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Vance County High School

VIPERS FALL TO 0-3 AFTER LOSS TO BEDDINGFIELD

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VIPERS FALL TO 0-3 AFTER LOSS TO BEDDINGFIELD

 

Vance County High School’s new football program has now, mercifully, finished their season-opening three-game road trip.  The Vipers limped home from Wilson Thursday Night after a lopsided 55-20 loss to the Beddingfield Bruins, a solid team with an impressive tradition of playoff appearances.

The Viper Offense, which improved over their first two games, came out strong, scoring the first touchdown of the game on their first possession, with Jr. Quarterback Samien Burwell connecting with Josh Joyner and William Hawkins Jr on a variety of passes that took VC to the Beddingfield 5 yard line. An 11 yard TD pass to Shaquan Allen capped the drive, and the 2-point conversion was good, giving the Vipers an 8-0 lead.  It only took Beddingfield 2 minutes to tie the game, though, then another 3½ minutes to take a 14-8 lead. They quickly extended the lead to 22-8 after a squib kickoff was mishandled by the Vipers.  Early in the 2nd quarter, Burwell scrambled for a second touchdown to keep his team within reach, but the Bruins led 42-14 at the half.

The Viper Defense had several good stops in the second half, forcing turnovers on down, but the offense never found its rhythm. Although Burwell did throw 1 interception, which makes his 6th interception of the season, in this game, his receivers repeatedly dropped balls that hit them in the hands or were within easy reach.  Finally, in an almost eerie similarity with the first two games this season, the Vipers, playing offense to the last, scored their third TD with under a minute left, when Burwell hit Josh Joyner with the final pass of the game.

Tune in every Friday night for Vance County Friday Night Football live coverage on WIZS and streamed live on WIZS.com.

 

Vance County Friday Night Football is Thursday 8-30-18

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Vance County Friday Night Football is on the air this THURSDAY night August 30th.  Listen Local to live play by play with the pregame at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff at 7 p.m.  WIZS, Henderson 1450 AM and 100.1 FM are your local options as well as online at wizs.com and Tunein with your computer or smart devices and speakers.

VIPERS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

7:00 PM at Beddingfield in Wilson on Thursday, August 30

In observance of the upcoming Labor Day weekend, the VCHS Vipers will take another lengthy road trip (but not as long as last week) to Wilson this Thursday night to tangle with the Bruins of Beddingfield. The Bruins, a traditional 2A powerhouse with playoff appearances in 4 of the last 5 years, have been successfully raiding the Northern Carolina 2A conference the past two years. Northern Vance scored their first 12 points of the season against Beddingfield this time last year, but still lost 38-12; and J. F. Webb suffered a similar fate, losing to the Bruins last year 30-0 and last week 43-6. Under new head coach James Ward last year, the Bruins had their best season since 2013, finishing 8-5 overall and 4-1 in their conference. They were tripped up in the second round of the playoffs, though. To make a good showing on Thursday, the Vipers will need to continue the improvements they made in last week’s match up with Red Springs, and keep showing the stubborn spirit that resulted in late scores in each of their first two games this year.

Vance County High School

Vance County Friday Night Football 2018 – Week 2

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Vance County Friday Night Fooball is on the air Friday night at 6:45 for the pregame show, and kickoff is at 7 p.m.  Listen locally in the Henderson and Vance County area on 1450 AM WIZS.  The game can also be heard at 100.1 FM, a local simulcast of WIZS.  And, listen anywhere you are with your computer, tablet, smart phone, smart TV and connected smart devices and speakers at WIZS.com or with the Tunein App.

— by Jeff Jenkins

VIPERS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

7:00 PM at Red Springs August 24

This Friday Night, the VCHS Vipers travel ‘WAY down to Red Springs, NC (South of Fayetteville) for a contest with a Red Devil team familiar to Viper coach Darry Ragland and his former Southern Vance players. Last year, the Devils had their best season since 2012, finishing the season 9-4 after their second-round playoff loss. One of those wins was over Southern Vance 27-14. Red Springs’ roster is loaded with juniors and seniors, including both last year’s starting QB back and leading rusher, and last week they clobbered South Brunswick 38-12. Vance County, coming off their opening 41-22 loss at Franklinton, will need to tighten up their run defense, and their passing offense, which was burned for 5 interceptions by the Red Rams. But Coach Ragland and his Vipers know that, and this week’s nonconference game, along with next week, are the time to sort out those issues.

