North Stanly, Albemarle qualify for state football playoffs

The two teams played each other in their final regular season game

The North Stanly Comets and Albemarle Bulldogs are both playoff-bound as 26th-seeded representatives of the Yadkin Valley Conference. 

On Sunday afternoon, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the state playoff brackets with the first round of action slated to begin Nov. 4. 

In the 2A Western Region, the No. 26 Comets (6-4, 3-2) will travel to No. 7 Monroe (9-1, 4-0 Rocky River Conference). In the 1A Western Region, No. 26 Albemarle (3-7, 2-3) is set for a road matchup at No. 7 Murphy (7-3, 4-0) of the Smoky Mountain Conference. 

Both games will begin at 7:30 p.m.  

Just days before their tournament selections, the Comets and Bulldogs faced off with each other in their final contest of the regular season, with North winning 44-27 in Albemarle and earning the Stanly Cup.  

Albemarle had built a 27-14 lead thanks to passing and rushing scores by quarterback Dre Davis and a rushing touchdown by running back Jaylen Pinkney. But the Comets rattled off 30 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn the win. 

Cam Smith capped his stellar regular season with 237 yards on 36 carries, posting three scoring runs and one touchdown catch thrown by quarterback Chance Blake.  

With Friday’s comeback win, North has won nine straight games over Albemarle dating back to 2014. The victory also marked the 60th career win for Comets coach Scott Crisco, who recently announced that he is retiring from coaching following this season.  

Anson 35, West Stanly 14 

West Stanly lost 35-14 at Anson on Friday, ending the Colts’ season after the team did not receive a postseason bid. 

The Bearcats (4-6, 1-3 RRC) scored three times on the ground and twice through the air in the win.  

Although the Colts (3-7, 0-4 RRC) won their first three games of the year by a combined 58 points, they dropped their last seven and finished winless in conference play. West has now won three games in each of the past three seasons. 

South Stanly (forfeit) 

South Stanly announced on Oct. 21 that it would forfeit the remaining two games on its schedule due to injuries. The Bulls finished the season with a 0-10 record.