Starmount leads the all-time series against Maiden 6-2, 5-2 in the playoffs and one regular season win. They've always seemed to have Maiden's number, especially in the close games. Playoff games: Starmount won 26-22 in 1987. A late fourth quarter kickoff return did Maiden in on that one. Starmount won 27-22 in 1990. It was a battle of two undefeated 13-0 teams. Carlos King won the game on a long run after Maiden had taken a 22-21 lead. I've always called that game the "pinball" game. King had the ball and was met at the line of scrimmage by Maiden DT Ryan Scott. Maiden players all swore they heard a whistle blow. They relaxed just for an instant, including Scott. King then bounced off of Scott, hence "pinball", and went the distance (maybe 55-60 yards) for the winning score. Even after that Maiden was driving deep into Starmount territory, but running back Kenny Johnson was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that sealed the deal. Other Starmount playoff wins were 17-7 in 1996, 49-28 in 2008 (I believe Maiden led 21-14 at the half even in that Starmount dominated game), and the already discussed 17-14 OT nightmare in 1998. Starmount won a 1996 regular season games at Starmount. Not 100% sure of the final score on that one, but I believe it may have been 22-13. Maiden's two playoff wins came in 1992 (36-6), and 2004 (20-14). So Starmount leads 6-2, but only by a combined total of 16 points over eight games. Starmount definitely seemed to get all the breaks in the close games. Just like Maiden seemed to get most of the close game breaks against Thomasville down through the years, with the exception of a 27-24 Thomasville win in 2012. Thomasville was another good program and playoff rival of Maiden back in the 1A/2A days. Overall though, Maiden has had much more bad luck than good in the playoffs down through the years. The 36-35 loss to East Surry in 2022, when Chris Culliver broke his hand early in the third quarter, is the most recent example of yet another gut-wrenching loss. IMO, blowout losses to much better teams, like our two recent losses (52-12 and 40-0) to Salisbury in the playoffs, or 28-0 to Shelby last year, are much easier to take than the down to the wire games where one play could have made a difference. But there are also silver linings along the way, like the 2021 team beating Salisbury 32-20, and sending Jalen Walker on his way to Georgia.