ELKIN — An explosive first half lifted Elkin to a 4-1 victory over Mount Airy on Oct. 23.
The Buckin’ Elks scored twice in the span of 90 seconds early in the first half before adding two more goals in the 22nd and 31st minutes. The Granite Bears made a push late in the first half and early in the second following a formation change but struggled to put shots past goalkeeper Chip Sloop.
The Bears found the back of the net in the 68th minute, but that would be the visitors’ only score in the Northwest 1A Conference matchup.
The Oct. 23 victory was Elkin’s first against Mount Airy since 2012.
“My kids have worked so hard for this,” said Elkin coach Will Hurley. “I'm just really happy for them. They've put a lot of time and effort into this and really bought into what I'm trying to sell. It’s just a really good group of young men, and I'm very proud of how they played.”
Elkin’s Charlie Pelkey and Connor Ballard put shots on frame early that were saved by Mount Airy’s William Garcia. Mount Airy’s Jonathan Valadez and Angel Ortiz-Osorno countered with an attack that led to a corner kick, but Valadez’s shot was wrapped up by Sloop.
The Elks returned to the Granite Bears’ defensive third on a pass from Lucas Hampton to Reagan Whitley. The Bears were whistled for a foul on Whitley inside the 18-yard box, then Pelkey finished off the penalty kick. Less than two minutes later Whitley scored on a through ball from Enrique Lopez-Canobbio to double the home team’s lead.
“I think we started falling apart after that penalty kick, and it just snowballed from there in the first half,” said Mount Airy coach Cody Atkins. “They played a lot better in the second half after we talked at halftime and changed some things up. I just wish we could’ve done that in the first half. If we played the first half like we did in the second half, I think it could have been a different outcome.”
Mount Airy (14-3, 9-1 NW1A) earned a pair of corner kicks as well as a free kick 30 yards out in the 10 minutes following Elkin’s second goal. Only one of these chances led to a shot on target – a header from Adrian Rodriguez that was saved by Sloop.
Elkin (13-4-2, 10-0 NW1A) took more wind out of Mount Airy’s sails by striking again in the 22nd minute. Hampton sent a cross from the visitors’ sideline into the 18-yard box for Ballard to finish off.
Elkin then became just the second team all year, joining Asheboro from the season opener, to score four more goals on Mount Airy as Pelkey connected for a header on a corner kick from Hampton.
“It’s definitely one of the best first halves we’ve played all year,” Hurley said. “I can’t say that for the second half because we really didn’t play our game the last 20 or so minutes, but then again we only gave up one goal.”
The Bears had chances to cut into the lead throughout the first half, including a laser from Ortiz-Osorno that sailed just north of the crossbar. In just the final 10 minutes of the first half both David Garcia and Enrique Hernandez-Ibarra had good looks inside the 18-yard box, but one shot missed the frame and the other was saved by Sloop.
“I thought their goalie did a really good job,” Atkins said. “He was lights out and stopped some really tough shots there. There were a couple that normally we would score. We had some missed opportunities that we just couldn’t seem to put in the back of the net.”
A formation change opened Mount Airy up for more dynamic attacks in the second half. This led to the visitors out-shooting Elkin 10-5 in the half, and seven of those shots were placed on frame. The Bears finally put one past Sloop in the 68th minute when Chris Castillo finished off a corner kick from Rodriguez.
Eight cards were handed out in the 80-minute contest, and the teams were whistled for a combined 23 fouls in just the second half.
Elkin handed Mount Airy its first conference loss since 2019 and its first loss to a traditional public 1A school (non-charter, non-private) since 2016.
The Buckin’ Elks took the top spot of the NW1A Standings with Wednesday’s win. Elkin is 10-0 against league competition, followed by Mount Airy at 9-1, Starmount at 6-4-1, Alleghany at 6-5, South Stokes at 4-6-1, East Wilkes at 1-10 and North Stokes at 1-11.
Mount Airy and Elkin will face off again in the regular season finale on Nov. 4.
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