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November 30, 2021

East Surry and Shelby are two regulars in the regional final who will face each other this week for the very first time.

The Cardinals have won the 1AA West regional title during the 2018, 2019 and spring 2021 seasons. The Golden Lions have made the 2A / 2AA West regional final in eight of the past nine seasons – including seven consecutive appearances from 2013 to 2019 – and were victorious in 2013-2016, 2018 and 2019.

Shelby is a great program all the time, and not just in North Carolina. Ahead of the 2021-22 season, Football Friday Night reported that the Shelby mark of 828 wins was No.14 among all high schools nationwide. Only two other schools in North Carolina have even 700 wins, those of Reidsville and Mount Airy.

The Cardinals have their work cut out for the No. 1 seed in West 2A. Shelby, the Southern Piedmont 1A / 2A Conference champion, has won his last 27 home playoff games, the last of which ended three-time 2A champion State Reidsville’s 32-game winning streak. That said, East Surry has shattered a few legendary streaks over the past few seasons.

The only team that has beaten Shelby this season, South Pointe of South Carolina, is the fifth-ranked team in Palmetto State and has reached the Class AAAA State Championship game.

The Shelby-East Surry winner will face the winner of the Eastern Regional Final between No.1 Princeton (13-0) and No.10 Wallace-Rose Hill (12-2) in the 2A State Championship.

AT FIRST GLANCE

Cardinals of Surry East

Record: 13-0 overall, 6-0 FH2A Conference (Champion)

Current series: 13 victories

Seeded playoff seed: 2

Key regular season wins: 56-22 @ North Surry, 40-14 @ Forbush, 47-0 vs. Surry Central

Main losses: none

Calendar MaxPreps Force: +0.3

Wins against teams that finished above .500: 7

Playoff Scores: 30-6 vs. No.31 Newton-Conover, 37-20 vs. No.15 Forbush, 10-9 vs. No.7 Monroe, 36-35 vs. No.3 Maiden

Shelby Golden Lions

Record: 13-1 overall, 6-0 SPAC Conference (Champion)

Current series: 11 victories

Seeded playoff seed: 1

Key regular season wins: 37-14 @ Kings Mountain, 38-28 over Crest, 16-14 over Burns

Key losses: 51-37 v South Pointe (SC)

MaxPreps Calendar Strength: +4.6

Wins against teams that finished above .500: 9

Playoff Scores: 55-3 v No. 32 Owen, 42-20 v No. 17 Polk County, 64-15 v No. 24 East Gaston, 31-14 v No. 4 Reidsville

OFFENSE

Cardinals of Surry East

Meters per game: 258.2

Yards per completion: 15.5

Passing TD per game: 2.2

Precipitated YPG: 175.5

Yards per litter: 6.3

TD rushed per game: 3.5

TDs per game: 6.3

Total YPG: 433.8

Total points scored: 572

Points per game: 44.0

QB Folger Boaz (JR) – 3,293 passing yards, 212 of 298 passes completed, 0.711 passing percentage, 28 passing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 141 carries for 954 yards, 6.8 yards per carry, 23 touchdowns rushing, 4,247 yards total

RB Trey Armstrong (SR) – 134 carries for 789 yards, 60.7 YPG rushing, 5.9 yards per carry, 15 touchdowns, 45 receptions for 646 yards, 7 touchdowns received, 1,435 total yards

WR Layton Allen (SR) – 74 receptions for 1,189 yards, 91.5 YPG receiving, 16.1 yards per receive, 12 receiving touchdowns

WR Luke Brown (JR) – 23 receptions for 541 yards, 45.1 YPG receiving, 23.5 yards per reception, 4 receiving touchdowns

WR Colby Johnson (JR) – 34 receptions for 405 yards, 33.8 YPG receiving, 11.9 yards per reception, 2 TD receptions, 7 runs for 46 yards, 1 TD on the ground

Shelby Golden Lions

Passing yards per game: 245.9

Yards per completion: 17.0

Passing TD per game: 2.9

Precipitated YPG: 115.9

Yards per litter: 4.6

TD rushed per game: 2.1

TDs per game: 6.4

Total YPG: 361.8

Total Points Scored: 650

Points per game: 46.4

QB Daylin Lee (JR) – 3,203 passing yards, 181 of 283 passes, .640 hit percentage, 39 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 71 carries for -39 yards, 2 rushing touchdowns

RB Jalon Petty (SR) – 111 carries for 701 yards, 53.9 rushing yards YPG, 6.3 yards per carry, 9 touchdowns, 6 receptions for 74 yards

RB Bricen Kee (SOPH) – 96 carries for 626 yards, 44.7 YPG rushing, 6.3 yards per carry, 9 rushing touchdowns

