Mountaineers trip Robbinsville, head to 1A State Finals
The Mountaineers pose behind the 1A Western Regional Champions banner after the dust settled on their win over Robbinsville. Mitchell will face Tarboro in the 1A State Championship on Saturday, Dec. 11.
For the second time in school history, the Mitchell High varsity football team is headed to the State Championship.
The Mountaineers (13-2) punched their ticket to the biggest stage by ousting visiting Robbinsville 34-21 on Friday, Dec. 3 in front of a large, raucous crowd in Ledger.
Mitchell was fueled by five rushing touchdowns from junior quarterback Ty Turbyfill, who head coach Travise Pitman said is a special, selfless leader.
“He’s a tremendous worker,” Pitman said. “He doesn’t care who gets any credit. He’s here for Mitchell County and Mitchell High football.”
Turbyfill scored two quick rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to stake the hosts to a 14-0 lead. As the Mitchell defense continued to slow the visiting Black Knights, Turbyfill scored two more touchdowns on the ground to lift his team to a 27-0 lead.
Robbinsville broke through midway through the third quarter on a rushing touchdown by Cuttler Adams that cut the lead to 27-7 but Turbyfill answered with his fifth and final scoring scamper of the evening to put Mitchell up 34-7.
Robbinsville scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns but couldn’t climb out of the deep hole that Mitchell’s explosive offense put them in.
Turbyfill ran 34 times for a team-high 207 yards and five touchdowns. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 93 yards.
Dalton Hollifield led all receivers with three catches for 46 yards. Gage Young caught three passes for 36. Ethan Willis and Kaden Phillips each had a reception.
Chase Duncan had seven tackles including one for a loss. Gabe Brandt recorded six tackles including one for a loss. The Mitchell defense intercepted Robbinsville quarterback Dasan Gross twice and held him to just 75 yards passing.
For all the marbles
Mitchell will face Tarboro (13-1) in the State Championship on Saturday, Dec. 11 at noon in Chapel Hill.
Tarboro lost in Week 1 and reeled off 13 straight wins. Vikings head coach Jeff Craddock acknowledged that Mitchell presents a challenge.
“It’s going to take an absolutely great game by my team to try to stay in it,” he said. “They’re (Mitchell is) mighty good.”
Tarboro won the 1A title this past spring during the COVID-shortened campaign.
Pitman and the Mountaineers seek to bring the program’s first state title back to Ledger.
“As the season grew, we grew into different ways of how we aligned and how we played position-wise,” Pitman said. “We’ve gotten better throughout the year.”