@NorthernVanceFB @SVHS_Athletics

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It’s the big game, the Optimist Bowl, and you need to be there in person at Southern Vance High School.  Like and share on Facebook, Tweet your friends, bring a neighbor.  And, if you can’t make it to the game, be sure to listen live on 1450 AM WIZS and online at wizs.com.  Click on Listen Live!

Pregame show at 6:45 p.m. and the kickoff follows at 7 p.m.

Scouting Report by Jeff Jenkins

Northern Vance at Southern Vance — Friday 11/3/2017

Friday’s Optimist Bowl will feature the leading passer in the Northern Carolina 1A/2A Conference, Southern Vance’s Elijah Stewart (1999 yards), and the league’s leading receiver, Raider WR Kyree Ford (692 yards). On top of that, Southern RB Tyrese Henderson is number 2 in rushing yardage (1065), Number 5 in total TDs (12), and number 4 in total points scored (80). Raider DB Malik Boyd has 4 interceptions – good enough for 3rd in the conference. With an even 5-5 overall record, and a 4-3 winning record in the conference (currently 5th place), a win tonight for Southern Vance will probably not lift them into the playoffs, but a Raider victory would result in an overall winning record for the first time since 2011, as well as taking the Optimist trophy back from the Vikings, who won the match-up 27-6 last year.

Northern Vance pales in comparison to these impressive stats: The Vikings and new head coach Antwain Cook had a difficult time overcoming the loss of Stewart and Ford, who both transferred to Southern Vance when former Viking offensive coordinator Darry Ragland took the Raider head coach position. Northern’s Coach Cook, who was the defensive coordinator for Northern before his promotion to the top job, did not find a consistent quarterback until sophomore Samien Burell took over the signal calling and the Vikings began to avoid shutouts (they failed to score in 3 of their first 4 games). Northern got their first victory in week 7 over 1A conference member Louisburg, failed to defeat the other 1A member Granville Central the next week , but then caught fire last week for their second win, a 33-13 thrashing of J. F. Webb in Oxford. This surge of offense is great for the 2-8 (2-5) Vikings, but it remains to be seen whether it will be too little / too late against the Raiders. Both teams allow opponents an average of 28 points per game, but Southern scores 30 per game, while Northern has averaged just under 10 points per game.

In the past 10 years, this rivalry has been pretty close: Southern Vance holds a 6-4 lead in the series for that period, but Northern has the largest margin of victory with a 42-0 victory in 2008. Since 2013, the teams are locked at 2-2, with Northern holding the trophy from last year’s victory.

Week Five Vance County Friday Night Football Preview

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by Jeff Jenkins

Southern Vance

Southern Vance continues conference play on the road tonight, traveling to the wilds of Granville County to meet Granville Central, one of the Northern Carolina Conference’s two 1A members.  These two teams have not played each other since 2011 and 2012, when Central was a very new school, and Southern Vance was riding pretty high.  In 2011, the Raiders finished 9-3, while the fledgling Panthers ended up with 3-8 record.  That year, Southern won the contest 45-6, and in 2012, when the Raiders had begun to slip, they still smothered the Panthers 58-6.  Fortunes have reversed for both teams in the intervening years, with Granville Central enjoying 4 consecutive playoff appearances, and winning a Tar-Roanoke 1A conference championship in 2015.  During those year’s Southern Vance slipped further into mediocrity, winning only 3 games in the previous 3 seasons.

This year, both teams have new head coaches, and both schools started off their season with games against Bartlett Yancey.  Southern Vance won that game 30-22 in OT, while the Panthers defense led the way to a 7-6 victory.  Central won its only other nonconference game 33-8 , against everyone’s favorite creampuff Kipp Pride; but got a rude introduction to its new conference last week with a painful 46-0 shut out at unbeaten Roanoke Rapids.   After 4 games, The Raiders are 1-3, but have averaged scoring 27.5 point per game, almost double last season’s average.  The defense has allowed 33 points per game, but Southern has not been beaten by more than 13 points.  At 2-1, Granville Central has only averaged 13 points scoring and is allowing 20 (thanks to the 46 scored by Roanoke Rapids).

On offense, the Panthers keep the ball on the ground, dividing the work among Jr. Deandre Moore, averaging 66 yards per game and 3 total TDs, Jr. Mike Wood, (50 yards per game and 1 TD), and Soph Jed Evans (30 yds per game).  Two soph QB’s, Kobe Jones and 5’2”, 120 lb Brady Smith, have played so far, but neither has passed much, and no TDs have been scored through the air.  The Panther defense held Bartlett Yancey to 6 points – better than the Raiders, and Central has returned one fumble recovery for a score.  Also, unlike Southern Vance, Granville Central has two players who have kicked extra points:  Jacob Burnette is 1 for 1, and the diminutive Smith is 3 for 5.

