There were enough mohawks on the East Surry sideline to make it look like a punk rock show, which was fitting since the Cardinals rocked North Surry and rolled to a 55-6 victory Friday night at the Greyhounds’ Charles Atkins Stadium.

At a Thursday night bonfire, the East Surry seniors shaved and styled the heads of the juniors. On Friday, the Cardinals (10-0, 6-0 Northwest 1A/2A) had their way as Markus Brown rushed for a game-high 182 yards and three scores and the visitors’ defense shut down the Greyhounds (1-9, 1-5) on their homecoming.

“Markus Brown had a phenomenal night,” East Surry coach Dave Diamont said. “He’s getting better and better as the season goes on. Athletes like that get stronger as the season goes on.”

Diamont also praised the young men paving the way for both Brown and Hunter Diamont, who ran for 133 yards and found the end zone twice. The Cardinals ran for 406 yards as a team.

“We just pushed all night to keep going,” said senior lineman Adam Garrell. “We’re the backbone of the team, basically.”

Though it’s the backs that get the glory, the lineman felt a sense of pride over a job well done.

“It feels so good,” said Martin Rucker, also a senior lineman. “So good.”

But it wasn’t a breeze for the visitors. While the Greyhounds don’t have the prototypical big bodies up front, they do have a core of athletic players in the trenches and at linebacker.

“We just had to play as hard as we could and play with no mercy,” said senior lineman Travis Lowry.

The Cardinals got on the board early after an ill-fated onside kick attempt by North Surry to begin the game. The short drive ended with a touchdown run of 10 yards from Brown, and East Surry rolled to a 27-0 halftime lead.

North Surry got a brief spark from Terry Adams and Joston Phipps on a third-quarter drive that saw Adams rip off a 45-yard run. That drive ended with Phipps taking the ball around the right end for a 12-yard score to make it a 34-6 game.

Both Phipps and Adams were playing with leg injuries. After the game, North Surry coach Brian Hampton ran out of fingers to count on as he listed his injured players, a list that included quarterback Tanner Hiatt, who missed the game after suffering a concussion last week.

“You name it, those guys are out there paying hurt,” Hampton said. “I admire them for their effort. They’re doing everything they can do right now.”

But the Cardinals answered on a 19-yard scoring run from Diamont. Later, Brown rushed up the middle and bounced outside for a 71-yard sprint to the end zone. As they did all night, the East Surry lineman opened holes and raced downfield for extra blocking, as Brown was led to the end zone by Rucker, who said he was, “Just keeping a nice pace (for Brown),” as he returned to the sideline.

“I like to keep it easy sometimes,” said the jokester who is more than a few steps slower than Brown. “Ain’t no need to rush.”

Up next for the Cardinals is the Super Bowl of Surry County, as Mount Airy, the only other undefeated team in the conference, travels to Pilot Mountain for a season-ending showdown for conference supremacy.

“Mount Airy’s the defending state champion, they’re a fantastic football team, a great program,” Diamont said. “It’s exciting to be in a situation where you’re playing the best team in the conference, maybe one of the best teams in the state, and it’s at your place. I think both teams will go at it real hard. We’ll see what happens.”

Contact Ed Phillipps at ephillipps@mtairynews.com or 719-1921.