“We don’t win future games from what we did in the past,” were the words of Vance Co. High School football coach Wilbur Pender when discussing the Viper’s upcoming matchup with Carrboro. The Vipers are coming off a 21-20 victory last week over Northern Durham and are looking to open their conference schedule against Carrboro with a win.
Pender said the team has had a great week of practice and said the team is back in rhythm after a two week lay off due to a Covid exposure. The effects of the layoff are quickly fading and preparation for Carrboro is the key to a victory Friday night. “If we don’t prepare well, we won’t play well,” said Pender.
The Vipers are looking to clamp down on the mistakes made last week. Six penalties in the first quarter against Northern Durham eliminated two touchdowns but Coach Pender was impressed that they were able to overcome those mistakes. “We kept fighting and chipping away,” Coach Pender said. That included two big 4th down conversion late in the game to allow the Vipers to overcome a Northern Durham lead.
Carrboro is an improving team with a strong rushing game and Pender says that the Vipers have been working on getting players to the ball, gang tackling and making sure they have the fundamentals down.
The Vipers play Carrboro at 7 o’clock Friday night. You can hear the game on WIZS beginning at the conclusion of the Joy Christian Center broadcast at approximately 6:45 tomorrow evening.