If the Raiders play as they have for the past 4 weeks, they should come out on top.  But they can not think of Granville Central as a 1A team, and they will have to be prepared for a defense that was quite effective until they ran into  Roanoke Rapids.  And so far, Southern Vance is no Roanoke Rapids.

Northern Vance

The Vikings of Northern Vance are happy to be home tonight hosting the Eagles of Warren County.  They are happy to have made it out of Creedmoor alive last Friday, after the 54-0 drubbing they took from South Granville   – all 54 points scored in the first half.  and they should be happy to be playing against a team tonight that is not picked to win any championships.  Warren is 3-1 on the season, with a win over 1A conference member Louisburg last week, and therefore have a right to be ranked third in the Northern Carolina behind unbeaten South Granville and Roanoke Rapids.  But it must be pointed out that all of Warren’s wins have been against 1A competition, including longtime pushovers Northwest Halifax and Kipp Pride Charter school.  They lost to Northampton County 22-17 – a good close game to be sure, but that looks like their only real test so far.   But in spite of the weak schedule, Warren ahs shown that they can score points and play defense:  they average scoring 31 points per game, and have only allowed 14 per game, and those numbers create a type of momentum that Northern Vance has not had a chance to create.

These two teams got together quite a bit during the offseason, matching up at a couple of 7 on 7 events in the summer and participating in a jamboree or two, so they know each other pretty well.  Jr. QB Cornelius Davis, who had a tough time in the starter role last year, has settled in well this season, passing for over 150 yards per game for 5 TD’s and 4 interceptions.  Davis can also run, gaining about 50 yards per game on the ground.  Three of Davis’ TD passes have been caught by Sr. WR Cornell Hendrick, who has 19 grabs for 336 yards on the season, and Jr. WR Laquan Satterwhite has the other two scoring catches.  The eagles 11 rushing touchdowns have been evenly divided among Jr. RB Dekarri Green who has 5, Hendrick with 3, and Davis with the other 3.

Vance County Friday Night Football Week 2 Preview

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by Jeff Jenkins

Southern Vance

The Red Devils of Red Springs traveled nearly 150 miles from their home south of Fayetteville to visit the Raiders tonight.  Southern Vance, of course, hopes this will be a long wasted trip for the Devils, but the Raiders will have to bring an A game that they might not know they have.  Like Southern, Red Springs is a 2A member of a pretty large mixed 1A/2A conference that includes many of the teams they have become accustomed to playing over the past few years.  But unlike the Raiders, the Red Devil have been quite successful against those accustomed opponents.  Last year, Red Springs finished 6-5 for the regular season, and only 3-4 in their conference; but the wins they had were big ones. The Diablos scored 49, 50 and 75 points in their three conference wins, and had much closer losses.  They ended up averaging 32 points per game and allowed 24.  Their conference was so large that their 5th place finish allowed them into the playoffs for the 2nd straight year.  2015 was even better, with an 8-4 overall finish and a 4-3 league record.

Red Springs, also like Southern Vance, has a new head coach this year; and like Southern, they seemed to be on the same page as their new coach for last week season opener.  The Raiders stumbled around for much of the game last week – Coach ___ told the dispatch that he kept seeing the light flicker while his team was on the field but he could not keep it burning – but eventually found their way and hung on for a 30-22 OT win.  The Red Devils had an easier time of it, judging from their 33-0 victory over 3A south Brunswick.  On the way to the lopsided win, QB, Soph. Denym McKeithan passed for 117 yards, with three TDs. Sr WR Wilkerson  Monte’ caught two of the TD passes, and accounted for 71 total yards.  Soph TE Corey Newton caught the other scoring strike, and Jr. RB L McLean ran for 115 yards on 18 carries and a score.  The Defense was devilish, too, adding a touchdown on Sr Safety Bobby McCrea’s 38-yard return of an interception – one of four total picks.

The Raiders will, of course want to play the way they did abut ½ the time during last week’s game against Bartlett-Yancey.  The 30-22 Overtime win to end Southern’s  16-game losing streak seemed miraculous, in light of the numerous dropped passes score-erasing penalties and other errors committed by the Raiders, but they player and their first year coach hung in an drew power from the memory of a deceased teammate to come out on top.  This is a clear improvement over last year, when the Raiders had a big problem coming back from behind.  If they can cut down on enough penalties to keep the touchdowns they score and hang a bit tougher on defense, Southern Vance may have a shot against the Devils – also a young team with a new head coach, but one that scored 75 points in one game last year and 33 points in their season opener last week.

