All eight teams fielding football programs in the Yadkin Valley Conference played their gridiron openers Friday with four teams wining and four teams losing under the lights.

The local team, North Moore, dropped its season-opener on the road at Union Academy. The host Cardinals had too strong a running game and took advantage of special teams’ play for a 55-0 victory over the Mustangs.

Two of the three coaches opening their seasons as the head of new programs experienced victories in their debut with North Rowan’s Joe Nixon springing an upset win over 3-A Carson by a 19-14 score. The Cavaliers, making their final tour through the league before moving back to the 2-A ranks, used a strong running game spearheaded by sophomore Jareke Chambers and equally strong defense for their first season-opening victory since 2006.

Former North Rowan coach Tasker Fleming won his first game coaching South Stanly to a 25-13 win over cross-county rival 2-A West Stanly. The Rebels Bulls jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter and then held off a late rally by the Colts for the victory.

East Montgomery’s Phil Collett dropped his coaching debut at home to Elkin by a 24-19 score. The Eagles were plagued by turnovers and penalties as the visiting Elks avenged last year’s loss to the Eagles.

Albemarle showed it is worthy of the preseason hype as the Bulldogs started their bid for a third state championship in four years with a convincing 41-7 win over West Stokes, the defending 2-AA state champion. The Bulldogs avenged a 9-7 loss in last year’s showdown. Once again, the Bulldogs looked strong on both sides of the ball and even displayed a good passing game in the rout at West Stokes.

Chatham Central opened its season with an offensive display, hammering Wake Christian Academy 40-7. It was the Bears’ first season-opening victory in nearly 10 years. Chatham Central got strong offensive performances from running back Zack Burke and receiver Victor Stinson to give longtime coach Bob Pegram the win.

Despite outgaining Burlington Cummings in total offense and first downs, the West Montgomery team lost 47-24 on the Cavaliers’ home field. It was the Warriors’ first venture without standout quarterback Ja’Quil Capel in four years. Junior Caleb Drake took the snaps for West in taking the place of the two-time conference player of the year.

South Davidson opened with a 34-0 loss to 2-A Wheatmore. The young Wildcats are trying to plug a lot of holes with the departure of 18 seniors from last year’s team. South Davidson will try to chalk one up in the win column when it entertains cross-county rival West Davidson Friday.

Other games on tap Friday have North Moore making the short journey to Cameron for their annual Moore County rivalry against 3-A Union Pines. Albemarle also has a Stanly County rivalry game, hosting West Stanly.

Chatham Central tries to stay undefeated when it makes the trek to Siler City for their annual showdown with 2-A Jordan-Matthews. East Montgomery is also on the road as it searches for Collett’s first win at 2-A Providence Grove.

North Rowan sees if it can continue its magic under coach Nixon when it journeys to 2-A Salisbury, who are coming off an upset loss to East Rowan.

West Montgomery is on the road looking for its first win this season under second-year coach Nick Eddins when it makes the long trip to 3-A North Lenoir.

South Stanly has its work cut out when it hosts 2-A Mount Pleasant Friday.

All the games are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m.