The Buzz: Symons collects 200th win
August 27, 2010 by Eric Lusk
Filed under Featured Content, Football, Latest Headlines, Volleyball
Jon Symons reached a coaching milestone Thursday night when his Starmount Rams volleyball team swept East Wilkes in three games.
Jon Symons huddles with his team during Tuesday's match at Forbush. (Photo by Eric Lusk)
Symons has two 1A state championships on his resume since coming to the Boonville school. Starmount won 1A titles back-to-back in 2003 and 2004.
The school moved up to the 2A classification in 2006, and the Rams have made a few deep playoff runs since then. They played for the 2A championship in 2007, losing to Cardinal Gibbons in the title match. The 2006 and 2008 teams reached the state semifinals before falling to West Henderson. Last year’s team fell in the second round to Newton-Conover.
Symons’ 2010 team has a 3-2 record thus far. They will return to the floor on Saturday, traveling to East Surry.
Spanning the Globe
Tyler Sanborn of Elkin isn’t the only one from the Yadkin Valley embarking on a professional basketball career these days. Sanborn, a recent Guilford College graduate and the reigning NCAA Division III National Player of the Year according to several outlets, signed with a Spanish team for the upcoming season.
The Buzz learned this week that Sanborn’s former teammate at Guilford, Yadkinville native Rhett Bonner, will play professional hoops of a different sort this fall. Bonner will be a player for the Washington Generals, the team that serves as the foil for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. Bonner’s tour with the Generals begins this fall.
Better than a thank you note
You often hear about quarterbacks going to great lengths to take care of their offensive linemen. Former Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino, for example, made commercials long ago about getting all of his linemen special gloves for Christmas.
At Elkin, it was a running back doling out some thanks to the trench workers this week. The Buzz heard that senior tailback Grayson Kimrey brought dessert to the Elks’ O-linemen this week after they helped him earn his first 100-yard game of the season. Kimrey finished with 109 yards in all in Friday‘s 23-13 win over Surry Central, scoring one touchdown.
Foothills Football still available
If you haven’t picked up your copy of Foothills Football magazine, it’s not too late. Neighbors Stores in Elkin, Dobson, Mount Airy and Boonville still have a few copies. They can still be ordered online at YadkinValleySports.com (there is a PayPal option). Cook’s Sporting Goods in North Wilkesboro is still selling them.
The cost is $7.99. But the price is reduced to $5 per copy for bulk orders of five or more. Contact Eric Lusk at (336) 835-4121 if you want to place an order.
YadkinValleySports.com Football Game of the Week
Editor Eric Lusk will be in Toast this Friday night for the Elkin at North Surry match-up (new camera lens in hand, finally!). The Buckin’ Elks have won the past two meetings, but the Greyhounds appear much improved over the team that went 1-10 in 2009.
North Surry has some stud athletes for sure in Joston Phipps, Jason King and Tanner Hiatt. But the big key could be the battle up front. The Greyhounds were able to two-platoon their lines against Forbush last week. The team’s five O-line starters didn’t play a defensive snap. Elkin’s line is its strength for sure, but many of those guys go both ways.
Yadkin Valley Sports will have coverage of Starmount-East Surry, Surry Central-East Wilkes and West Stokes-Forbush among other highlights from the weekend.
WIFM Game of the Week
The broadcasting team of Joel Hooper and Daron Atkins will be in Ronda this Friday, covering the Surry Central at East Wilkes showdown. One name they could be saying a lot Friday night — Landon Walker. The East Wilkes running back had 270 yards in last Friday’s game at West Davidson. Not bad for a varsity debut. According to NCPreps.com, Walker leads the state in rushing yards after week one.
Monday Morning Quarterback — a digital magazine
YadkinValleySports.com debuted something unique this past Monday — the area’s first all-sports designed-for-digital publication, Monday Morning Quarterback. It looks and feels like a newspaper or magazine, but is made to be read straight from your computer (even designed specifically with your monitor in mind, in a horizontal format as opposed to a newspaper’s extreme vertical look).
Monday Morning Quarterback puts a final wrap on the previous Friday night of games in the Mountain Valley and Northwest 1A/2A conferences and looks ahead to the next round of action.
We’ll post all the scores, updated conference standings, updated schedules/records for all MVAC and Northwest teams, as well as several other features. This week’s MMQ will profile Alleghany lineman-turned-quarterback Kyle Hoffman.
Click HERE to read our debut edition of MMQ.
Foothills Basketball magazine in the works?
The folks at Lusk Media and YadkinValleySports.com have heard from several people interested in seeing something like Foothills Football done for the area hoops scene. We’re pondering that and will let folks know soon if we’re able to make that work this winter. Feedback from readers is welcome for sure!
We know one thing, Foothills Basketball isn’t quite the tongue twister that saying “Foothills Football” over and over can be.
Rams recognized by The Wolf
According to Starmount alum Deana King, the Rams have been voted the 93.1 The Wolf’s High School Football Team of The Week. The Rams will get a plaque from the country music station as well as autographed football signed by Kenny Chesney.
What is The Buzz?
Not everything fits nicely into a story. That’s where The Buzz comes in. This regular feature at www.YadkinValleySports.com will be the place where we can relay all sorts of interesting tidbits, notes and quotes to our readers. We may even sound off on an issue or direct you to stories from other publications that we feel are worth reading.
We always welcome feedback. Leave a comment at the bottom of the story or send editor Eric Lusk an email at eric@yadkinvalleysports.com.
For further reading
The Buzz recommends these links today:
Football Friday preview (By Thomas Smith, The Mount Airy News) — a nice roundup of games involving Surry County teams.
Dobson in the RB mix for ECU (By Nathan Summers, The Daily Reflector) — A Greenville newspaper checks in on former Mount Airy standout Michael Dobson.