Northern Vance

The Vikings travel to Durham tonight to take on a new opponent – the Pirates of Riverside, led by former Vikings coach Cory Lea.   Over the past four years, Northern Vance received some of their worst thrashings at the hands of Southern Durham, so the Vikings may not be anxious to go back to the Bull City, but Riverside is no Southern Durham, and tonight’s contest looks pretty even on paper.  The Pirates finished near the bottom of their 4A conference the past two years – 4-7 overall in 2016, with a 2-4 league record, and only 3-8 overall in 2015.  Records like these made it necessary for Riverside to seek out a new head coach, and Coach Lea, who started pulling Northern Vance out of their doldrums with back-to-back 5-6 seasons during 2015 and 2016, made an attractive candidate.  Coach Lea was an assistant at Riverside before taking his first few head coaching positions, and found it impossible to pass up a chance to go back to Durham, even though he would probably agree that his work with the Vikings was not finished.

Coach Lea has inherited a similar challenge at Riverside to the one he had here in Henderson:  his new team only scored 15 points a game last year, while allowing 18;  The Vikings wee a bit tougher last year, scoring an average of 18 points per game and allowing 18.   Last week’s opener was tough on the Vikings, ending in a 12-0 shut out to Franklinton, while the Pirates opener against Chapel Hill had to be finished on Monday for bad weather, but ended in a hard-fought 22-14 win for Riverside.  Riverside showed to dame kinds of first-game problem that Northern did :  fumbles, interceptions and penalties, and Chapel Hill scored once on a 95-yard fumble run-back.  But the Pirates won the game through the air:  Sr. QB Cole Infinito hit Sr. WR C.J. Bell, Jr. for 2 TDs of 30 and 57 yards.  Sr. DB Ryan Odom returned a punt to the Tiger O yd Line, but the Pirates could to cross the goal line on that possession.  The Pirate defense held when it counted, forcing the Chapel Hill into a 4th and 10 on its final drive and sacking the Tiger QB to ice the game.

With only one game to go by, its hard to tell, but it appears that Riverside relies on the pass for its offensive production, but can be rattled by a good pass rush.  Last year, with the same starting QB, the Pirates only passed for 45 yards per game and rushed for 125.  Last year’s leading receiver graduated; but last year’s leading rusher, Jr. Kaligah Murrell, with 80 yards per game,  does not appear on the roster this year.  The Pirate defense is capable of causing fumbles and interceptions, but so is Northern Vance, and if the Vikings can keep their heads and pressure the Pirate backfield, this could be a close game.

Southern Vance Names Darry Ragland as Head Football Coach

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When Southern Vance High School’s new head football coach takes the sidelines this fall, it will be a familiar face for Raider fans.

Southern Vance has announced that their new head football coach will be Darry Ragland. The announcement serves as a homecoming of sorts for the Raiders as Ragland previously served as an assistant coach at Southern Vance for 14 seasons from 1999 to 2012. He coached wide receivers and was the offensive coordinator under former head coaches Mark Perry and David Jennings. Ragland was also offensive coordinator under outgoing head coach Lewis Young in 2012 before leaving to become the Assistant Head Coach at Northern Vance from 2013-2016.

Ragland served as offensive coordinator for the Raiders in 2006 when Southern Vance lost in the NCHSAA 2AA State Championship game to Shelby, 27-24. He specializes in a variety of offensive systems and will bring a new look to the Raiders this fall.

“We took our time and did our due diligence while searching for our next head football coach.” Athletic Director Joe Sharrow said of the coaching search. “ We ultimately believed that bringing Coach Ragland home to a place that he loves and is familiar with is what we needed at this time. He knows our kids, he knows our school, and I am confident that he knows what it takes to be successful here.”

Ragland will replace Lewis Young, who resigned in November after finishing his career with a 14-43 record. This will be Ragland’s first opportunity as a head coach and he has prioritized returning the Raiders to the type of success that was achieved while he was an assistant coach at Southern Vance.

“Southern Vance has a strong football tradition that I am proud to have been a part of and would like to bring back,” said Ragland in a statement. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to come home and lead the Raiders back to what we once were. I would like to thank (Principal) Rey Horner and (Athletic Director) Joe Sharrow for the trust they have bestowed upon me. Those two have created an incredibly supportive atmosphere here that I am excited to be a part of.”

