Tag Archive for: #vancecountyvipers

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Look To Go 6 – 1 Against Granville Central

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In his first year as head coach of the Vance County High School Vipers, Coach Wilbur Pender has his team sitting at 5-1. Not bad for a first year coach. When asked if he expected the team to have this kind of success this season he responded, “We could be wherever we worked to be.” Right now that means sitting at the top of the conference. The Vipers are coming off their fourth consecutive victory, a hard fought 18-12 win over South Granville last week.

“They were well coached,” Pender said of the Vikings. “We took whatever the defense gave us. We were efficient enough to make South Granville’s defense stay honest,” Pender added.  With only 1 victory, on paper it looked like South Granville would be easy but the Vikings put up a fight. This week, Granville Central also is, on paper, a solid opportunity for the Vipers to move to 7-1. Granville Central is 0-7 but Coach Pender, who used to coach there, says the team is building things and is very young. With Friday’s game being somewhat of a homecoming for Pender it’s likely Granville Central would enjoy nothing better than taking the Vipers down a notch.

Pender respects what Granville Central is doing but he has been preparing some new wrinkles with the Vipers.  He says he isn’t adding anything new to what has worked but just a few tweaks here and there.

We’ll see those tweaks, perhaps, Friday night at Granville Central. Bill Harris and Doc Ayscue will broadcast the game live on WIZS beginning immediately following the Joy Christian Center broadcast around 6:45 with kickoff at 7 p.m.

 

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

SportsTalk: Frances Excited About Fall Sports at Vance County High

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“I was surprised at the offer,” new Assistant Athletic Director Christine Frances said about Vance County High School after they contacted her about the position. In fact, the position didn’t even exist until recently.  With Athletic Director Joe Sharrow also taking on the Assistant Principal’s job at the school the athletic programs needed an extra set of eyes and Frances was chosen.

Frances says that in addition to football, which kicks off Friday night, the school has women’s volleyball, cross country, women’s golf, men’s soccer and cheerleading either underway or about to be.

“Coaches are thrilled to be back to something close to normal,” she said. Many sports last year struggled during a season dominated by Covid. She said this year should be better and that it will “feel more like a sports season.”

Fans will be allowed to games this year but Frances stressed that social distancing as much as possible is one way to keep everyone safe. She also said masks should be worn particularly in the ticket and concession areas. Safety is a top priority of the school.

Frances also took a moment during her appearance on SportsTalk with Trey Snide to congratulate Joe Sharrow.  Sharrow was named as a NIAAA Certified Athletic Administrator this week.

For complete details and audio click play.

SportsTalk: Pender Ready to Kick the Football Season Off

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It’s an exciting time of year for new Vance County High School Head Football Coach Wilbur Pender. Friday night kicks off the 2021 season against long-time rival Warren County. Going into the contest Pender is looking forward to the atmosphere and for plenty of fans to show up in the stands at Viper Stadium.  Last season most teams played with no fans or a very few fans in the stands due to Covid, but it will be different Friday night, and Coach Pender is looking for those fans to be loud and help create the atmosphere that will help notch the first “W” of the season against the Eagles.

Pender has only been at the school for three weeks, and his first practice with the team was August 2nd. Off season was solid but not as long as Pender would have liked. He feels the team would have benefitted from more 7-on-7 practices to allow the timing on both sides of the ball to be better. Despite his late arrival to the Vipers, he is still enthusiastic. “I am excited to see all the players,” Pender said. He spotlighted running back Carl Stephens and QB Isarael Terry as two players who will play a big role for the Vipers this season.

Pender says the Vipers have kids who can run and kids who can catch and that he and his staff, which includes some new faces mixed in with returning staff, have to put the players in a position where they can be successful. He’s also looking to have some fun along the way. “Football should not be a job or a chore. We want the kids to love being here,” Pender said.

While Pender certainly has his eyes on the Won – Loss column, he says there is more to it than victories on the field. “My philosophy is to build great young men for life, preparing kids for almost anything they will encounter.”

The Vipers will take on Warren County at 7pm Friday night at Viper Stadium.  If you cannot attend, but sure to tune it to 1450 AM / 100.1 FM or click on Listen Live at wizs.com.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

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…

 

Coach's Corner Logo

Sports Talk 11/10/20: Mako’s Sports Partnerships; VCHS Begins Football Workouts

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

In the first segment of WIZS Sports Talk, Chad Price, Founder/CEO of Mako Medical, discussed Mako’s partnership with the ACC and Big South.

In the second segment, Hunter Jenks, head football coach of Vance County High School discussed the start of workouts for the Vipers.

Click play to hear the Sports Talk audio…

 

Town Talk 09/10/19: Vance Co. Vipers Defeat J.F. Webb Warriors

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100.1 FM / 1450 AM WIZS; Local News broadcasts M-F 8am, 12pm, 5pm