UPDATE – FINAL SCORE
Jordan 52
Vance County 0
RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Vance County Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott was able to find something positive in last week’s 33-6 loss to South Granville High School, and that’s enough to keep him and the team focused on Friday’s matchup against the Jordan Falcons.
The offense racked up “a considerable amount of yards,” Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle. “We improved from the week before. We’re not where we want to be, but we improved offensively.”
Elliott said there will be a half dozen or so JV players dressed out, mainly because of some lingering injuries hanging around.
“I’ve never had the injury bug hit us like it’s gotten us the last two weeks,” he said. Zion Thornton is still nursing an ankle injury he sustained in a pre-season scrimmage, for example.
“Our main goal with him – and everybody really – is to get them healthy for conference time,” Elliott said.
But he’s not looking past Jordan, which he said is a good team with a solid coaching staff. They’re 2-0 in the young season, and Elliott said the Falcons beat two good teams – a 22-20 victory over Leesville Road and a 30-7 romp over cross-county rival Southern School of Energy and Sustainability (formerly known as Southern Durham).
“I’ve told my guys all week, if we’re prepared and (we) do not make mistakes – if we play a mistake-free ball game, we can definitely compete,” he said.
Keys to the game are making sure the players are playing assignment football and executing the plays.
“We’ve talked all week about executing,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good game plan, we’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to line up right defensively and we’ve got to do all the small things offensively,” he added.
The Labor Day Holiday meant a shortened week of practice for the Vipers, but Elliott said the team has had a couple of really good days. At the team meeting, Elliott and his staff addressed first thing all the missed assignments and alignments that hampered the Vipers against South Granville.
“We made too many mistakes,” Elliott said of his team’s performance last week in Creedmoor. “The very first play on defense we lined up wrong.” But he’s not one to wallow too long in what could have been.
He told his team not to let that game define who they are as a team. “We want to win. We want our best out there, but we have to think about us being healthy going in to conference play.”
“We built this schedule to make us better…the next three weeks are going to be tough,” Elliott said, but that’s ok because it will only help toughen up the team for what Elliott hopes will be strong conference play that extends through the regular season and in post-season play.
And, just for the record, the last time Vance County took the field against Jordan was in Elliott’s first year as head coach. After a lackluster first half performance, Elliott was able to rally his team for a second half surge and ultimately a W with a 28-27 final score.
“I’ve definitely learned, especially from that season, that these kids are going to fight to the end,” Elliott said. “Our kids didn’t fold.”
Vance County hosts Jordan on Military and First Responders Appreciation Night for Week 3 of the 2025 season on Friday, September 5th 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!
The Local Skinny! FVW Opportunity Receives $40,000 Grant From SECU Foundation
/by WIZS StaffFranklin Vance Warren Opportunity, Inc. (FVWOPP) announces it has received a $40,000 Mission Development Grant from the SECU Foundation to strengthen organizational capacity and sustainability in support of programs serving Henderson and the region.
Abdul Sm Rasheed, CEO/Advisor, FVWOP said, “We celebrate yet another triumph with honor as a recipient of the State Employees Credit Union (SECU) Mission Development Grant. As one of fourteen recipients, we are extremely grateful for this opportunity and partnership with SECU. This $40,000 grant, is an investment and a significant catalyst to a new partnership for FVWOPP as we continue to build capacity and sustainability to advance our organizational infrastructure to maximize successful outcomes.”
A ceremonial check presentation was held Wednesday, September 4 at 2 p.m. at FVW OPP Headquarters, 180 S. Beckford Drive.
Franklin Vance Warren Opportunity, Inc. is a community-focused organization dedicated to advancing opportunity, improving economic mobility, and supporting families across Henderson and surrounding communities.
Click Play!
WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 09-09-25 Noon
/by WIZS StaffListen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Click Play!
Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: Fall Lawn Treatments
/by WIZS StaffMichael Ellington, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
This week we’re offering a timely reminder of fall lawn treatments. Also mentioned are opportunities for pesticide license holders to gain education credits.
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Click Play!
SportsTalk: VCFNF Week 3 Recap
/by Scout HughesScout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Week 3 in the High School Football Season. The guys also go over scores from college and the NFL.
High School Scores for Week 3:
College Scores around our area for Week 2:
Click Play!
WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 09-08-25 Noon
/by WIZS StaffListen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Click Play!
TownTalk: Rebuilding Hope BBQ Chicken Fundraiser Coming Up September 26
/by WIZS StaffPlans for Rebuilding Hope’s Sept. 26 chicken plate fundraiser are well underway, and Co-Director Tom Wille said patrons are invited to pick up plates at the drive-thru, or they are welcome to park, come inside and visit for a while as they enjoy their meal.
One quick note: the price has gone up to $12 a plate, but customers can expect the same delicious food – half a chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert. The sale is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We still think it’s a very fair price,” Wille said on Monday’s TownTalk.
With the cost of everything going up – from the food to lumber, Wille said making the price adjustment was necessary.
“The cost of doing what we do has risen also,” he said. “We’re trying to keep up with the times.”
Rebuilding Hope, located at 414 Raleigh Rd, helps the community in many ways, including building wheelchair ramps and making repairs to homes in Vance County and beyond.
The nonprofit holds fundraisers to help purchase the lumber needed to construct the ramps and stairs that help people get in and out of their homes safely.
Wille said folks can order their plates ahead of time, and businesses can have five or more plates delivered. Call the office at 252.438.5132 to place your advance order.