Southern Vance will open the 2017 football season at home against Bartlett Yancey High School.

Vance County Friday Night Football is on the Air

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Tonight.  Double coverage of Southern Vance hosting Bartlett Yancey and Northern Vance at Southern Durham.  Pregame at 6:45 p.m. following the Joy Christian Center broadcast.  Kickoff at 7 p.m. for NV at SD and 7:30 p.m. for SV vs BY.  Join us for the live play by play on 1450 AM WIZS plus the live stream on wizs.com and via the Tunein Radio App on your computer, smartphone or tablet.

Scouting Reports by Jeff Jenkins:

For the past four years, the Spartans of Southern Durham have had good reason to consider themselves the best in the Big Eight 3A conference, and they were justified in believing they were the best 3A team in the state.  After being re-classified from 4A to 3A in 2013 and joining the Big 8, Southern swept the conference two consecutive years, won the State 3AA championship in 2013, got upset in the Playoffs in 2014, and went back to the championship game again last year.  They lost to Crest, the school they beat for the crown in 2013, to enter this season as the reigning state 3AA runners-up, but then last year’s Big 8 title – and last five wins – were forfeited due to fielding a player whose participation was based on an physical exam form that expired in late-season. The Big Eight title crown went to Orange County, which had finished second to Southern for three years running.  Whatever the record book says now,  everyone had to admit that the Spartans looked like a team that would contend with the state’s best again this year.  Head coach Darius Robinson admitted that his team had lost a few stand-outs from last year, but felt his 17 returning starters would make his team even more experienced and deeper.  Returning veterans include all-conference quarterback Jalen Greene and all-conference defenders Tackle Bobby Fuller, middle linebacker Andre Purvis, and end Ezekial Jennette.

But something went wrong.  As usual, the Spartans started their season against four tough 4A teams, all of which reached the playoffs last year. But, instead of beating 2 or 3 of the big schools and entering Conference play with their usual record of 4-1 or at least 3-2, Southern came out 2-3 against nonconference opponents.  Then, they lost to Orange County for the first time in recent memory, and by an eye-popping score of 49-7 – the Spartan’s worst defeat since 2012.  Orange was gunning for Southern, and with good reason – the Panthers had been conference runners-up to the Spartans for three straight years, AND fell to Southern in the playoffs in two of those three years as well.  Orange is undefeated this year and, with Southern Durham out of the way, they are likely to stay that way throughout the regular season.

Statistically, the Spartans do not look like an elite team; before the Orange game, they were scoring 23 points per game, compared to 34 last year, and they allowed 24 per game, compared to 19 last year.  The Orange blow-out does nothing to improve that picture.   The Offense averages a respectable but unspectacular 325 yards per game in total.  Sr. QB Jalen Green has passed for 143 yards per game and 6 TDs, and he is also the #2 rusher on the team with 53 yards per game and one TD.  Sr. WR Montrel Cooper, at 6’4,” averages 64 yards per game receiving for 2 of those TDs, followed  by Sr. Marcus McDonald at 6’3” with 53 yards per game and one score.  The rushing game is surprisingly mediocre, with only 130 yards total per game and Sr Joey Strong Jr leading the team with 83 yards per game. As predicted by Coach Robinson, Southern’s defense is indeed being led by Sr MLB Andre Purvis with nearly five tackles per game, and Sr. Tackle Ezekial Jennette with over four, but Sr. Tackle Bobby Fuller has missed three of the six games, and has not been a factor.  However, Soph DB Taron Beauford, Jr. utility player Ryan Bond and Sr. LB Dezmon Criss-Barnard have all stepped up with four or five Tackles each per game.

Northern Vance will still need to play their best game of the season to come out on top tonight, but there is a real possibility that the Vikings can go toe-to-toe with the 2016 Spartans, something they could not even hope for in previous seasons, when they were thrashed by Southern by scores of 62-6, 69-0, and, last year, 42-13.

