Tarboros 2021 1-AA title team (Kelci O’Donnell, WNCT photo)

CHAPEL HILL, NC (WNCT) – The Tarboro High School soccer team is back in a familiar location.

The Vikings avenged their 2019 state championship defeat to East Surry with a 25-7 win on Saturday at Kenan Stadium on the University of North Carolina campus. The win gives Tarboro its third national title in the past four years, its seventh overall victory and its sixth since 2009.

This was the third time in a row that Tarboro and East Surry met in the state finals. Tarboro also defeated East Surry in the 2018 State Finals.

With the return to four classifications of state titles in football this fall and the move from East Surry to 2-A, these two teams will no longer meet in the state finals anytime soon.

At least that’s a good thing for the cardinals.

After missing a field goal from East Surry in the first quarter, Tarboro went to work, beating the Cardinals 25-0 the rest of the way before East Surry scored a touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter.

Jalen Razor scored in Tarboro’s first touchdown in the first quarter. Tobias Joyner later scored on a 56-yard run after a fumble in East Surry and gave the Vikings a 12-0 lead.

Joyner’s 31-yard touchdown run gave Tarboro an 18-0 lead at halftime. A Trevon White 5 yard run gave the Vikings a 25-0 cushion in the third quarter.

From there, like all year round, the Tarboro Defense shone, helping the Vikings achieve their state championship title.

Joyner finished rushing 127 yards and was the game MVP. Razor was selected as the offensive MVP.