It’s hot. The temperatures have forced the Vance Co. Vipers to practice in the gym most of this week as they prepare to face Northern Durham Friday night at Durham County Stadium. “It changes practice a lot,” said Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott on Thursday’s SportsTalk.
The Vipers are coming off a 28-19 win over Orange in a game that could be best described as ugly. The Vipers gave up 205 yards on 20 penalties in the win, something they can’t afford to do against Northern Durham. “It’s undisciplined for our team. We weren’t real proud of it. We need minimal mistakes and I know we can do it,” Elliott commented.
Northern Durham comes into this week’s game with an 0-3 record, but Elliott has cautioned his players about taking them lightly. Northern Durham has had a very strong schedule which included Charlotte Christian. “They have athletes on both sides of the ball and on film, they are a pretty good football team,” Elliott said. The Vipers are pretty good too. They are currently undefeated but are now getting into the heart of the season as they face perineal conference champions Southern Durham in two weeks, and Elliott says it’s hard not to look over Northern Durham when Southern Durham is on the horizon.
Despite the win against Orange, the Vipers dropped ten places in this week’s MaxPreps poll. “Good teams beat bad teams badly,” Elliott said. The Vipers were favored to win by forty but the close victory caused the Vipers to fall in the poll this week. A solid win against Northern Durham will help reverse that trend.
Join Bill Harris and Doc Ayscue around 6:50pm just after the Joy Christian Center broadcast for live coverage of the Vipers/Northern Durham game here on WIZS Radio on Vance Co. Friday Night Football.
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