Tag Archive for: #localsports

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance County vs. South Granville Recap

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Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the weekend starting with Vance County football game vs. South Granville. The guys go over other high schools in the area, as well as the college games from the Labor Day Weekend.

High School Games from Week 2:

  • South Granville 33 Vance County 6
  • Franklinton 48 Bunn 6
  • Leesville Road 35 Wake Forest 14
  • Millbrook 36 Heritage 0
  • Enloe 55 Knightdale 25
  • Rocky Mount 20 East Wake 14
  • Warren County 54 J.F. Webb 24
  • Louisburg 31 Southeast Halifax 14
  • North Moore 22 Wake Prep 21 
  • Mecklenburg County (VA) 47 vs. Brunswick (VA) 14

College Games from Week 1:

  • TCU 48 North Carolina 14
  • Duke 45 Elon 17
  • NC State 24 East Carolina 17
  • Wake Forest 10 Kennesaw State 9
  • App State 34 Charlotte 11
  • Virginia 48 Coastal Carolina 7
  • South Carolina 24 Virginia Tech 11
  • New Hampshire 27 NC Central 10
  • Central Georgia Technical 41 Louisburg College 36

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SportsTalk: Vance County Prepares for South Granville

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UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

South Granville 33

Vance County 6

RECAP TUESDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

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The Vance County Vipers head to Creedmoor Friday to take on the South Granville Vikings in a non-conference matchup, and Head Coach Aaron Elliott hopes his team can add another win to 1-0 start to the season.

Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle Thursday that the team had a good week of practice following a close call with the Warren County Eagles in the season opener last week.

“We worked on the little things,” Elliott said, pointing out that small mistakes like missed blocks and mishandled snaps added up during last week’s game.

Elliott and Vikings Head Coach Mike Hobgood go way back and have a long history of playing against each other.

“They’ve got a lot of speed,” Elliott said of this year’s Vikings team, with a good quarterback.

But mostly, Elliott said it’s the Vikings’ physicality that they’ll bring to the field.

“He does a good job coaching those guys up,” Elliott said. “Hopefully we’ve prepared our kids to be more physical – we know that’s what we’ll see from South Granville.” The Vipers spoiled the Viking Homecoming, taking a 12-7 victory, so he expects Hobgood and team to be looking for a little revenge.

Elliott said he’d make a couple of adjustments on special teams and said he’d had the punt unit working on clean snaps and catches.

He’d like to see the offensive output increase from last week’s sub-100 yard performance.

“Defensively, we did a fair job, but we gave up 135 yards rushing. We’ve got to be able to stop the run, control the pass. If we can force them to do things they’re uncomfortable doing, we’ll be in good shape,” he said.

He said each year, his teams have improved their record on the road, which he’s happy about.

“This game is pretty important,” he said. “Each week, it gets harder and harder. Getting a win this week will get us ready for Jordan…it only gets harder from here on out,” he said of this season’s schedule.

Vance County travels to South Granville for Week 2 of the 2025 season on Friday, August 29th 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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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance County Football Week 1 Recap

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Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Vance County’s win against Warren County on Friday Night. The guys also give an update on other scores in Week 1 for high school football, in addition to Louisburg College Football’s season opener.

High School Scores from Week 1:

  • Vance County 13 Warren County 12
  • Franklinton 29 Person 20
  • Southern Durham 47 Wake Forest 28
  • Heritage 29 Wakefield 20
  • Southern Nash 42 Knightdale 26
  • East Wake 42 Riverside 6
  • J.F. Webb 46 Western Harnett 22
  • Bunn 18 South Granville 0
  • North Raleigh Christian 19 Wake Prep 6
  • E.C. Glass (VA) 28 Mecklenburg County (VA) 0

College Games of Interest in Our Area:

  • Louisburg College 28 Methodist 3
  • North Carolina Central 31 Southern 14

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SportsTalk: Vipers Ready for Season Opener

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UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

Vance County 13 

Warren County 12 

RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

Tonight’s County Line Clash pits the Vance County Vipers against neighboring county rival Warren County Eagles. It’s a non-conference game, but Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott said his squad is ready to kick off the season in a big way.

“The energy these kids have, they’re ready for Week 1,” Elliott said.

Despite the fact that the Vipers and Eagles are in different conferences – the Vipers are a 6A and the Eagles are a 2A, Elliott said he expects the season opener to be competitive.

