UPDATE – FINAL SCORE
SOUTHERN DURHAM 26
VANCE COUNTY 14
RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK
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SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th
Northern Lakes Conference play starts on Friday as the Vance County Vipers take on the Spartans of Southern Durham. Scout Hughes and George Hoyle had Coach Aaron Elliott join SportsTalk on WIZS to talk all about it.
Vance County defeated Northern Durham last Friday night by a score of 28-0. The game was suspended early in the second quarter. Coach Elliott spoke on how his team improved in last week’s game against the Knights, “We talked all week about being more physical, you know being more aggressive on both sides of the football. Our kids really came out and kind of exposed that and showed it a little bit and we talked about finishing drives on offense which we were able to do. So you know everything looked good.”
Moving onto Southern Durham on Friday, Head Coach Aaron Elliott gives us an insight into what he saw on film from the Spartans. “We watch them on film and kinda try to dissect them the best we could. They’re a good football team. All three years that I’ve been here, playing this game for the most part this has probably been the conference championship game. So our kids know that. Our kids always lock in and they’re more focused this week than they’ve been in any other week because they know what we got to do. They know what it’s going to take. We expect them to come in and we’re playing at their place and they definitely don’t want to lose to us at home. We told our kids all week if we eliminate the explosive plays, they scored on an 84-yard touchdown pass that Wake Forest kind of missed coverage on their part.”
The Vipers are on the road once again for the fourth time in five games this season. This aspect of the 2024 campaign doesn’t seem to phase Vance County. “I think we’re still used to it. Obviously, we were super excited to play at home last week. Before that game even started we had a lot of energy just by being at home. So hopefully, you know, we can get a good crowd at Southern Durham that will help tremendously.”
Coach also mentions that his team is free of injuries which is always a good thing. “Everybody is healthy. We talked about having Camarion Ragland out against Orange and then we let him sit last week just for cautionary reasons. Just to give him another week on his knee and he’s back, fully healthy this week. He had a great week of practice and just having him back is a plus. We are doing pretty good with the injury bug.”
Vance County beat Southern Durham last year 14-12 in Henderson. Southern Durham may have something to prove since the Spartans lost last year. Coach Elliott is fully aware of the situation. “We have a target on our back now. We went 10-0 in the regular season last year. Southern Durham wants us to have a loss this year.”
In order for Vance County to beat Southern Durham, it’s simple to Coach, play Viper Football, “We just got to make less mistakes than Southern Durham does. We got to play our football game offensively and defensively and let him make mistakes and we will come out with the win.”
Coach’s message to fans for Friday night, “Just show up and support us!”
We will Coach! Go Vipers!
Vance County travels to Southern Durham for Week 5 of the 2024 season on Friday, September 20th 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.
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