Dominant defense and timely offense: How Tarboro won another 1A state football title
Senior running back Tobias Joyner ran for two second-half touchdowns, and Tarboro’s defense dominated most of the game as the Vikings beat Mitchell 28-7 Saturday for the 1A state football championship.
It was the ninth state title for Tarboro, which was playing in the finals for the fifth straight year.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but I’ve been blessed with a great team,” Tarboro head coach Jeff Craddock. “We lost two starters (today), but people just stepped up. That’s what this team does.”
Joyner scored on a 35-yard run in the third quarter and put an exclamation point on the victory with a 38-yard scoring dash with 2:12 left to play.
Tarboro (14-1) picked off a pair of Mitchell passes and didn’t allow the Mountaineers (13-3) across midfield in the second half until late in the fourth quarter.
In a meeting of teams that prefer to run the ball, Tarboro struck first.
The Vikings started their second series at midfield and drove for the touchdown, with junior Trevon White scoring from 3 yards out. That came with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
Mitchell answered quickly, driving 70 yards and scoring on an 8-yard jump pass from junior quarterback Ty Turbyfill to Gage Yount. The conversion kick made it 7-7 with 9:23 left in the half.
A shanked Mitchell punt set up Tarboro’s second score. The Vikings started from the Mitchell 30 with three minutes left in the half. They had a first-and-goal at the Mountaineer 4, but Mitchell’s defense stopped Tarboro on three straight plays.
On fourth-and-goal from the 3 with six seconds left, White broke through the Mountaineer defense for a touchdown run.
Tarboro made it 21-7 early in the third quarter, as Joyner ran 35 yards for a score.
Viking defenders Nathan Sherod and Omarion Lewis each picked off Mitchell passes in the second half, keeping the Mountaineers from mounting a serious threat.
Tarboro’s final score came on a 38-yard run by Joyner with 2:12 remaining.
Three who made a difference
Tobias Joyner, Tarboro: Joyner, a senior, carried 16 times for 132 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also had a 45-yard kickoff return.
Ty Turbyfill, Mitchell: A junior quarterback, Turbyfill passed for a touchdown and managed to keep his team’s offense moving at times against a strong Tarboro defense. Turbyfill passed his team to the Tarboro 10 on the game’s final play.
Trevon White, Tarboro: White ran for a pair of touchdowns.
Worth mentioning
▪ Success this season was not a one-time thing for Tarboro. The Vikings were playing for a state championship for the fourth straight year and were seeking their eighth state title. They have practiced on Thanksgiving Day for 14 straight fall seasons and have won conference championships their last nine seasons.
▪ Mitchell was among few 1A teams (and maybe the only team) to play two 4A opponents this season. The Mountaineers won a regular-scheduled game Sept. 3 at Watauga, 34-23. They also lost 15-12 on Aug. 27 at Lake Norman. Mitchell had been scheduled to play Johnson County (TN) that night, but the game was canceled due to COVID issues with the Tennessee team. Mitchell and Lake Norman arranged the game with a few days’ notice.
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Dominant defense and timely offense: How Tarboro won another 1A state football title."