Tag Archive for: #VanceCountyHighSchool

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Ready For Northern Durham

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“It feels like the universe is back set right,” said Vance County High School Head Football Coach Wilbur Pender about the return of the Vipers to the field this Friday night. The Vipers have missed the last two games due to a Covid exposure. Now they are ready for some football.  Northern Durham, 1-3 on the year, will travel to Henderson to take on the Vipers who put a 2-1 record on the line.

Coach Pender said the Vipers have had a good week of practice for a team coming off quarantine. He expected some drop off after missing two ball games but he and his coaching staff have worked hard to make sure any drop off has been kept to a minimum.

The last game the Vipers played was a victory against Durham-Riverside and Coach Pender said the secret of the win was that the team executed better. They will have to be consistent about execution to be the team that Coach Pender has in mind. While Northern Durham may be 1-3, the Vipers will have to be on top of executing their game plan. Northern Durham is big and their losses have been against very stiff competition: perennial state power Scotland County along with Knightdale and Wakefield.  Those two Wake County teams play in one of the toughest 4A conferences in the state.  Northern Durham is expected to run the ball about 80% of the time and Vipers have had some trouble with stopping the run so far this season.

Coach Pender says the Vipers will need to run the ball, help the quarterback, catch the ball and tackle better. “I’m still learning,” Pender says of his first year. “We are improving each and every day,” added the coach. “I want to be undefeated,” continued Pender. While that won’t be possible this year, the Vipers are looking to become a force to be reckoned with. “Vance County has a pretty good football team. The state is going to be knowing about that soon,” said Pender.  A bold statement from a first year coach. Perhaps Northern Durham will be one of the first schools to discover just how good the Vipers are.

The game will be broadcast live on WIZS with Trey Snide and Doc Ayscue. Airtime is 6:45 with kickoff at 7pm from Vance County High School.

 

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers To Return To The Field On Sept. 24th

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There may be some who recall the old PAC 6 – 4A conference and hard fought battles between the Vance Vikings and the Northern Durham Knights at Veterans Field in downtown Henderson or at Durham County Stadium. Those two teams hooked up for some great high school football games back in the 1980’s.  While the Vikings are no longer with us, their spirit remains in the Vance County Vipers and they will once again tangle with the Northern Durham Knights in Durham on Sept. 24th. It will be the Vipers first game since defeating Durham-Riverside almost two weeks ago where, unfortunately, they were exposed to Covid shuttering the school’s football program for two weeks. The good news is that even though there was exposure, none of the Viper’s players or coaches tested positive.

Vance County Head Football Coach Wilbur Pender said today on SportsTalk with Trey Snide, “This week has been something else. It’s different. It’s weird.  When you have football in the fall and have to sit on your hands for two weeks you get a bit antsy.”

While the team has been quarantined coaches have stayed in touch via phone and computer. Coach Pender said he and his staff check in on the players to make sure they eat right, get in workouts instead of playing video games and stay on top of their school work. “Players are chomping at the bit,” Pender added about the chance to return to action.  However, Pender also noted that the health and well being of players and staff is the top priority. They won’t have to wait much longer as the quarantine ends Friday and the students return to school and practice on Monday to begin preparations for the Knights.

They will have their work cut out for them too. The Knights boast several offensive line men on the northside of 300 pounds and will run hard at the Vipers. The Knights are 1 -2 having been beaten by Scotland Co. 52 – 0 and losing 56 – 6 against Knightdale. There only victory was a 25 – 23 win against Franklinton.

Meanwhile, the Vipers put their 2 – 1 record on the line but Coach Pender feels good about his chances. Effective execution on offense, allowing a good mix of run and pass should put the Vipers where they want to be against Northern Durham. “Any play can become a home run play,” Pender said.

The Vipers will play the Knights on Friday Sept. 24th in Durham with kick off at 7pm.

Remember to listen to the Live Play by Play on WIZS Radio if you are unable to attend the game.