One addition to this fundraiser is called Scraps to Treasure, Wille said.
“One of our steady volunteers is very handy,” he said, referring to Larry Leach, who creates items like planters, candlesticks and other decorative items from leftover wood.
“We bring all our leftover scraps from a job site and so many times they end up in the landfill,” Wille said.
Leach takes this “pile of scraps” and he turns them into treasures, he said.
It’s a way to put a few more dollars out into the community, Wille said, but it also diverts scrap wood out of the waste stream.
Visit rebuildinghopeinc.org to learn more about the services the Rebuilding Hope offers and to see a sample of the objects offered in the Scraps to Treasure program.
CLICK PLAY!
Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Fire Ants In The Landscape
/by WIZS StaffWayne Rowland, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:
Fire Ants can be controlled using ant bait.
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Click Play!
SportsTalk: 1-1 Vipers Ready to Face Jordan Falcons Friday
/by Laura GabelUPDATE – FINAL SCORE
Jordan 52
Vance County 0
RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Vance County Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott was able to find something positive in last week’s 33-6 loss to South Granville High School, and that’s enough to keep him and the team focused on Friday’s matchup against the Jordan Falcons.
The offense racked up “a considerable amount of yards,” Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle. “We improved from the week before. We’re not where we want to be, but we improved offensively.”
Elliott said there will be a half dozen or so JV players dressed out, mainly because of some lingering injuries hanging around.
“I’ve never had the injury bug hit us like it’s gotten us the last two weeks,” he said. Zion Thornton is still nursing an ankle injury he sustained in a pre-season scrimmage, for example.
“Our main goal with him – and everybody really – is to get them healthy for conference time,” Elliott said.
But he’s not looking past Jordan, which he said is a good team with a solid coaching staff. They’re 2-0 in the young season, and Elliott said the Falcons beat two good teams – a 22-20 victory over Leesville Road and a 30-7 romp over cross-county rival Southern School of Energy and Sustainability (formerly known as Southern Durham).
“I’ve told my guys all week, if we’re prepared and (we) do not make mistakes – if we play a mistake-free ball game, we can definitely compete,” he said.
Keys to the game are making sure the players are playing assignment football and executing the plays.
“We’ve talked all week about executing,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good game plan, we’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to line up right defensively and we’ve got to do all the small things offensively,” he added.
The Labor Day Holiday meant a shortened week of practice for the Vipers, but Elliott said the team has had a couple of really good days. At the team meeting, Elliott and his staff addressed first thing all the missed assignments and alignments that hampered the Vipers against South Granville.
“We made too many mistakes,” Elliott said of his team’s performance last week in Creedmoor. “The very first play on defense we lined up wrong.” But he’s not one to wallow too long in what could have been.
He told his team not to let that game define who they are as a team. “We want to win. We want our best out there, but we have to think about us being healthy going in to conference play.”
“We built this schedule to make us better…the next three weeks are going to be tough,” Elliott said, but that’s ok because it will only help toughen up the team for what Elliott hopes will be strong conference play that extends through the regular season and in post-season play.
And, just for the record, the last time Vance County took the field against Jordan was in Elliott’s first year as head coach. After a lackluster first half performance, Elliott was able to rally his team for a second half surge and ultimately a W with a 28-27 final score.
“I’ve definitely learned, especially from that season, that these kids are going to fight to the end,” Elliott said. “Our kids didn’t fold.”
Vance County hosts Jordan on Military and First Responders Appreciation Night for Week 3 of the 2025 season on Friday, September 5th 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!
Henderson Fire Department; New Engine 1
/by Laura GabelThe Henderson Fire Department’s most recent purchase was officially recognized Friday afternoon during a “push-in” ceremony at Fire Station 1 on Dabney Drive. The shiny new Fire Engine 1 was ceremoniously backed into its bay, ready to go out on its first call.
During remarks at the 1 p.m. gathering, Fire Chief Tim Twisdale pointed out that there’s a memorial on the back door of the truck to remind firefighters and anyone else who sees it about the former fire chief, the late Steve Cordell.
The purchase was initiated by Cordell in September 2022. “We remember him as we put it officially in service,” Twisdale said.
It takes that long to get a truck like this one built, Twisdale said. “It’s a pretty big deal when we get to make a purchase like that. It should last for 20 years or more and the chief predicted that it would respond to 2,000 calls a year.
Audio of Chief Twisdale. Click Play!
The price tag? A staggering $763,000. But if he were to order the same thing today, that number would be somewhere around the $1 million mark.
“It’s a custom truck,” he said. “It’s built piece by piece from the frame rails to the lights and the final touches and polished pieces.”
Battalion Chiefs Lee Edmonds, Kyle Holtzman and Engineer Chase Carter put in a lot of hours researching the various components to make sure this truck would be equipped with the very best tools to make it the most efficient it can be.
“This one is built from the ground up,” Twisdale said. One component is the pump, which can handle 2,000 gallons, a capacity that helps the fire department keep its ISO rating of 2 – it all has to do with bringing people and water to a fire emergency within a certain amount of time.
This truck’s primary job “will be to respond to fires and emergency medical calls in the center of the city,” he said.
Twisdale said having this new truck added to the fleet will enable the city to be ready to house fire engines in a new station, if and when construction begins.
“We strive to stretch the dollars that we do receive as far as we can,” Twisdale said.
WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 09-05-25 Noon
/by WIZS StaffListen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Click Play!