Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Ready For Homecoming Against Northern Durham

/by

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

The Vance County Vipers Football Team will come home for the first time in this 2024 season and it just so happens that it’s homecoming weekend for Vance County. Head Coach Aaron Elliott came on SportsTalk to talk about his team’s performance last Friday against Orange and to preview Northern Durham this Friday.

The Vipers have now won three straight games thanks to the 14-6 win last Friday over Orange. Head Coach Aaron Elliott believes his squad did a good job. “It feels pretty good, You know what we did see against Orange, was some things that we’ve been working on the past couple of weeks. I think we play better as a team as a whole…we need to find our identity on the offensive side of the ball. We’ve been working all week at really finishing drives. We kind of leave the game open at times, especially last week we had two more opportunities to score against Orange and we really left it out there…we are definitely getting better.”

Coach Elliott gave some differences between playing Orange from last year and playing them last Friday night. “This year they had a lot of returners so obviously they were better on both sides of the ball. They got two really good linebackers that put us in situations that we didn’t want to be in so they played well. you know just watching them be able to move and their offensive line you know their lines were good and they all returned. You know they were bigger and stronger.”

According to the research done by those at WIZS, teams from Vance County and Northern Durham High School have played each other 43 times since Northern Durham opened in 1955. The history between the two schools is there. Coach gives us his insight on what he expects from Northern Durham, “I expect them to wanna come out and spoil our homecoming you know things come and play they get a little momentum coming. Especially them right now they are sitting at 0-3. Right now they want to win a football game so they’re going to come in here with nothing to lose you know trying to play good football and that’s what we’ve been telling our kids this week.” In preparation for Northern Durham, Coach Elliott says that this week has been the “four best practices every day that we’ve had so far this year. I’ve been really been impressed with the kids.”

Vance County has been on the road for the first three games of the season, and regardless of this game being homecoming, Coach Elliott is excited for his team to play in front of the home crowd. “Oh man, we’re excited! We got a lot of good things going on. The field is going to look amazing because of some of the things we did with upgrades. In the facilities, we’ve been working for the last few weeks. When you think about that side of it, it’s great and then you think about the kids you know just having family and friends and it being homecoming and just a lot of things going on we’re pretty excited.

With Granville Central canceling their football season for the 2024 campaign, Vance County needed to find a replacement. Well, they have found one. On Saturday, October 5th, Vance County will host the Cavaliers of East Rutherford from Bostic, NC at 2:00pm. Coach expressed how excited he is that the Vipers found a game to complete their schedule. “Oh man, we were super excited! Especially for them to agree to play because they are a really, really, good, respectable 2A team.”

Coach’s message to the fans for Friday night’s homecoming game against Northern Durham: “Just show out. Show up and support and have a good time. Hopefully, we can put on a pretty good show for them.”

Sounds good to us Coach! Go Vipers!

Vance County hosts Northern Durham on Homecoming for Week 4 of the 2024 season on Friday, September 13th and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. and kickoff thereafter at 7:00 p.m.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Vance County vs. Orange Football Game Recap

/by

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Doc Ayscue and Scout Hughes recap Vance County’s win this past Friday against Orange.

Click Play!

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepare For Orange

/by

Vance County High School Football Coach Aaron Elliott discusses preparations for this week’s game against Orange.

The Coaches Corner continues with Vance County Football Head Coach Aaron Elliott on SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and George Hoyle on WIZS.

The Vipers pulled out a close one against Rocky Mount last Friday night defeating Rocky Mount on the road, 23-22. Vance County Head Man Aaron Elliott believes that his team did alright. “We were able to squeak out with a win. Wins are hard to come by. You know it’s easy to lose, hard to win. Being able to win and finishing the game was a plus, but overall we still made some mistakes that we have been working on all week as far as basic fundamentals. We are getting those things cleaned up, hopefully, it’ll show on Friday.”

Even early on in the season, Vance County and Coach Elliott knew that Rocky Mount would give Vance County a tougher matchup but that didn’t change the team’s mindset. Coach said that they knew Rocky Mount being a 3A school would make it a tougher game than Warren County was and that Rocky Mount took advantage of Vance and their mistakes early on last Friday night but he’s glad Vance County pulled out the win.

Looking ahead to Orange, Coach says, “We have cleaned some things up.” And even though Vance County beat Orange last year, Coach Elliott says that they are still treating this game just like it’s any other game. Coach also gives an insight as to what Orange might do as far as their offensive scheme, “Going into this game we are expecting them to throw the ball. But based on film, what we’ve been able to see the past two weeks is that they have been really successful running the ball. They have a running back that rushed for almost 140 yards against Chapel Hill last week so we’ve got to be able to have an answer for him…we’ve got to have an answer for whatever they give us.” 