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The Buccaneers of Bartlett Yancey, the only high school in Caswell County, invade Raider Stadium tonight under the leadership of second-year head coach David Weathersby, who is being credited with changing a culture of losing that gripped the school’s football program around the turn of the 21st century.   In Weathersby’s first game as coach, the Bucs won their 2015 season opener against Raleigh’s 4A Enloe, ended a 19-game losing streak, and laid the groundwork for a 5-6 record and their first playoff appearance since 1996.  Graduation robbed Weathersby of his starting quarterback and some other key players, but the winning season brought out a good crop of new players, and “the new BY” is continuing to rebuild.  Enloe got their revenge with a 58-35 win over the Buccaneers in this season’s opener, and 4A Person County beat them in week two, but Bartlett-Yancey has now won three in a row to bring a 3-2 record against the Raiders, who lost last year’s meeting 42-8 in Yanceyville.

This season, B.Y. features 14 seniors, including starting QB Tre Dildy, and several experienced receivers, including Sr. Jaylon Jeffries and Jr. Brandon Budd.  Among the talented newcomers are 6’2” Fr WR and kick returner Dequondre Newman, the team leader with 316 yards receiving for 4 TDs.  In the five games this season, Dildy has a 61 % completion rate, passing for 549 yards and five TDs, and rushing for three more scores.  Sr RB Shay Jeffers rushed for over 1200 yards last season on his way to an all-conference selection.  So far this season, Jeffers is on schedule to exceed his 2015 production, rushing for 1120 yards and 9 TDs so far.   In a 19-14 win over Granville Central two weeks ago, the Bucs had 477 total yards, with Dildy passing for 117 yards, and Jeffers rushing for a whopping 261 yards.

The defense is led by the linebacking group of Sr. MLB Tyree Foster who was a leader in the first five games last year, before an injury ended his season;   Jr. Joe Durden, this year’s leading tackler with 8 tackles per game; and  Jr. Hart Modlin.  As a RB,  Durden has also rushed for 2 short-yardage TDs

The Bucs offense is averaging 27 points per game, an improvement over last year’s 21 per game.  As a result of their high-scoring losses to begin this season, the defense has allowed 34 points per game, but only 19 per game in their 3 wins.  Overall the Buccaneers tend to lose big and win close, suggesting that their defense needs more improvement.  Their 42-8 win over Southern Vance last year was their highest scoring and most lopsided win of that season.

Friday Night Football 9-23-16 on WIZS

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Vance County Friday Night Football 9-23-16:

Northern Vance is on the road to Webb in Oxford.  That’s our play by play game of the week on 1450 AM WIZS as well as live streamed on wizs.com and WIZS on Tunein Radio.  We will have live score updates of Southern Vance at Louisburg as well.  Join Bill Harris and Doc Ayscue for the kickoff at 7:00 p.m. following the Joy Christian Center broadcast.

Scouting Reports from Jeff Jenkins of WIZS:

NV @ Webb — Webb Warriors head Coach Tony Midgette was only partially joking when he described his team’s lack of depth during the first week of practice this summer. J. F. Webb is one of the smallest 3A schools in the state, and Coach Midgette told his players that many of them would have to be prepared to play three or four positions.  The Warriors have been working with line-up changes during their five nonconference games and some combinations have, of course, worked better than others.  Last year, with similar challenges, Webb started strong, going into conference play with a 3-2 record, averaging scoring 29 points per game, and holding their nonconference opponents to 22 points per game.  This year, they have started 1-4, losing to both of their county rivals, Granville Central and South Granville, and by a large margin to Franklinton last week.  And their stats reflect this start – a scoring average of 20 points per game and 36 points allowed per game.

The Vikings’ nonconference statistics have compared favorably to the Warriors both last year and this season.  Last year the two teams were almost neck and neck and their 2015 match-up showed it.  Both teams started conference play with 3-2 records; both teams averaged scoring 29 points per game prior to their meeting; and the Vikings were allowing just under 20 points per game while the Warriors allowed 22.  Their contest last year went down to the wire with Northern Vance squeezing out a 35-34 victory.  Webb did not win another game last year and finished 3-8; but the Vikings won their last game against Cedar Ridge to finish 5-6.  This season, Northern Vance, like Webb, is scoring right at 20 points per game, but the Vikings have allowed only 11 points per game compared to Webb’s 36; so Defense will be the biggest difference tonight and the Vikings have the edge on that side of the ball.

And the Vikings will need to play Webb tough, regardless of the score, because the Warriors do not quit.  Three of their five games have been close, and two were high-scoring affairs that show the Warriors’ ability to take full advantage of teams with struggling defenses.  Webb took their only victory this season off Southern Vance in Week two by hanging around in spite of a 42-26 4th quarter deficit and taking full advantages of Raider errors to score 16 points in the last 3 minutes of regulation.  Then, two weeks ago at home against Louisburg, the Warriors came up just one score short in a 48-40 shoot-out.

