In varsity football games Friday night, Albemarle and South Stanly faces Yadkin Valley Conference opponents on the road while West Stanly was off.

Albemarle 21, North Moore 7

Josh Smith’s 80-yard punt return early in the third broke a halftime tie leading the Bulldogs (2-4, 2-0 YVC) to a 21-7 road win over the Mustangs (1-5, 0-2).

Julius Smith rushed for 101 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Albemarle quarterback Antonio Burns added 71 yards on eight carries while also throwing two completed passes for 14 yards.

Defensively, Adrian Little led with 15 tackles while Jylukus Haytt had 13 tackles and four sacks. Malachi Baldwin blocked two punts for Albemarle and Monta Hall had one forced fumble.

The Bulldogs return home Friday night to face North Rowan (4-3, 2-0 YVC).

North Rowan 53, South Stanly 6

The Cavaliers took advantage of early turnovers by the Bulls (3-3, 1-1 YVC) in a road loss for South.

Jaderian Smith provided the only offense in the game for South with a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Bulls quarterback Jaquez Cooke was intercepted three times throwing for 49 yards.  South also lost a fumble in the game.

As a team, South had 60 total yards of offense while North Rowan rushed for 256 yards and added 83 yards through the air.

South returns home Friday night to host North Moore for homecoming.