Robbinsville football falls short again in regional final vs unsolvable Mount Airy defense
ROBBINSVILLE — Robbinsville, trailing by only one score against No. 2 Mount Airy, needed just one big play in the fourth quarter.
In the end, Mount Airy’s defense proved too tough for No. 1 Robbinsville to solve. The big play never came. The Black Knights fell 27-16, ending their season in the regional final Friday at Big Oaks Stadium.
“We didn’t block them like we should and we made some turnovers,” Robbinsville coach Dee Walsh said. “When your offense doesn’t control the ball and you don’t score points, it’s hard to win big games.”
Mount Airy (15-0), the defending 1A state champion, next week will face Tarboro (13-0), the No. 1 seed in the East, in a rematch of last season's title game.
The Black Knights (13-2) were held to 209 yards. Quarterback Donovan Carpenter threw for 99 yards, nearly all of which came on two completions. Senior running back Cuttler Adams ran for just 57 yards, tied for a season low, but scored Robbinsville’s lone offensive touchdown on a 71-yard catch late in the second quarter.
Robbinsville struggled against Mount Airy’s front seven. The Granite Bears’ defensive line continuously beat blockers to make plays in the backfield. It also forced two fumbles, both of which turned into touchdowns.
“No team has kept Mount Airy (close) like this,” Adams said. “I believed we could beat them the whole time and never gave up, but mistakes killed us early in the game.”
Adams will close his career with his name plastered in the record books. Last week, he became Western North Carolina’s all-time leading rusher. He will finish 17th in state history with 6,794 rushing yards and 11th with 94 rushing touchdowns.
“I’m blessed to get this,” he said. “A lot of kids wouldn’t have a chance to get this opportunity, but I wouldn’t take nothing back from what has happened.”
Mount Airy's 27 points were by far its fewest scored this season after averaging 54 points in its first 14 games. The 11-point margin of victory was the closest of its season.
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“It’s just a brotherhood,” junior linebacker Bryce Adams said. “We never quit, never gave up. This team was something special. We prepared well and our coaches prepared us very well, we just didn’t come out like we wanted to.”
For the third time in four seasons, Robbinsville fell one game short of reaching a state final. The Black Knights’ seniors will end their careers without an appearance in the championship game.
“Little things, but when you get to this point you’ve got to play fluid,” Walsh said. “You can’t make mistakes; you’ve got to play the game clean. We made mistakes.”
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mount Airy football beats Robbinsville to return to state title game