Scout and George also asked for an update about if Vance County had rescheduled a game to take the place of Granville Central, who last month had announced that they were canceling their Varsity and Junior Varsity football seasons for 2024. “We had a conference meeting about it and if we can’t find a team to play then we can use that game as a win by forfeit. But we are still trying to find a team. We are still looking. We’ve reached out to Virginia a little bit. It’s gonna be hard to find another game.” 

As the Vipers move to Friday’s game against Orange, Coach’s message to the fans is clear. “Just make that drive to Hillsborough and support us if they can. I know we’ve been on the road, but we had a good showing at Rocky Mount last Friday, hopefully we can do it again this Friday.” 

Sounds good to us Coach! Go Vipers!

Vance County travels to Orange for Week 3 of the 2024 season Friday, September 6th and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. and kickoff thereafter at 7:00 p.m.

CLICK PLAY!

 

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Friday Night Football Recap

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Vance County High School’s one point win over Rocky Mount

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Vance County’s Coach Elliott Previews Rocky Mount Game

/by

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Scout Hughes and George Hoyle talk with Vance County Head Football Coach Aaron Elliott as they prepare for Rocky Mount on Friday night.

Vance County travels to Rocky Mount for Week 2 of the 2024 season Friday, August 30th and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. and kickoff thereafter at 7:00 p.m.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Vance County vs. Warren County Football Game Recap

/by

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Doc Ayscue and Scout Hughes recap Vance County’s win this past Friday against Warren County.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Vance County’s Coach Elliott talks Warren County Game

/by

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

With football season in the Tar Heel State ramping up tomorrow night, high schools all across the state are looking forward to finally getting back on the field for the 2024 campaign. Vance County’s head man Aaron Elliott joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and George Hoyle to talk about Vance County’s matchup tomorrow night against Warren County.

Coach Elliott feels better about the season opener against the Eagles now that they have a few scrimmages under their belt. “At the Jordan Scrimmage we made a lot of mistakes mentally. Just as for like not lining up right and just being in a bad position to make plays. I told the kids after the game, if we would’ve done everything right, it wouldn’t have given us anything to work on going into the season. It really helped us expose some of our weaknesses against a good team.”

Even though Coach Elliott is in his second season at the head of the Vipers program, he has had a lot of encounters with Warren County Head Coach Victor Hunt. “We’ve been playing each other for just about my whole coaching career. Even when I was at Louisburg, we played Warren County every year. Coach Hunt has a big respect from us. He does a good job with low numbers each year. We’ve played some tight ball games back and forth. With this rivalry, at the end of the day it’s like Duke and Carolina.”

Week 1 starts a season of what could be a great year for Vance County. Especially after achieving the first 10-win season by any team from Vance County since Southern Vance won 13 games in 2007. Coach Elliott wants Vance County to go to higher heights in 2024 and beyond. “We’ve been talking about it ever since the end of the year last year, you know having a championship mindset. That’s been our main goal and main focus coming into this season, thinking about the future a little bit. Thinking about what we gotta do to be able to compete for a state championship. We’re not satisfied after the end of last season with Terry Sanford knocking us out in the first round. It put a sour taste in our mouths.”

In preparation for Warren County on Friday, Coach Elliott states that practice went well this week. “We have been really, really drilling these kids talking about the mindset aspect of the game…we’ve got to have consistent days of practices that are great. This week even though it’s a rivalry game and they love playing this game against Warren County…this week has been a great week of practice.” Coach agrees with WIZS’ George Hoyle that you have to practice like you’re going to play. No injuries have plagued the Vance County squad Elliott says, which is always a good thing.

Warren County, a member of the Tar-Roanoke Conference, is a 1A school and since Vance County Schools consolidated, the Vipers have beaten the Eagles every time they’ve played each other. Coach Elliott wants to make sure that his team doesn’t overlook their opponent this week. “That game (Vance County vs. Warren County) has came down to the last play of the game or even the last drive of the game every year…I want to put an emphasis on our mindset and that we don’t feed into the hype as much. We focus on what we’re doing and what we’ve got to do to get better for ourselves. Minimizing mistakes and everybody doing their job.”

