Wilbur Pender was hired as Vance County High School’s head football coach only four weeks before the season started, and the team’s season was disrupted for two weeks due to Covid but none of that really mattered as the Vipers posted a 7-3 record this season making it to the state playoffs. They lost in the first round 48-6 to Westover High School in Fayetteville. Pender says that game, “Let us know where we are, I saw a lot of deficiencies show up.”
The Vipers, according to Pender, are a close team but, “We just didn’t play good enough to win that game. I hate to say it but the best team won,” Pender added. Looking back on the season Pender said the Vipers did their best to control what they could control, and he tried to give his team the best chance at a positive outcome.
While losing seniors like Omari Allen, who will be moving on to East Carolina next season, Pender says there will be a good group of players returning and he is encouraging his players to play other sports that will help make them better athletes when next season begins.
He expects to continue to grow the program at Vance County and would like to see a rebuild of the Jay-Vee program which, because of the pandemic, did not happen this year.