Tag Archive for: #localsports

SportsTalk: Vipers Travel To Rocky Mount for VCFNF

/by

 

Vipers Head Football Coach Aaron Elliott said he, the team and the coaching staff are pumped about finally getting to play on a Friday night. It’s Week 4 of the regular season, and the first three games all were played on Thursday – two because of the threat of stormy weather and one planned in advance of the long Labor Day weekend.

“We’re excited and glad we get to play on Friday,” Elliott said on Thursday’s SportsTalk with WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle.

The Vipers head to Rocky Mount for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Griffons, currently 2-1 under Coach Jason Battle.

“We’re hungry for a win,” Elliott said. Currently 0-3, the Vipers have improved their performance with each game so far, and Elliott said the players know what the strength of schedule could mean later in the season.

“We know as a team that we can compete against Rocky Mount,” Elliott said.

The Griffons run the ball well, and Elliott said he’s worked on shutting down those big run plays.

“We just can’t fall asleep in the secondary,” Elliott said.

The Vipers are cleaning up their turnover totals, tackles and finishing drives on offense.

And the team has been relatively penalty-free on the playing field, which Elliot attributes to the level of discipline the coaching staff consistently emphasizes.

Playing with discipline minimizes mistakes and penalties on the field.

“If we play disciplined football, stop the run and stop the big explosive plays, we’ll be fine,” Elliott said.

 

Area High School Football Games for Week 4:

  • Vance County (0-3) @ Rocky Mount (2-1)
  • Franklinton (3-0) vs. Louisburg (2-0)
  • Wake Forest (1-2) vs. Wakefield (1-1)
  • Heritage (1-2) @ Burlington Williams (1-0)
  • Knightdale (0-3) @ Sanderson (1-2)
  • East Wake (1-2) @ Bunn (1-2)
  • J.F. Webb (1-2) @ Eden Morehead (1-2)
  • South Granville (2-1) vs. Warren County (2-0)
  • Wake Prep (2-1) vs. ALA-Johnston (1-1)
  • Person (1-2) @ Eastern Alamance (2-1)
  • Mecklenburg County, VA (0-2) vs. Amherst County, VA (0-2)

Vance County travels to Rocky Mount for Week 4 of the 2026 season on Friday, September 11th 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.

CLICK PLAY!

SportsTalk: High School Football Week 3 Recap

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the week that was with High School Football. The guys also talk about some college football games that happened over the weekend.

High School Football Scores from Week 3:

  • Jordan 42 Vance County 6
  • Franklinton 27 South Granville 14
  • Millbrook 14 Wake Forest 7
  • Leesville Road 20 Heritage 0
  • Panther Creek 40 Knightdale 0
  • Southeast Raleigh 48 East Wake 6
  • Bunn 49 J.F. Webb 22
  • Louisburg 17 Northampton County 8 
  • Wake Prep 55 Pamlico County 14
  • Hopewell, VA 49 Mecklenburg County, VA 0

Area College Football Scores for Week 1:

  • Duke 17 Tulane 3
  • Wake Forest 38 Akron 16
  • Virginia Tech 73 VMI 3
  • Alabama 48 East Carolina 10
  • App State 55 Maine 3
  • The Citadel 43 Charlotte 41
  • North Carolina Central 27 Elizabeth City State 6

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Hurricanes Ready For In-State Foe Come Sunday

/by

Quinderra Spellman, Head Football Coach at Louisburg College, joins SportsTalk with Scout & Doc to discuss coming off of the bye week and getting ready for the Greensboro College JV team on Sunday.

Click Play!

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Ready For The Task At Hand

/by

UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

Jordan 42

Vance County 6

RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

The Vance County Vipers are looking to get a W this week as they travel to Durham Thursday to take on the Jordan High Falcons.
The Vipers, coming off a 2-point loss in OT to the South Granville Vikings, are looking for their first win in the 2026 season.

Head Coach Aaron Elliott put last week’s heartbreaker in the “good loss” category.

There are good losses and bad losses, and Elliott said he’d put the 50-48 overtime thriller in the former category.

“We had over 200 yards on the ground, which is big for us,” Elliott said on SportsTalk.

Jerimi Strong definitely was a playmaker for us on offense,” Elliott said. The coaching staff has some running plays drawn up for quarterback Aadan Trowbridge as well, but the coach said he wants to make sure the QB stays healthy.

“We try our best to keep him as healthy as possible, so the less hit he’s got to take, the better off we are as a program,” Elliott said.

As the Vipers prepare for the Thursday evening game against Jordan, Elliott said he’s keeping his fingers crossed that the team will emerge from the short week of practice ready to play.

“If we keep stacking good days (of practice) we’ll be in good shape,” he sai.

This year’s Jordan team lacks a little of the size of last year’s team, but it makes up for it with speed and athleticism.

The Vipers must be able to contain the quarterback to have a shot at a W.

“We narrowed it down to three things,” Elliott said. “Win the turnover battle, be able to tackle better and be more physical.”

