SportsTalk: Warren County Football Headed to the 4th Round

/by

Warren County High School’s Head Coach Victor Hunt is thankful for a lot of things this Thanksgiving, as he prepares the Eagles for the fourth round of the state 2A football playoffs.

For one thing, he’s thankful for the team’s two losses this season – one at the hands of the Vance County High Vipers.

For a second thing, he’s thankful that his team is in pretty good health for this point in the season.

“We do have some kids banged up a little bit, but for the most part, we are healthy,” he told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and Steve Lewis.

He’s also thankful he challenged his team midway the season to be prepared to be practicing on Thanksgiving morning. Family meals and plans will have to be sidelined on Thursday, because the team will be preparing to be a part of school history – the first time the school has made it this far in the state tourney.

The #2 seed Eagles face #6 seed John Holmes Aces at 7 p.m. on Friday in Warrenton. This is new territory for Hunt and the Eagles, who made it to the third round last year.

Most of all, Hunt is thankful for the character the players have shown this year.

“We have a group of tough young men that really take pride in being from Warren County – they love where they’re from.”

Now in his seventh year as head coach of the Eagles, Hunt said this group of young men is reaping the benefits of previous teams that have laid the foundation for this year’s success.

“They all kind of set the stage for this moment,” he said.

The community is getting behind the team, too.

“I think what we’ve been able to do is bring some hope back, some excitement back to this area,” Hunt said. Sure, it’s good to have local rivals like Vance County and J.F. Webb, he said, but when you get to this point in post-season play, his team is letting people know that this area plays some good football.

The social media posts that say folks are rooting for Warren County to win are encouraging to Hunt.

“I’m glad it’s us this year, but I’m pretty sure that if the tables were turned, we would be doing the same for those people as well.”

CLICK PLAY!

SportsTalk: Recap of the Weekend

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the weekend that was with High School Basketball, High School Football, College Football and NFL action.

Basketball Friday Night Games:

  • J.F. Webb 52 Vance County 46
  • Vance County Girls 44 J.F. Webb Girls 15
  • Wake Prep 75 Henderson Collegiate 15
  • Oxford Prep 69 Kerr-Vance 28
  • Eastern Alamance 78 South Granville 63
  • Neuse Charter 86 Falls Lake 84
  • North Johnston 39 Louisburg 36
  • Rolesville 70 Franklinton 53

3rd Round Football Playoff Games:

  • Warren County 44 East Carteret 23

Area College Football Scores for Week 13:

  • Duke 32 North Carolina 25
  • NC State 21 Florida State 11
  • Wake Forest 52 Delaware 14
  • Miami 34 Virginia Tech 17
  • UTSA 58 ECU 24
  • Georgia 35 Charlotte 3
  • App State 26 Marshall 24
  • NC Central 33 Morgan State 14
  • Towson 35 Campbell 31

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Falls Lake Boys Soccer to Play for 1A State Crown

/by

Falls Lake Head Boys Soccer Coach Mike Graham joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and George Hoyle to preview the State Championship as the Firebirds take on Thomas Jefferson on Thursday for the 1A Crown.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Weekend Recap

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the weekend that was with high school, college, and pro football.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Vance Charter Boys Soccer to Play in Elite Eight

/by

Vance Charter Boys Soccer Head Coach Johnny Yount joins SportsTalk with George Hoyle and Scout Hughes to speak about the Elite Eight Matchup, as Vance Charter travels to Falls Lake on Thursday Night for the 4th round of the NCHSAA Boys Soccer Playoffs.

Click Play!

TownTalk: Gate City Seahawks Earn Way to East Wake Super Bowl

/by

The Seahawks are in the Super Bowl!

No, not those Seahawks. And not that Super Bowl.

It’s our own local Seahawks team – the 8U Gate City Seahawks with the Henderson-Vance Recreation & Parks Dept. – who will travel to Benson on Saturday, Nov. 15 to face the Strong Center Cardinals of Fuquay-Varina in the East Wake Football League Super Bowl.

And for Michael Faulkner, the 8U head coach, Saturday’s game marks the culmination of months of practice and a great 9-1 season.

The championship game begins at 1 p.m. at West Johnston High School in Benson, but there’s a flag game at 10 a.m., followed by an awards ceremony, then a “fifth quarter” game at 12:30 p.m.

Faulkner – “Coach Mike” to his players – said this team is not only talented, but also hard-working.

“Saturday is only a display of what you do all week,” Faulkner said he reminds the players. They spend about an hour playing a game during the regular season,  but put in a couple of hours at practice.

He said he reminds them that if they train hard, they get great results.

And, “if you don’t like something, put in the work to change it.”

Coach Mike said he played rec ball when he was a kid, but all the games were local. This 8U team travels other counties for conference play – Johnston, Wake, Durham and Granville, just to name a few.

“Not only are they displaying that we’re disciplined and hard-working,” Faulkner said. The Seahawks are proving that they’re a team that can compete against other U8 teams in what he called a “very competitive” league.

The team’s only loss this season was to a Durham team, and Saturday’s opponent is 10-0.

He said he tells the team, “We celebrate wins and we learn from losses.”

For Coach Mike, it’s important that he teach the kids about handling adversity and maintaining their composure – on and off the football field.

