BAKERSVILLE — Mitchell football's Kaj Pitman didn't see his team advancing to the fourth round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A playoffs as a No. 11 seed.

"Not at all, honestly," Pitman said. "But we've come together, and we've played hard."

That has worked for Mitchell thus far. The Mountaineers defeated No. 14 Mountain Island Charter (7-6) 28-15 on Nov. 21 to move on to the fourth round of the NCHSAA 2A playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Mitchell (9-4) will travel to take on No. 2 Starmount (10-2) on Nov. 28 for a spot in the 2A West Regional Final.

"I knew as a kid, before I came here, that Mitchell has a rich football program and made deep playoff runs," Pitman said. "We hadn't had the opportunity to do that while I've been here, so it was a nice

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