Visiting Albemarle cruised to a 68-0 win over the North Moore football team Friday.

The defending 1-AA state champion Bulldogs (6-4, 4-2 Yadkin Valley Conference) jumped out to a 40-0 halftime lead, powered by a strong running game. Marquis McCormick scored on a 73-yard touchdown run and on a 43-yard screen pass from quarterback Nat Dunlap in the first half. Fellow back Demetrius Hamilton scored two touchdown runs of his own — from 1 and 58 yards.

Tthe Mustangs (1-8, 1-5 YVC) were able to move the ball at times against the Bull-dog defense, but had trouble sustaining drives. Turnovers again contributed to some of North Moore’s troubles.

Head coach Greg Simmons was pleased with the effort his players put forth in the contest.

“I thought the kids competed and played the whole game,” he said. “That was something that I wanted to see that I didn’t see last week (against South Stanly). They played the whole game. I told them before the game that if you’re an athlete if you play any sport, if you do anything, you judge yourself versus the best.”

Because his team is banged up, Simmons said he was basically playing with 15 kids Friday. He said guys stepped up and played hard, which is all he can ask from them.

“If they can have that kind of mental toughness all the time,” he said, “then I still think we can be a pretty good team.”

Giving up big plays has been an Achilles’ heel for North Moore all season, and Albemarle was able to make a few of them Friday night. Three of their touchdowns came on plays of 40 yards or more.

Simmons said that his team has to find ways to make plays every time it has an opportunity on both sides of the ball. He added that there were chances to stop Albemarle, but North Moore just couldn’t do it.

He still thinks his squad has made great strides this season.

“Anyone can say anything negative they want, but they’re not out here seeing how far some of these kids have come as men,” he said. “I’m proud to be a part of that.”

One game remains for the Mustangs’ regular season — conference opponent Chat-ham Central (2-9, 1-5 YVC) pays a visit to Robbins on Friday.

The Bears’ two wins have come against Albemarle (by forfeit) and Union Pines in a 29-27 thriller on Sept. 3.

Last season, the Mustangs beat the Bears on the road for their only win of the season, 22-13, to snap a 13-game losing streak.

“We gotta watch film and gotta figure out what they do,” Simmons said. “They beat a team that beat us in Union Pines this year. They’re going to be looking forward to playing us, too, because they feel like they can beat us. It’s going to be the last game of the year, it’s home, it’s Senior Night. You can’t ask for anything more than that. We’re just going to try to have the best week of practice we’ve had.”