Cardinals repeat as FH2A Champions

East Surry secured its second-consecutive Foothills 2A Conference Championship by taking down West Wilkes on April 17.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said East Surry coach Hal Epperson. “It was a goal we set out to achieve to go undefeated in conference for a second-straight season. These are firsts in school history, so it’s pretty special.”

In 2023 the Cardinals captured the program’s first-ever conference championship after just missing out the year before. This year’s team was the favorite to repeat after returning five starters, and the team delivered with a pair of 9-0 wins over West Wilkes on Wednesday.

When asked if the road to this year’s conference title felt any different from last year’s, Epperson said: “Not really. I knew the strength of my team and our returning core group of players. As long as we could remain healthy and continue to put in the work I knew this could be a special season for us.”

East Surry improved to 12-3 overall and 11-0 in the FH2A Conference with its wins over West Wilkes. . It also gave the Cards their eighth-straight victory.

East Surry will close league play at Surry Central (10-4, 9-2 FH2A) on April 22.

Dominating the Doubleheader

Three Cardinals posted 6-0, 6-0 victories in their singles matches the first time around against West Wilkes: No. 1 Levi Watson, No. 2 Kade Talton and No. 5 Hayden Douglas. Noah Hopkins only dropped three games as he won the No. 4 singles match 6-1, 6-2, and Logan Fagg wasn’t far behind with a 6-1, 6-3 win in No. 6 singles.

The most competitive singles bout was on court three where Lupe Chavez won his match 6-3, 7-5.

Watson went unbeaten in another match as he and Hopkins won the No. 1 doubles match 8-0. Talton teamed with Chavez in No. 2 doubles and won 8-1, while Douglas and Fagg won the No. 3 doubles match 8-2.

Watson, Talton and Douglas had repeat performances in the second match against West Wilkes, this time winning 8-0 in a pro set. Hopkins joined in on the fun this time with an 8-0 win in No. 4 singles. Fagg added an 8-2 win, while Chavez won his rematch 8-4.

East Surry mixed things up for the second set of doubles matches against West Wilkes, but all three Cardinal teams won 8-0: Watson and Daniel Poindexter on court one, Hopkins and Tyler Reeves on court two, and the team of Graeme Key and Glenn Key on court three.

East Surry vs. West Wilkes (Match 1)

Singles

1. Levi Watson (ES) def. Diego Chavez (WW) 6-0, 6-0

2. Kade Talton (ES) def. Seth Huffman (WW) 6-0, 6-0

3. Lupe Chavez (ES) def. Nathan Call (WW) 6-3, 7-5

4. Noah Hopkins (ES) def. Nicholas Kilby (WW) 6-1, 6-2

5. Hayden Douglas (ES) def. Andrew Scarbro (WW) 6-0, 6-0

6. Logan Fagg (ES) def. Angel Zuniga (WW) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles

1. Watson/Hopkins (ES) def. Chavez/Jair Yanes-Aguilar (WW) 8-0

2. Talton/Chavez (ES) def. Huffman/Scarbro (WW) 8-1

3. Douglas/Fagg (ES) def. Jackson Triplett/DJ Ferko (WW) 8-2

East Surry vs. West Wilkes (Match 2)

Singles

1. Levi Watson (ES) def. Diego Chavez (WW) 8-0

2. Kade Talton (ES) def. Seth Huffman (WW) 8-0

3. Lupe Chavez (ES) def. Nathan Call (WW) 8-4

4. Noah Hopkins (ES) def. Nicholas Kilby (WW) 8-0

5. Hayden Douglas (ES) def. Andrew Scarbro (WW) 8-0

6. Logan Fagg (ES) def. Angel Zuniga (WW) 8-2

Doubles

1. Watson/Daniel Poindexter (ES) def. Ferko/Konnor Adams (WW) 8-0

2. Hopkins/Tyler Reeves (ES) def. Triplett/ Ryker Cayton (WW) 8-0

3. Graeme Key/Glenn Key (ES) def. Mason Adams/Brayden Eller (WW) 8-0