Northern Vance will need to think shut-out tonight – because the Vikings’ best games have been shut-outs, and Webb has a leaky defense that should allow enough scoring with the Viking defense shutting down the passing game that has kept Webb alive to the very end of its two best games this season.

SV @ Louisburg —

After two consecutive playoff appearances as a small 2A team, and another as a newly reclassified 1A team, Louisburg crashed an burned last season with a new coach, a short roster, and injuries to some key starters.  The 2015 Warriors finished 1-10, averaged scoring 18 points per game, and allowed 45 per game.  They started last season 0-4, and then lost to Southern Vance 56-7, by far the raiders’ best game of 2015.  So far this season, Louisburg looks improved, beginning 1-3 with a close 48-40 win over Webb, and a respectable scoring average of 23 points, much better than last year’s 10 points for the first 4 games.

Second-year coach Dontae Lassiter has more to work with this year; he only lost 2 seniors to graduation and has 14 seniors to lead this year’s 39-man roster. And he is keeping things simple be counting on a run offense.  Senior Max Jones started last year wearing No. 81 as a tight end, played quarterback for part of last season, and returns this year as starting quarterback wearing No. 16.  Soph. back-up Cale Bolton has already seen action in 2 games. The rushing leaders so far are Sr. Quamon Person, with over 100 yards per game and 4 TDs, and Jr. Tyre Davis, with just under 100 rushing yards per game and 3 scores. Davis has also returned kicks for 330 yards, giving him a team high 724 all purpose yards, or 180 per game.

The Warrior defense is still weak, however, allowing 48 points per game so far, although to be fair, 54 of those points came last week in their 54-7 blow out by Bunn – a fate most of Bunn’s opponents will have to the accept this year.

Southern Vance, after one week off following their own big loss – 62-8 from Hertford County – also had a rough 2015, finishing 2-9, scoring 14 per game, and allowing 37 per game.  The Raiders, at 0-4 this season, have been hurt this year by injuries but, like Louisburg, have still managed to score in every game, even scoring 48 points in their 2-point overtime loss to Webb, the only opponents they have in common with Louisburg.  Those two games with Webb were similar in that both Southern and Louisburg scored 48 against the scrappy but undermanned 3A Oxford Warriors; although Louisburg came out on top, and the Raiders let the game slip away in the final 4 minutes.  Both of these teams are rebuilding, and tonight’s contest in Louisburg should be won by the team that commits the fewest turnovers and draws the fewest penalties.

Friday Night Football Scouting Reports

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WIZS 1450 AM provides double coverage tonight of Northern Vance hosting Bunn and Southern Vance hosting Hertford County.  All the radio coverage begins at 6:45 and continues until the final play is done.  Everything is On Air and streamed live at wizs.com or via WIZS on Tunein.

— Scouting Reports by Jeff Jenkins

Northern Vance finishes up a 3-game home stand with its most difficult test so far this season against regular 2A powerhouse Bunn.  The Wildcats form a team that seems to have everything a championship team needs every year.  Their coach, David Howle, has been in charge for 25 of the past 29 years (the last 4 years in a row), and they have not had a losing season since 1988, Howle’s first year.  Over the past decade, the Wildcats have been to the state playoffs every year.  Last year was the Wildcats’ best ever: They lost 2 regular season games to larger schools, but swept their Northern Carolina Conference, including a 51-18 win over Southern Vance, and went to the state finals for the first time, losing the championship game to finish 13-3 overall.  For the entire 2015 season, including playoffs, they averaged an almost unbelievable 48 points per game scoring, breaking a school record for total points scored, while allowing 23 per game.  Along the way to these impressive numbers, Bunn defeated Northern Vance handily last year 49-18.

