The Mount Airy Granite Bears made a statement on Friday night. The school defeated county rival North Surry by a score of 50-14.

Mount Airy has won back-to-back 1A state championships, but the Granite Bears have felt counted out this season due to the graduation of an impressive class of 2024. Well, the classes of 2025 and 2026 made sure to send a message.

The win over North Surry was the Granite Bears’ 31st consecutive victory, a streak that dates back to 2022. The next best win streak in North Carolina’s is Hickory’s 17-game streak.

It’s not often you’ll see a coaching change in the middle of the 30-game win streak, but Mount Airy did. J.K. Adkins, the man who led the effort behind the past two state championships, decided to take the head coach opening at his alma mater of Freedom High School in Morganton.

Mount Airy replaced Adkins with an alum of their own: Austin Taylor. The coach played quarterback for the Granite Bears when he was a student at the school. Taylor had been on the staff and was a logical choice to elevate to the top coaching role. As a first-year head coach, the win over North Surry was his first.

While North Surry’s student section hung a sign that read “Big 5 Can’t Save You Now!”, referring to current Virginia Tech freshman running back Tyler Mason, Mount Airy’s star junior running back Taeshon Martin rushed for 185 yards and four touchdowns.

The Greyhounds jumped out to a 14-7 lead over Mount Airy in the first quarter. However, they were not able to score again during the final three quarters. Their first touchdown was on a pick-six of new Mount Airy starting quarterback Landon Gallimore, who is the younger brother of two-time state champion quarterback Ian Gallimore. Landon did get a good amount of playing time last year as Ian’s backup.

Other than the interception that he is not happy about, Gallimore had a really nice game. Neither Gallimore brother threw an interception in the 2023 season.

A 22-0 second quarter for Mount Airy took flipped the game on its head. The Grantie Bears took a 29-14 lead into the half.

In the second half, Landon Gallimore made it a 20-point lead with a 14-yard touchdown rush. Mount Airy had two more touchdowns scored by Zach Goins on a fumble recovery and John Martin on a rush. Goins tracked down a bouncing ball that escaped from the Granite Bears’ star defending end D.J. Joyce. The ball bounced forward towards the North Surry end zone for about 15-20 yards and Goins was eventually able to secure it as he fell past the goal line.

Mount Airy (1-0 overall, 0-0 Northwest 1A) will next play at home against East Surry, which defeated Robbinsivlle tonight. North Surry (0-1 overall, 0-0 Foothills 2A) is going to hope to get its season on the right track next week at South Stokes.

Source: highschoolot.com