While the Vikings of South Granville High School may not come from the land of ice and snow, as the song says, weather may very well be a factor in tomorrow night’s homecoming game at Vance County High School.
South Granville brings a 1-5 record to Henderson to face the 4-1 Vipers but Vipers Coach Wilber Pender explained that the South Granville record is somewhat deceiving. Pender said the Vikings losses have been to some very strong competition such as Orange, Hillside, Heritage, Southern Nash and Lee County. “South Granville has challenged themselves,” Coach Pender said on Thursday. “They are battle tested,” he added. South Granville will likely keep the ball on the ground which, considering the 70% chance of rain Friday night, might be smart. “They are not going to stop until you decide to stop it,” Pender said of the South Granville offense. However, the Vipers have a ground attack of their own with Dave Vines-Holder, who racked up nearly 200 yard last week against Carrboro and Carl Stephens who added nearly one hundred yards in the 36-12 win over the Jaguars last Friday night.
Coach Pender felt that while the team played well against the Jaguars he is still not satisfied. “We are making progress and improving each week. We are putting in the work and it’s starting to show on the field,” the coach said.
Those are things Pender can control but the weather is not. He says that rain is just another element to the game. He has had the Vipers practicing with a wet ball in anticipation of a wet field and while the weather may have an impact, Pender says that the game “comes down to focus”. For Vance County the rain will pose more challenges for the passing game than the ground game and the staff feels that receivers must focus on catching the ball. Those pass routes may be a bit shorter too.
As Pender prepares for the Vikings and the elements he says he has concerns about about inconsistencies with the Vipers. On some series, he says, the team looks great while others are not. As the team plays their second conference game Friday night Coach Pender says the team in the conference that gives him the most nightmares is Vance County because of those inconsistencies.
Tomorrow night will be the Vipers first home in several weeks and with homecoming taking place Pender expects to have a great home turnout, rain or not.
The Vipers kick off against the South Granville Vikings at 7:00 tomorrow night. WIZS will have live coverage with Trey Snide and Doc Ayscue beginning immediately following the Joy Christian Center Broadcast around 6:45.