 

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Hope To Keep Winning Once They Return To The Field

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The life of football coach can be filled with great joy and equally great frustration. Vance County High School Head Football Coach Wilbur Pender has seen both in the last three weeks. After winning the opening game of the season against Warren County, the Vipers were shut out by Roanoke Rapids but rebounded last Friday night with a 47 – 36 victory over Durham Riverside in what turns out to be the team’s first win over a 4A school. With quarterback Nazir Garrett dialing up 5 Touchdown passes and the ground game chewing up 200 years, the Vipers were looking forward to Friday night’s game against Northern Durham. Did we mention frustration? Yes, and that frustration is, of course, due to Covid. A Covid exposure will push the Northern Durham game back to a bye week and the following week’s game against Jordan has been cancelled.

“We can only control things we can control,” said coach Pender on Thursday’s SportsTalk with Trey Snide. While the coach might not be able to tackle Covid, he can be pleased with his team’s performance this past Friday night and he feels the Roanoke Rapids loss is what paved the way for the win over Riverside. “That loss helped focus the team,” Pender said. After an excellent week of practice Pender said the team was confident and executed the prepared game plan paving the way for the victory.

“I’m never going to say I’m satisfied. I’m always looking for improvement,” Pender said of his team. He doesn’t feel the team has hit its stride yet, particularly on defense. His defensive team is young with quite a few freshmen and those players are making freshmen mistakes. Pender says they need to work on tackling and creating more turnovers so his offense has more opportunities.

With Covid in the picture Pender says his biggest worry is that the team will have a fall off once they return to the field. “It’s like building a plane as you are flying it,” Pender said of the challenges of his first year coaching the Vipers. Hopefully, the remainder of the season will see more of the joy and less of the frustration once the Vipers are back on the field.

 

Vance County High School

Vance County High School Cancels Upcoming Football Games

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While Kerr Vance Academy has suffered few disruptions due to Covid, Vance County High School is not as fortunate. According to the school’s athletic director, Joe Sharrow, this Thursday night’s scheduled JV Football game and Friday night’s varsity game and next week’s JV and varsity football games have all been cancelled due to a Covid exposure. The school hopes to be able to make up the games at some point in the near future.

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Pender Announced As New Vance County High Football Coach

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Henderson, N.C. – The Vance County Board of Education has approved Wilbur Pender as the new Head
Football Coach at Vance County High School.

Coach Pender is a Franklin County native who graduated from Franklinton High School before continuing his football and academic career at Catawba College. Following his collegiate playing career as a defensive lineman, Pender pursued a career in education and coaching where his experience includes positions as a Math teacher and assistant football coach at East Montgomery High School, Northern Vance High School, Olympic High School, and Clover High School (South Carolina).

He will be joining Vance County High School after most recently serving as the Head Football Coach at
Granville Central High School this past school year. “Coach Pender is a great leader and role model who takes his responsibilities as both a teacher and a coach very seriously” said Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Joe Sharrow of Pender. “He is extremely intelligent, has a passion for teaching, and has demonstrated the ability to establish positive relationships with students, staff, parents, and community members. Having grown up in the area and having previously taught and coached at Northern Vance High School, he is familiar with our schools and community and we are very excited to welcome him back. I have no doubt he will be a strong addition to the Viper family.” Pender will replace Hunter Jenks, who coached the Vipers for just one season.

“I am beyond excited to get started at Vance County and really dive in and invest in the future of the program.” Pender said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the opportunity from Principal Horner, Athletic Director Sharrow, and Vance County Schools for trusting me to lead the Vipers. I loved my time at Northern Vance working with the kids then and now with both schools as one I feel this place is set up for sustainable success on and off the field. There are not many one high school counties left in the state and it’s truly the best situation to have. I can’t wait to get the youth program and middle school program involved with us because we are one family. Go Vipers!”

The Vipers are set to begin the 2021 season at home on August 20th in the County Line Clash rivalry game with Warren County High School

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Vance County High School

Vance County High School Resumes Online Learning January 6

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— written from information courtesy of Vance County High School on Facebook

Vance County High School will resume online learning on January 6th.

In a Facebook post seen below, Principal Rey Horner has provided a number of timely and important reminders for students.

He wrote, “During third quarter, you will take whichever course is on your schedule for first and second period.”  Teachers are reaching out Monday and Tuesday.

