out in the second half.
The first half was far more contentious.
Things got off to a blazing start in the first quarter. It took East Surry one minute and 10 seconds to score the game’s first touchdown. Boaz found Landon Stevens for a 39-yard touchdown.
Tarboro answered with a 63-yard Khalil Staton touchdown run to tie the game at 7 with 8:24 to go in the first.
Boaz hit fellow UNC commit Stephen Gosnell for a 41-yard touchdown three minutes later. Tarboro hit back with a Kimani McDaniels 21-yard touchdown run. The game was tied at 14 all and stayed that way until five minutes into the second quarter.
The 6-foot-8 Boaz pushed into the end zone from a yard away with 7:43 left until halftime. Tarboro had an answer once again. Travis Johnson found a hole and shot through it on his way to a 59-yard touchdown for the Vikings. The game was tied at 21 with 7:09 left in the first half.
East Surry garnered separation for the first time after it scored its 4th touchdown. Boaz found Gosnell in the end zone for the second time of the night. East Surry took a 28-21 lead with 4:53 left in the first half. On the ensuing kickoff, Kimani McDaniels fumbled and East Surry’s Evan Mccreary recovered on the Tarboro 30. The Cardinals drew a pass interference on Tarboro and got the ball on the 10 yard line. On the very next play, Boaz found Kyler Jessup to go up two scores.
East Surry led 35-21 with 3:31 left in the first half and managed to hold that lead until the break.
“Everything was working,” East Surry head coach Trent Lowman said. “When the linemen were giving Jefferson as much time as he had and with the talent we had at receivers, we could do about what we wanted to tonight. After the few scores, the defense buckled down and we had some big plays on special teams.”
For Tarboro, it was the first loss in three years. For seniors like Clay Craddock, it was only their second loss at Tarboro.
“Their offensive line did a great job,” Tarboro head coach Jeff Craddock said. “We couldn’t get pressure rushing four and then we tried to blitz and it opened up more holes in our zone for him [Boaz] to find the soft spot.”
“We did what we couldn’t do. We couldn’t turn the ball over and give them a short field, we couldn’t give up big plays, and we did that all night long,” Craddock said.
“The good thing about Tarboro football is they’ll be right back here next year” said Clay Craddock, who just played with his dad as his head coach for the last time. “I told the boys in the locker room: remember this feeling. That’s the good thing to come out of this is you know Tarboro football is not going anywhere.”