How does this year’s Wildcats team compare to last year’s?  This time last year they were 1-2, with losses to Wilson Fike and Southern Nash, but still averaging 42 points per game scoring, and allowing 32.  This year, they are 2-1, losing to Southern Nash last week, but winning a 24-20 squeaker over Fike in their season opener.  Last year will be a hard act to follow, especially considering that so many key performers were lost to graduation, including school single-season rushing leader Tevin Perry, who gained over 2,000 rushing yards behind a huge, talented offensive line, all 5 of whom also graduated.  Even Coach Howle has admitted that an entire unit is hard to replace in one year.  However, Sr quarterback Quenten Wright is entering his fourth year as a starter, and backup Christian Murray has a strong arm, and he may see action with Wright lining up as a wide receiver.  Bunn has plenty of depth in one area – fullbacks.  Chris Bumpers, who gained 900 yards on the ground last year as a short yardage RB, returns for his senior season, and he is sharing the running duties with sophomore Raequan Dunston, who scored 2 TD’s last week on runs of 2 and 6 yards.  Also, starting defensive lineman Omar Rosa is again available as Bunn’s “human bowling ball,” lining up at fullback in short-yardage and goal-line situations.   One lucky addition for the ‘Cats is the addition of speedy running back D. J. Jones, a senior transfer from conference rival Roanoke Rapids, where he accumulated more than 1,800 yards on the ground as a sophomore.  Bunn continues its tradition of effective kickers with Thomas O’Campo, who hit a 25 yard FG last week at the close of the first half.

Even with a 2-1 start, a consistently excellent defense and a respectable 25 point scoring average, it would be overly optimistic to say that Northern Vance is in the same league as Bunn; but starting in 2017, they will in fact be in the same 2A conference, so it’s time for the Vikings to start figuring out how to play toe-to-toe against the Wildcats.

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Last year, Southern Vance traveled to Ahoskie to play the Hertford County Bears for the first time in recent memory – or maybe ever – and got their helmets handed to them in a 47-0 shut-out.  The 2015 Bears went on to finish 9-4, and second in their conference, the very competitive Northeastern Coastal 2A.  Hertford scored 38 points per game last year and allowed 24, and went to the playoffs for the 10th year in a row.  Their starting quarterback passed for over 3000 yards and 33 TD’s and scored 8 more times on the ground.  Then he graduated without leaving an experienced back-up.

In the Bears’ first three games this season, however, quarterbacking has not seemed to be a problem.  Jr. Lance Hunter has passed for 199 yards per game and 6 touchdowns, scattering his passes among eight different receivers.  Apparently the Bears coaching staff does not plan for Hunter to run the ball – he has only gained 11 yards on 7 runs – but he is flanked by Jr. RB Kyeem Perry, who averaged 115 yards rushing per game last year for 19 touchdowns, and who ran for 145 yards and 1 score in one game this year.  We are not sure why Perry did not play in the other 2 games, but the other Jr. RB,  Zion Riddick,  gained just under 100 all-purpose yards per game for all 3 games this season.  Only Perry and Riddick have gained significant yardage on the ground so far this season, which may explain the 1-2 start for the Bears.  The passing offense is alive and well, however, with 4 senior receivers available for Hunter as targets:  Jaquarii Roberson led the team last year with 113 yards receiving per game for 19 touchdowns, and he has started this season with 81 yards per game and 2 scores.  Roberson is followed by Justin Sessums, who has averaged 41 yards for 2 games. Rawshaun Beamon caught two touchdown passes in one game, but has apparently not played again;  and Perry caught a pass for a score in his one game.

Sr. Da’andre Beverly has also caught passes this season, but he is primarily an asset at defensive back.  Last season he averaged 4 solo tackles per game, led the team with 4 interceptions, running one back for a TD, and he blocked a FG and a punt.   The rest of the Bears defense is small-to-medium sized – their leading tacklers so far this year are Sr. OLB Alex Maxbaur, at 5’11 and 208 lbs with 11 tackles per game, and  Sr. DE Demetress Freeman at 6’1” and 200 lbs. with 10 per game.  The defense appears to work as a unit, however, with 4 more players averaging 5 or more tackles per game, and another 10 players with at least one tackle per game.

Offensively, Hertford County may be in for one of its weaker seasons, which seems to happen about once every 3 seasons, with very little running game, unless Kyeem Perry returns to the line-up. So the Raiders should be able to defend the pass and keep the score lower than last year.  But with no established starting quarterback until Corey Twitty Jr. returns from injury, with Malik Boyd missing playing time due to injuries, and with their tendency to stop themselves from scoring with turnovers and penalties, Southern Vance may be hard-pressed to avoid another shutout from this down-east traditional powerhouse.

The Raiders’ best bet will be to have one of the their 4 “quarterback committee” members throw the ball in the general direction of Zamari Ellis and let him out jump however many defenders he has on him at the time – a play which has produced at least one TD in every game so far this year.  Those 4 quarterbacks are also capable of gaining yards and keeping drives going – they rolled up well over 200 yards on the ground against Northern Vance last week – but the holding penalties will have to be minimized by the blockers – only 142 rushing yards went into the books last week because of the 6 or 8 penalties accrued on running plays.