Attendance is important.  Horner wrote, “All students will be expected to be present for their virtual class on Wednesday. Please remember that attendance does count and it is important that you earn these credits and do not fall behind.”

If a student is behind in his or her work, it will require extra effort and the time is now.  Horner wrote, “We are now in the early stages of creating a plan for students who have fallen behind to catch up. It will require patience, determination and work on the students end… but it can be done. Please know that we are all in this together.”

Please consider reading Principal Horner’s entire message.

Vance County High School

Vance County Vipers Football Using Quarantine To Transition

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WIZS SportsTalk (M-F at 1pm) with host Trey Snide and co-host Ron Noel recently featured the first-year head varsity football coach of the Vance County Vipers, Hunter Jenks.

Jenks said the first year has been a lot of good. He said, “The whole world is dealing with changes, and with changes, you just have to be open minded and make the most of it. Of what we’ve been able to do, I’ve been very pleased and excited to just start the process moving forward.”

At this moment he thinks the team is right where it needs to be as he and the other coaches try to keep the terminology familiar, like it was in the past. “One of the things we try to believe in is continual improvement and realizing everyday if you get a little bit better, then we might not be were we want to be right now, but we’ll get there,” Jenks said.

The coach thinks he has tremendous talent on his team in the younger grades. As for the seniors and returning players, names like Saimir Best, Tra’On Lyons, Kevon Burton will be familiar. Jenks said, “I’m really excited. I think we have talent in all four grades. We have some people who have really used quarantine to their advantage, and are going to be completely different players than they were last year.”

The Vipers’ season starts February 26. Vance County Friday Night Football on WIZS will be live with the play by play.

In the second segment of the show, Trey and Ron discussed the outstanding recruiting class UNC football was able to land.

Press play…

 

Vance County High School

Town Talk 08/18/20: Sharrow Assumes Dual Role of VCHS Assistant Principal, Athletic Director

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

Joe Sharrow, athletic director and recently named assistant principal for Vance County High School, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Serving as athletic director at Southern Vance High School, and maintaining the title after the consolidation of Northern and Southern Vance into Vance County High School in 2018, Sharrow said he has spent the past several years earning credentials and gaining experiences that will help him excel in the administrative position.

Sharrow’s new role comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has many school systems in NC, including Vance County Schools, choosing to operate under Plan C – fully remote learning – at least through the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 academic year.

“With all of the changes we are experiencing in our school system right now, I do believe I have a skill set that can be very beneficial from a leadership perspective,” Sharrow stated.

If adding assistant principal duties to his plate was not enough of a challenge for Sharrow, he will also have to contend with an athletic season that is vastly different from the norm.

In addition to making schedule changes to other sports, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Board of Directors voted last week to move football to the spring. The high school football regular season will now begin early February 2021, end in early April and include just seven games. Some form of a playoff is still expected and is currently under review.

Sharrow explained the NCHSAA has asked school systems to hold off on scheduling until September 4, at which time further guidance on a playoff system is expected.

Expressing concern for the health of student-athletes who have previously traveled longer distances to play in Chapel Hill, Durham, or Pittsboro, Sharrow said he supports a sports schedule that focuses on neighboring Granville, Franklin and Warren counties this year.

“I’m very much in favor of a more regional focus on our athletic schedule,” Sharrow admitted. “We need to get creative; desperate times call for desperate measures. I believe that we can make a schedule work that is regional and, quite frankly, something our community would be more interested in.”

While this year in high school athletics promises to be challenging for all involved, Sharrow said he is looking forward to tackling the obstacles while also acclimating to new responsibilities.

“This was always a career goal of mine – something I wanted to try and something I believe I can do,” said Sharrow. “People in this community have come to know me as an athletics person. I do love sports and high school athletics; it’s a passion of mine. In addition, I do have a passion for education. In fact, I went to college to be a teacher. I’ve been working at the school [SVHS/VCHS] in other capacities for nine years, and I’m really excited to be able to impact our school system in another way.”

To hear the interview in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.

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Coach’s Corner 08/14/20: Chad Wilson Named Head VCHS Boys Basketball Coach

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THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

-Press Release, Vance County High School

The Vance County Board of Education has approved Chad Wilson as the next head boys basketball coach at Vance County High School. He teaches physical education at the school. 