“I like it because it fires up the kids for Week 1 and gets them ready,” Elliott said on Thursday’s Sports Talk with WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle. “We try to tell them to treat it as a normal game, but it’s hard to do,” Elliott said. The first game of the season against a rival, even though it’s a non-conference game, brings with it a lot of emotions and nerves, the head coach said.

“We’ve got to limit the mistakes, win the turnover battle,” Elliott said. If the Vipers can do that, “I really feel like we’ll be excited in the fourth quarter.”

Last season’s matchup was a close one – with the Vipers leading 7-0 at the half. The Vipers pulled away in the fourth quarter to finish out with an 18-0 win.

Warren County’s team is young, but they’re a seasoned group that’s seen some good playing time.

Elliott said he’s counting on Warren County to bring their best effort to Viper Stadium for the 7 p.m. kickoff. “They’re ready to play football. They’re going to test us a little bit.”

Elliott said he got a chance to see them in action at the recent Jamboree in Louisburg, noting that they’re a “typical Warren County team – well coached, giving 100 percent on every play, with plenty of energy and effort.”

But Elliott said the Vipers are up for the challenge. With Senior Marcus Thomas at quarterback and Aiden Foster, the team’s “Swiss Army knife,” showing up on defense and offense, he said this team is going to be fun to watch.

And then there’s the depth at running back – there are five or six guys at that position, none of them seniors, Elliott noted.

Aiden Labra is back this season to add to the kicking game. Labra gets his kicks in on the football field, then heads over to soccer practice. Elliott said the Viper kicker got a personal best on Wednesday with a 47-yard field goal.

“We practice special teams every single day,” Elliott said. “If you want to be good at it, you’ve got to practice.”

The team starts out each practice with special teams, when they’re fresh, so they’ll be ready at the end of the game. “We’ve got to do everything right when we’re tired too,” he said.

Elliott and his coaching staff installed a new defense that he hopes will work well for this year’s team.

“The kids love it,” he said. “It allows them to fly around and make plays…we’re interested to see how that plays out and works for us.”

There are 14 seniors on the varsity roster, and Elliott said this season’s Vipers team includes a dozen players from the Early College, one from Vance Virtual Academy and a couple of homeschooled students.

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SportsTalk: Warren County Sets Its Sights on the Vipers

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Friday’s County Line Clash pits the Vance County Vipers against the Warren County Eagles in the opening game of the fall football season.

Last season’s matchup was a close game, said Doc Ayscue, with the Vipers clinching it in the fourth quarter for the 18-0 victory over the Eagles.

And he and Scout Hughes are looking for another good game Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Viper Stadium.

“It’s going to be an interesting game this year,” Ayscue said. The two schools are in different conferences following a reorganization last year – Vance County High School is 6A and Warren County is 2A, but

that doesn’t seem to bother Eagles Head Coach Victor Hunt.

Beginning his seventh year as head coach, Hunt said the off-season has been pretty good and he’s looking forward to going head-to-head with non-conference teams like the Vipers.

“We accept all the challenges,” Hunt said. “We want to win a state championship,” he said. “You do that by playing playoff caliber teams.”

If that results in some non-conference losses, so be it. Hunt sees them as learning experiences for his team, which, although young with a small group of seniors, has seen a good deal of playing time.

The Eagles participated in the recent Louisburg Jamboree, and Hunt said he saw a lot of good things on the field and some things to work on.

Friday’s game is going to be physical, he said. “That’s what we want…just being tough – that’s our brand of football.”

Penalties hurt them last season against the Vipers, he said, so limiting penalties and turnovers Friday will be key, he pointed out.

“The practice is always exciting Week 1,” he said, noting that there’s a little added pressure – especially for the seniors.

“It is a rivalry game, but it’s not going to determine any championships,” Hunt said. And his players are up for the challenge.

They’re rising to the occasion in guiding the underclassmen with their leadership and holding each other accountable for plays on the field.

holding each other accountable.

For Hunt, coaching is a blessing. “I think I have the greatest job in America. I love our kids. I love our community. It’s so much bigger than football…it’s about the family we’ve built here.”

Former players are returning to talk to this year’s team, working with them and offering encouragement.

“It means everything,” Hunt said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepare for Southern Nash Scrimmage

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SportsTalk 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Vance County Head Football Coach Aaron Elliott joins SportsTalk to discuss the scrimmage that the Vipers will have on Thursday night when they travel to Bailey to take on Southern Nash. The guys also inquire about the offseason and how it has gone for Vance County.

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SportsTalk: Minor League Update and Schools in our Area

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Scout Hughes and George Hoyle give an update on Minor League Baseball going on in North Carolina. The guys also touch on a few athletic events for high schools in our area as the fall sports season is underway.