WR Izay Bridges (SOPH) – 57 receptions for 1,044 yards, 74.6 YPG receiving, 18.3 yards per receive, 12 TD receptions

WR Jakeith Hamilton (JR) – 41 receptions for 823 yards, 63.3 YPG receiving, 20.1 yards per reception, 10 TD receptions

WR Demetrius Thompson (SR) – 45 receptions for 577 yards, 41.2 YPG receiving, 12.8 yards per reception, 9 TD receptions

WR Luke Williams (SR) – 32 receptions for 597 yards, 42.6 YPG receiving, 18.7 yards per reception, 8 receptions touched

DEFENSE

Cardinals of Surry East

Authorized PPG: 11.7

Total points allowed: 152

Victories by bullets: 3

Tackles per game: 69.3

Tackles for one loss per game: 7.7

Bags per game: 2.2

QB News reports per game: 0.8

escapements caused: 10

Breakaway recoveries: 9

Interceptions: 18

Interception yards: 311

Passes Defended: 20

Blocked punts: 3

Field goals blocked: 2

Fumbles returned for TD: 4

Interceptions returned for a TD: 0

Safeties: 0

DE Brett Clayton (JR) – 110 solo tackles, 146 total tackles, 11.2 tackles per game, 23.0 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, 5 rushing QBs, 1 punt, 1 fumble, 1 defended pass

DE Joseph Grezmak (SR) – 52 solo tackles, 74 total tackles, 6.2 tackles per game, 14.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, 1 rushed QB, 4 fumbles recovered, 2 fumbles recovered for one TD, 1 punt, 1 fumble, 1 pass defended

LB Joshua Parker (JR) – 66 solo tackles, 83 total tackles, 6.4 tackles per game, 9.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 pass defended

LB Hatcher Hamm (FR) – 69 solo tackles, 86 total tackles, 7.2 tackles per game, 9.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, 1 fumble, 1 interception

SS Kyle Zinn (JR) – 78 solo tackles, 91 total tackles, 13.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 rushing QB, 3 steals, 2 assists defended

CB Luke Bowman (SR) – 5 interceptions, 75 interception yards, 2 defended, 1 fumble returned for a touchdown, 1 fumble caused, 2 baskets blocked, 29 solo tackles, 34 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for a failure

Shelby Golden Lions

Authorized PPG: 16.2

Total points allowed: 227

Victories by bullets: 2

Tackles per game: 59.7

Tackles for one loss per game: 11.1

Bags per game: 4

QB News per game: N / A

escapements caused: 10

Breakaway recoveries: 11

Interceptions: 16

Interception yards: 375

Passes Defended: 21

Blocked punts: 4

Field goals blocked: 1

Fumbles returned for TD: 2

Interceptions returned for a TD: 4

Safeties: 5

LB Malaki Hamrick (SR) – 60 solo tackles, 111 total tackles, 8.5 tackles per game, 35.0 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, 104 sacking yards, 2 forced fumbles

DL Santana Hopper (SR) – 32 solo tackles, 69 total tackles, 6.3 tackles per game, 32.0 tackles for loss, 12.0 sacks, 76 sack yards lost, 3 blocks of clearance, 1 fumble caused, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass defended

LB Samuel Baldree (SR) – 28 solo tackles, 75 total tackles, 5.4 tackles per game, 4.0 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 assists defended, 1 interception

DL Demario Allen (SR) – 12 solo tackles, 35 total tackles, 2.7 tackles per game, 17.0 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 34 sack yards lost, 4 fumbles recovered, 2 fumbles returned for a hit, 1 fumble caused, 1 platform block

CB Nathan Hopper (SR) – 4 interceptions, 1 interception returned for a TD, 2 defended, 1 field goal block, 19 solo tackles, 44 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 bag

DB Camden McGill (SOPH) * – 4 interceptions, 3 interceptions returned for a touchdown, 2 assists defended, 9 solo tackles, 15 total tackles

* 8 games played

SPECIAL TEAMS

Cardinals of Surry East

Stephen Brantley (JR) – 58 PAT of 70, 4 of 8, 30 kickoffs for 1,773 yards and 7 touchdowns, 13 punts for 538 yards

Trey Armstrong (SR) – 1 punt returned for a touchdown, 310 yards return

Kyle Zinn (JR) – 2 kickoffs returned for a touchdown, 177 yards return

Luke Bowman (SR) – 157 back yards

Shelby Golden Lions

Jack Berkowitz (JR) – 80 of 86 PAT, 6 of 7 field goal, 21 punts for 646 yards, 106 kickoffs for 5,535 yards, 15 touchbacks

Izay Bridges (SOPH) – 3 returned kicks for a touchdown, 416 yards return

Marquis Adams (SR) – 1 punt returned for a touchdown, 390 yards return