Coach Elliott is excited to get the season started and said, “Come out and support the Vipers. After last year, everybody is excited to see how we respond and rebound off of that early playoff loss. We have a good returning class, a lot of returners back on both sides of the ball. Everybody is excited to watch us play football.”

Vance County travels to Warren County for Week 1 of the 2024 season Friday, August 23rd and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. and kickoff thereafter at 7:00 p.m.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Warren County Kicks Off Football Against Vance County Friday

/by

Victor Hunt, Warren County High School Head Football Coach, discusses Friday Night’s game against Vance County.

Friday Night Football is right around the corner with Vance County traveling to Warren County on August 23rd. This county-line clash between Vance and Warren is sure to be a good game. Teams from Vance County and teams from Warren County have played each other over 60 times, going as far back as 1979 when Vance Senior High took on John Graham, and maybe even further than that.* 

Coach Victor Hunt and his Eagles squad prepare to host the Vipers in the first matchup of the season. Even though the Vipers and Eagles aren’t in the same conference, that doesn’t stop the game from producing a wild atmosphere. “With it (both high schools) being in such close quarters, it’s definitely a great game for both communities”, Coach Hunt said.

There are many ways teams prepare for seasons and Hunt thinks that this offseason in particular has helped them tremendously through all the Eagles have done over the summer. “This year, with us getting out of school in May, we were able to do a lot in the month of June. We went to a team camp at Ferrum College, which I think will pay dividends for our guys…We went against multiple 5A schools (from Virginia)…We went to a team camp at North Carolina Wesleyan. We went to multiple seven-on-seven’s and joint things with Louisburg High School. We were able to compete against a lot of different people this summer. I think that will pay dividends for us, in this game and throughout the whole season.” 

Warren County looks to make the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and Coach Hunt believes that this is a trend now for his team.  He said, “Making the playoffs has definitely become the standard here. That’s a measuring stick for us. We want to make runs in the playoffs. Making the playoffs is great but getting it to that third round, that fourth round is where we ultimately want to be…now it’s time for us to turn the corner and get into those later rounds and see what happens.”

Hailing from the Tar-Roanoke Conference, Warren County is a 1A school, the lowest classification in North Carolina. (Classifications are determined by school enrollment.) Even with Warren being a 1A school, Hunt says he had a good turnout for football. “We had a pretty good turnout. Right now we’re probably sitting at about 45, close to 50 kids. It’s for sure the most kids that we’ve had since covid…We have about nine seniors, so most of these kids are younger guys. I’m thrilled with the turnout.”

Coach Hunt and the Eagles have already taken a look at Vance County. “We (Hunt and his Coaching Staff) got a chance to see them against Jordan High School,” referring to the High School OT jamboree at Wake Forest High School this past Saturday. “They (Vance County) are a good football team. It’s a David vs. Goliath matchup. They are a 3A school…they have some kids on their team that are really great. On paper, they are a really good program. They went undefeated last year in the regular season. You know, on paper they are really, really good. I just thank God that football is played on grass and not on paper.”

Based on earlier radio interviews with Vance County Head Coach Aaron Elliott, he is excited to get the season started and ready to get on the field. Eagles Coach Victor Hunt shares that excitement. “I’m extremely excited. I love the opportunity to compete. I’m a competitor. Our kids are competitive and that’s what practice has been like all summer. It’s been outright competitive…every time we get an opportunity to lace ‘em up, and go against somebody in a different color jersey, I am thrilled about it.” 

Vance County travels to Warren County for Week 1 of the 2024 season this Friday, August 23rd and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting at 6:50 p.m. and kickoff thereafter at 7:00 p.m.

*Records of Vance County Football and Warren County Football found at carolinapreps.com

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Mangum Lights It Up For The Bulls

/by

Jake Mangum, Outfielder for the Durham Bulls, discusses his success this season.

 

When the lights come on, the stars shine brighter. On Wednesday night that’s what happened
when the Durham Bulls beat the Nashville Sounds in an epic Minor League matchup 10-9 in
extra innings. This, thanks to Jake Mangum who stole third base in the bottom of the 12th inning
and scored the game-winning run, thanks to a throwing error by Nashville pitcher Blake Holub.
Jake Mangum appeared on WIZS’s SportsTalk with Bill Harris, Scout Hughes, and George Hoyle
to discuss it all.

Jake Mangum comes from a sports family. Mangum’s grandfather was an All-American Football
Player at Southern Mississippi, Jake’s father was an All-American Football Player at Alabama,
who played for the Chicago Bears. His uncle played football for Ole Miss and the Carolina
Panthers, so it’s clear that Mangum’s family is in sports history. With everyone playing football
Jake says that, “At an early age I just fell in love with it (baseball)…at an early age, baseball just
seemed like the right fit for me.”