Friday MiLB Scores:

  • Durham Bulls 4 Memphis 0
  • Syracuse 9 Charlotte 5
  • Greensboro 9 Asheville 0
  • Winston-Salem 4 Bowling Green 2
  • Carolina Mudcats 3 Lynchburg 1
  • Kannapolis 7 Salem 3
  • Hickory 8 Columbia 2
  • Fayetteville 10 Delmarva 4

Saturday MiLB Scores:

  • Durham Bulls 6 Memphis 2
  • Charlotte 12 Syracuse 6
  • Greensboro 27 Asheville 4
  • Bowling Green 7 Winston-Salem 1
  • Salem 6 Kannapolis 4
  • Fayetteville 3 Delmarva 2
  • Double Header
    • Carolina Mudcats 3 Lynchburg 2
    • Lynchburg 8 Carolina Mudcats 6
  • Double Header
    • Hickory 6 Columbia 1
    • Hickory 4 Columbia 1

Sunday MiLB Scores:

  • Durham Bulls 4 Memphis 2
  • Charlotte 5 Syracuse 1
  • Asheville 5 Greensboro 2
  • Bowling Green 9 Winston-Salem 5
  • Carolina Mudcats 8 Lynchburg 3
  • Salem 8 Kannapolis 7
  • Columbia 1 Hickory 0
  • Fayetteville 1 Delmarva 0

Tuesday MiLB Scores:

  • Nashville 5 Durham Bulls 4
  • Charlotte 13 Memphis 6
  • Greenville 4 Greensboro 1
  • Asheville 4 Winston-Salem 1
  • Augusta 5 Kannapolis 4
  • Carolina Mudcats 7 Fayetteville 5
  • Hickory 6 Charleston 0

Wednesday MiLB Games:

  • Durham Bulls vs Nashville – 6:35pm
  • Charlotte vs Memphis – 7:04pm
  • Greensboro vs Greenville – 12noon, delayed start
  • Asheville vs Winston-Salem – 6:30pm
  • Kannapolis vs Augusta – 6:30pm
  • Hickory vs Charleston – 7:05pm
  • Carolina Mudcats vs Fayetteville – 4:35pm

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SportsTalk: Vipers Preseason Jamboree in the Books

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SportsTalk 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the High School Football Jamboree that took place at Vance County High School last Friday. The guys also talk about the NFL Preseason Games over the weekend.

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SportsTalk: Minor League Update and MLB All-Star Game

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SportsTalk 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Scout Hughes and Steve Lewis give an update on Minor League Baseball around the state of  North Carolina. The guys also talk about the MLB All-Star Game happening Tuesday Night, as well as a few players that were picked in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Friday MiLB Scores:

  • Durham Bulls 5 Nashville 4
  • Memphis 4 Charlotte 1
  • Greensboro 10 Bowling Green 7
  • Greenville 6 Winston-Salem 5
  • Hudson Valley 4 Asheville 3
  • Double Header
    • Hickory 4 Lynchburg 2
    • Hickory 4 Lynchburg 3
  • Fredericksburg 5 Carolina Mudcats 3
  • Kannapolis 5 Myrtle Beach 4
  • Fayetteville 8 Delmarva 6

Saturday MiLB Scores:

  • Nashville 13 Durham Bulls 1
  • Charlotte 10 Memphis 9
  • Asheville 6 Hudson Valley 3
  • Greensboro 10 Bowling Green 4
  • Winston-Salem 15 Greenville 5
  • Carolina Mudcats 5 Fredericksburg 3
  • Hickory 4 Lynchburg 0
  • Myrtle Beach 5 Kannapolis 0
  • Fayetteville 4 Delmarva 2

Sunday MiLB Scores:

  • Durham Bulls 4 Nashville 3
  • Charlotte 4 Memphis 2
  • Greensboro 4 Bowling Green 0 (Perfect Game)
  • Hudson Valley 3 Asheville 2
  • Winston-Salem 2 Greenville 1 (Suspended at the Top 3rd)
  • Kannapolis 4 Myrtle Beach 2
  • Lynchburg 11 Hickory 2
  • Delmarva 8 Fayetteville 3
  • Carolina Mudcats vs. Fredericksburg – Postponed for Rain

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Schedule from Then to Now

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SportsTalk 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Scout Hughes and George Hoyle talk about the Vance County football schedule for 2025, in comparison to 2024. The guys also discuss a few of Vance County’s opponents from a historical perspective.

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