In football games on the road Friday night, Albemarle renewed acquaintances with an old playoff rival in Thomasville while North Stanly faced an old conference foe in the Ledford Panthers.

Ledford 20, North Stanly 14

The Comets had not faced Ledford on the field since the two were conference opponents from 1997 to 2000. The Panthers won all four games, the closest of which was a 15-14 win in 1998.

North rallied from an early deficit only to see Ledford rally and hang on late for a 20-14 win.

Ledford (1-0) scored with under three minutes left in the first quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nate Carr to wideout Owen Finley converting on a third-down and 15. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the hosts up 6-0.

The Comets answered 26 seconds into the second quarter. Quarterback Luke Shaver converted a fourth down and one with a three-yard keeper up the middle for a touchdown. The extra point put North up 7-6.

North (0-1) extended the lead to eight later in the period. Shaver slid left in the pocket to buy some extra time for Clay Hatley, whom he found with a pass in the back corner of the end zone. Another PAT put the visitors up 14-6 with 1:27 on the clock.

Ledford responded early in the third quarter with a 16-yard TD pass from Carr to running back Alex Sanford on a screen pass across the middle. Carr then called his own number on the two-point conversion, tying the game 14-14 with 8:2o left in the period.

Sanford then put the Panthers ahead five minutes later capping a scoring drive with a three-yard touchdown run. The two point conversion failed on a bad snap, leaving Ledford ahead 20-14.

North had a chance in the last minute of the game, driving down to the Panthers 1-yard line but the Comets fumbled and the Panthers returned the ball out to the Ledford 30-yard line. Ledford then ran out the rest of the clock for the win.

The Comets are scheduled to host East Rowan Friday. The Mustangs had their season opener against North Rowan cancelled because of the number of Cavalier players testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to the Salisbury Post.

Thomasville 50, Albemarle 0

Albemarle’s long history with Thomasville continued Friday as the two teams played their 40th game in the series.

Thomasville made it three wins in a row, improving to 31-9 overall against Albemarle with a 50-0 shutout.

Friday’s result was the largest margin of victory for Thomasville in the series with Albemarle. Thomasville led 14-0 at halftime and scored twice in the early moments of the third quarter en route to the win.

Albemarle returns home Friday night to take on West Stanly. The Colts opened the season with a 45-6 win at South Stanly.

Sports Editor’s Note: The Salisbury Post contributed to this story.