Mangum is currently batting with an average of .328 with three home runs and 37 RBI’s and he
gives credit for his success in the minor leagues to a lot of things, “I’m pretty much live pitch-by-
pitch, prayer-to-prayer. Every pitch I’m asking help from the Big Man Upstairs. Growing up, I did
a ton of work with my Dad. He really helped me prepare and work to be the best baseball
player I can be. I’ve had so many great teammates, so many great coaches. There’s a long list of
things that have helped me. It definitely wasn’t me alone, I can promise you that. It’s a very
challenging game, but I’ve had a lot of help along the way to help me navigate that the best I
can.” Jake plans to turn his success in the minor leagues into making his dreams become reality, “I
would love to get an opportunity in the big leagues. But other than that (for right now) I’m just
gonna control what I can control and try to be the best baseball player that I can be, one day at
a time.”

This is the first year that Mangum has been a Durham Bull. Even though he’s only been in the
Bull City for a short time, Mangum believes that the Research Triangle is a viable location for a
Major League Baseball Franchise, “Seeing how our crowds are in Durham…there is a lot of
baseball support in the state of North Carolina. I see absolutely no reason as to why that they
couldn’t support a major league baseball team.” He also states that there is a void of Major
League Baseball with the southeastern part of the United States, “I think the southeast of
America has a big gap of no Major League Baseball team…it’s all Atlanta Braves fans.”

Best of luck to you Jake and you’ll have a group from Henderson and Vance County rooting for
you.

After Jake Mangum left the show, the guys transitioned into the Vance County Football
Scrimmage that took place on Wednesday at Vance County High School. Where the Vipers took
on Southern Nash and Hillside Durham. Bill, Scout and George all agreed that playing schools
such as Southern Nash and Hillside Durham even in a scrimmage will make Vance County Football better in the long run. The Vipers scrimmage once again on Saturday August 17th from
Wake Forest High School at 6:00pm against Jordan High School from Durham.

CLICK PLAY!

 

SportsTalk: Margaret Foster, who helped NBC Sports in Paris, stopped by WIZS

/by

If NBC gave out medals for production assistants who went “above and beyond” to make sure the Summer Olympics broadcasts went smoothly, Margaret Foster surely would have brought home a Gold.

Foster, a 2023 graduate of UNC-CH, put her political science and French degree to good use during her three-week stint working behind the scenes at the beach volleyball venue.

It was during a study abroad semester in Paris that Foster decided she wanted to play a role.

“I saw the city preparing for the upcoming Olympics,” she said on Wednesday’s Sports Talk.

Her dad, Lee Foster, who grew up in Henderson, had some friends with ties to the business. One friend, Lance Stewart, was a big help, she said.

“He really helped me network with some of his former colleagues,” the younger Foster said, and she applied to be a production assistant/runner for the network.

Part of the job entailed being a liaison between the NBC crew on the ground and celebrities who visited the venue. Think Snoop Dogg, Al Roker and Hoda Kotb.

Starstruck moments? Foster said the employees sat in on seminars that spelled out the way to behave when big names were near. “We’re supposed to act professional,” she said, adding that she did manage to sneak some selfies.

But it also involved the logistical work of making sure that things were all set on the technical side. “It was 12-15 hours that first week, setting up everything,” she said.

But she also got to use her language skills and enjoyed being a bridge between the NBC English-speaking crew and the local French-speaking crews.

Foster characterized the work as “madness and a blur,” with crazy hours. Some of the beach volleyball matches, for example, began at 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Paris time.

Towards the end of the Games, however, especially during the medal matches, things settled down a bit and it wasn’t so hectic.

One of her more hectic moments came when Snoop Dogg, the unofficial Olympic mascot, came to the beach volleyball venue. She said she was on her feet from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., at least. And she found herself sprinting down the street to get a bag of ice and a Coca-Cola for the singer-turned Olympic cheerleader.

When Snoop wants a Coke – in a plastic bottle – that’s what he gets. And when he was visiting her venue, it was Foster’s job to make sure he got it.

As a poli sci major at UNC, Foster didn’t really envision a future in television. But with her Olympics experience under her belt, she’s giving it some thought. She’ll be moving to New York City in a few weeks to live with a best friend from college. And while she’s not sure what the future holds, she’s got some stories to tell about three weeks in Paris.

 

CLICK PLAY!