Coach Wilson is a Vance County native who graduated from Northern Vance High School before continuing his basketball career at Louisburg College and Livingstone College. Following his collegiate playing career, Wilson became an assistant coach for Vance-Granville Community College for three seasons before returning to his high school alma mater to serve as varsity assistant and head JV coach under long-time coach Wilton Baskett, whom he played for. 

Wilson has compiled a record of 79-17 in five seasons as head JV basketball coach at Northern Vance and Vance County, including a 37-1 stretch from 2017-2019. Notably, he also has a record of 13-0 as interim head varsity basketball coach at Vance County, filling in for Wilton Baskett for a portion of the 2018-2019 season that saw the Vipers win the Northern Carolina Conference championship and make a run to the 4th round of the NCHSAA tournament. Wilson was also an assistant when Northern Vance won the 2017-2018 Northern Carolina Conference championship. 

“Coach Wilson has proven that he is an effective coach who can bring out the best in his players,” Athletic Director Joe Sharrow said of Wilson. “He has a passion for teaching and coaching, has demonstrated the ability to establish positive relationships, and is a tremendous role model for our students. Coach Wilson is a valued member of the Viper family and has earned this opportunity to lead our boys basketball program.”

Wilson will replace his former high school coach and coaching mentor, Wilton Baskett, who retired in March after a 37-year coaching career that saw him surpass the 400-win mark this past season. 

“It is a great honor to become the next head basketball coach at Vance County High School,” Wilson said in a statement. “I am from Vance County and grew up dreaming about the opportunity to work with and coach the kids from my hometown. I have been a part of the culture that we have established here and look forward to continuing the growth of our program and giving back to the kids who now play on the same courts and in the same gyms where I fell in love with the game of basketball.” 

The Vipers are hopeful to begin the 2020-2021 season on December 4, as outlined by the amended calendar released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

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Coach’s Corner 06/30/20: Hunter Jenks Named New VCHS Head Football Coach

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100.1 FM ~ 1450 AM ~ WIZS, Your Community Voice ~ Click to LISTEN LOCAL

-Press Release, Vance County High School

The Vance County Board of Education has approved Hunter Jenks as the new head football coach at Vance County High School. He will also teach physical education at the school. 

Coach Jenks makes his way to Vance County with an impressive background as both a player and a coach. A Wake Forest native, Jenks was a standout four-sport letterman at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School before playing college football as an offensive lineman at Elon University. At Clayton, Coach Jenks took over for a Comets program coming off a 3-8 season and recorded a 28-10 record over three seasons including a 13-1 record in 2017. That season, he led the Comets to an undefeated regular season and a Greater Neuse 3A Conference Championship before falling 38-31 to Eastern Guilford in the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs. 

Coach Jenks was recognized as the Greater Neuse Conference and Johnston County Coach of the Year in 2017 for his efforts. He has also coached 31 players who have earned athletic scholarships and multiple participants in the Border Bowl, Shrine Bowl, East-West All-Star Game, USA Bowl, Under Armour All-American Game, and U.S. Army All-American Game. 

“We had many outstanding candidates, but it became clearly apparent that Hunter Jenks is the right person to lead our football program,” Athletic Director Joe Sharrow said of the coaching search. “Coach Jenks is a great leader and a proven coach who will serve as a tremendous role model for our students. He is football savvy, has a passion for teaching, and has demonstrated the ability to establish positive relationships with students, staff, parents, and community members. I have no doubt he will be a strong addition to the Viper family.” 

Jenks will replace Darry Ragland, who resigned in January after leading the Vipers to a 13-10 record over two seasons. The Vipers graduated seventeen seniors and are expecting many new contributors at key positions. 

“I am excited and honored to be the next head coach at Vance County,” Jenks said in a statement. “Growing up and coaching in the area, I know the potential Vance County has in football. When it’s safe and allowed, I very much look forward to developing relationships with the players, families, and community members.” 

The Vipers are hopeful to open the 2020 football season as scheduled on the road at Bunn High School on August 21.