Area High School Football Games for Week 3:

  • Vance County (0-2) @ Jordan (1-1)
  • Franklinton (2-0) @ South Granville (2-0)
  • Wake Forest (1-1) @ Millbrook (2-0)
  • Heritage (1-1) vs. Leesville Road (0-2)
  • Knightdale (0-2) @ Panther Creek (1-1)
  • East Wake (1-1) vs. Southeast Raleigh (2-0)
  • J.F. Webb (1-1) vs. Bunn (0-2)
  • Louisburg (1-0) vs. Northampton County (0-2)
  • Wake Prep (1-1) @ Pamlico County (1-1)
  • Mecklenburg County, VA (0-1) vs. Hopewell, VA (0-1)

Vance County travels to Jordan for Week 3 of the 2026 season on Thursday, September 3rd 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.

CLICK PLAY!

SportsTalk: Hurricanes Football Starts Off Right

/by

Quinderra Spellman, Head Coach of Louisburg College Football, joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes to speak on the Hurricanes’ Week 1 win against Community Christian College 62-0.

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Vance County Football Week 2 Recap

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the week that was with High School Football. The guys also talk about some college football games that happened over the weekend.

High School Football Scores from Week 2:

  • South Granville 50 Vance County 48 OT
  • Franklinton 42 Bunn 13
  • Wake Forest 31 Leesville Road 21
  • Millbrook 47 Heritage 0
  • Enloe 36 Knightdale 6
  • Rocky Mount 42 East Wake 20
  • Warren County 44 J.F. Webb 0
  • Louisburg 28 Southeast Halifax 0
  • Wake Prep 47 North Moore 8
  • Brunswick, VA 20 Mecklenburg County, VA 12

Area College Football Scores for Week 0:

  • UNC 15 TCU 10
  • Virginia 34 NC State 8
  • Texas Southern 42 NC Central 30
  • Louisburg College 62 Community Christian College 0

Click Play!

SportsTalk: South Granville’s Coach Johnson Aims For Great Strides

/by

Head Coach Sterling Johnson led his South Granville High School Vikings to a 27-6 win last week over Bunn, and the first-year head coach said his team played hard, which was what he was looking for in Week 1 of the high school football season.

Week 2 brings the Creedmoor team to Henderson to face to Vipers, and – for the second time in as many weeks – the game is being moved up a day because of the threat of stormy weather on Friday.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Viper Stadium.

Johnson, a high school All American and defensive standout at Cleveland High School, committed to Clemson and played three years there before heading to Coastal Carolina for his last two years of eligibility. He was captain and all-conference  at Coastal and, as he put it in an interview with WIZS’s Scout Hughes, “had a little stint with the Jets” after college.

He was defensive line coach at his old high school and then went up to Canada to play for a while with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

For the last couple of seasons, he was defensive coordinator at Wakefield High School in Wake County.

When he reviewed South Granville’s 2025-26 season and saw that they’d lost a bunch of close games, he determined that he’d be inheriting a pretty good situation for his first foray into head coach duties.

Besides, he felt a strong community feel at South Granville, reminiscent of his time in Cleveland both as a player and a coach.

The Vikings beat the Vipers pretty good last year, but Johnson said his team is going to have to be ready to play when it faces a Vipers team, known for its offense and its winning history.

“We’re going to have to play to our best abilities,” he noted. “We’re just going to have to play our best and hope things turn out in our favor.”

 

Area High School Football Games for Week 2:

  • Vance County (0-1) vs. South Granville (1-0)
  • Franklinton (1-0) @ Bunn (0-1)
  • Wake Forest (0-1) vs. Leesville Road (0-1)
  • Heritage (1-0) @ Millbrook (1-0)
  • Knightdale (0-1) @ Enloe (0-1)
  • East Wake (1-0) vs. Rocky Mount (0-1)
  • J.F. Webb (1-0) @ Warren County (1-0)
  • Louisburg (0-0) @ Southeast Halifax (0-1)
  • Wake Prep (0-1) vs. North Moore (0-1)
  • Mecklenburg County, VA (0-0) @ Brunswick, VA (0-0)

 

 (Note that it was announced that the High School Football Game between Vance County & South Granville would be moved to Thursday after Wednesday’s SportsTalk had concluded.)

Vance County hosts South Granville on Military and First Responders Appreciation Night for Week 2 of the 2026 season on Thursday, August 27th 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.

CLICK PLAY!

SportsTalk: Coach Spellman Ready For Canes Football In 2026

/by

Quinderra Spellman, Head Football Coach of Louisburg College, joins SportsTalk to speak about the great strides that the Canes team has made in the offseason, as well as to preview the upcoming Week One game against Community Christian College.

Click Play!

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance County Football Week 1 Recap

/by

Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Vance County’s loss to Warren County back on Thursday.

High School Football Scores from Week 1:

  • Warren County 52 Vance County 12
  • Franklinton 34 Person 14
  • Southern Durham 26 Wake Forest 21
  • Heritage 30 Wakefield 28
  • Southern Nash 33 Knightdale 13
  • East Wake 27 Riverside 20
  • J.F. Webb 28 Western Harnett 7
  • South Granville 27 Bunn 6
  • North Raleigh Christian 33 Wake Prep 13
  • Mecklenburg County, VA 19 Rustburg, VA 6

Click Play!

SportsTalk: Coach Brind’Amour Inspires Us All

/by

Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes Rod Brind’Amour joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and George Hoyle to speak about winning the Stanley Cup as a player and now as a coach. Coach also talks about how he’d like to grow the sport of Hockey more in the Triangle and North Carolina.

Click Play!