“I’m working hands-on with the kids every day,” he said. “I see a lot of will, determination –  they’re hard working. I like to teach kids and set goals and achievements in life so you have something to work towards.”

Some of these 8-year-old Seahawks will be tomorrow’s players at the middle school, or even go on to play JV or varsity at the high school level.

“Henderson is a special place with a special group of kids, very talented,” Faulkner said. When they put their minds to what they want to do, there’s nothing they can’t achieve.

Good luck to the Gate City Seahawks on Saturday!

CLICK PLAY!

SportsTalk: A Little Bit of Everything

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue talk about how Vance Charter and Falls Lake will face off in Boys Soccer on Thursday. The guys also talk about the schools that used to have athletics in Vance and Granville Counties.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Louisburg College Football Wraps Up Regular Season

/by

Happy Veterans Day!

Louisburg College Head Football Coach Quinderra Spellman joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and Steve Lewis to recap the Hurricanes 42-10 win against the Brevard College JV team in Louisburg’s regular season finale. Scout and Steve also talk about Veterans Day and the different service academies in our great nation.

Click Play!

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Football Ends 2025 Campaign

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Vance County’s playoff loss to South Johnston. They guys also talk about other high school, college and NFL Football action from over the weekend.

Area High School Football Scores from Friday:

  • South Johnston 47 Vance County 7
  • Franklinton 28 Gray’s Creek 6
  • Wake Forest 59 North Brunswick 28
  • New Hanover 28 Heritage 14
  • Sanderson 41 East Wake 6
  • Person 68 J.F. Webb 56
  • South Granville 20 Western Alamance 12
  • Wake Prep 37 Bartlett Yancey 0
  • Mecklenburg County, VA 37 Tunstall, VA 0

Area High School Football 2nd Round Playoff Games:

  • 12Franklinton @ 5Burlington Williams- 6A Playoffs
  • 13Wake Forest @ 4Garner – 7A Playoffs
  • 19Person @ 3Northside-Jacksonville – 5A Playoffs
  • 23South Granville @ 7Rocky Mount – 5A Playoffs
  • 2Warren County vs. 18Rosewood – 2A Playoffs
  • 4Louisburg vs. 13Farmville Central  – 3A Playoffs
  • 6Bunn vs. 11Southwest Edgecombe  – 4A Playoffs
  • 12Wake Prep @ 5Martin County- 3A Playoffs

Area College Football Scores for Week 11:

  • North Carolina 20 Stanford 15
  • UConn 37 Duke 34
  • Wake Forest 16 Virginia 9
  • East Carolina 48 Charlotte 22
  • Georgia Southern 25 App State 23
  • NC Central 31 Norfolk State 28
  • Louisburg College 42 Brevard College JV 10

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Vipers Football Prepares for Round 1 vs. South Johnston

/by

UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

South Johnston 47

Vance County 7 

Vipers finish the season at 2-9

RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

When Vance County Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott took a look at the state playoff bracket, he counted nine – NINE – of the 10 teams the Vipers had faced during the regular season.

And that 10th team that didn’t make the playoffs? In Elliott’s opinion, it should have. They’ve got the best quarterback in the state, he said of the Knightdale Knights.

The Vipers travel to Four Oaks Friday for a 7 p.m. matchup against the South Johnston Trojans in the first round of the 6A state playoffs.

“We’ve got teams in the state that have more wins than we do, and they’re sitting at home this week,” Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

The Vipers had stiff competition through the regular season, and Elliott said that was by design.

“We wanted to win a playoff game,” he continued. “We were tired of being successful and then losing out in the first round (of playoffs). I feel real good about us being able to compete.”

Although the regular season ended with a loss to the Franklinton Red Rams, Elliott said he was pleased with the team’s effort, especially in the first half.

“We’ve just got to do that for a whole four quarters,” he said.

The team practiced this week under the lights and Elliott said he and his staff have developed a game plan for South Johnston running back Holt Langston. Elliott said Langston is one of the fastest running backs he’s seen.

He’s brought up 16 JV players to join the team for the trip to Four Oaks, and Elliott said they’re a good group.

“They’re 110 percent effort on everything they do,” he said.

Elliott’s teams have made the playoffs each of the four years he’s been head coach, and he said he feels like the coaching staff has done a good job of preparing the Vipers for Friday’s contest.

“We just have to execute,” he said.

 

First Round High School Football Playoff Games in our Area:

  • 23Vance County @ 10South Johnston – 6A Playoffs
  • 12Franklinton vs. 21Gray’s Creek – 6A Playoffs
  • 13Wake Forest vs. 20North Brunswick – 7A Playoffs
  • 19Heritage @ 14New Hanover – 7A Playoffs
  • 21East Wake @ 12Sanderson – 7A Playoffs
  • 14J.F. Webb vs. 19Person – 5A Playoffs
  • 23South Granville @ 10Western Alamance – 5A Playoffs
  • 12Wake Prep vs. 21Bartlett Yancey – 3A Playoffs
  • Mecklenburg County, VA vs. Tunstall, VA – VA Regular Season Week 11

Vance County travels to Four Oaks to take on South Johnston for the 1st round of the NCHSAA 6A State Playoffs on Friday, November 7th and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting around 6:50 p.m. and kickoff at 7:00 p.m.

CLICK PLAY!