Tag Archive for: #vcfnf

SportsTalk: Vipers Prepared to take on Knightdale

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The Vance County Vipers wind up a long stretch of away games when they travel to Knightdale for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against the Knightdale Knights.

Both teams have a 1-5 record, and Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott said he’s been reviewing film and statistics to help figure out Knightdale’s strengths.

The Knights quarterback is one of the team’s best rushers, Elliott said, so the Viper defense needs to be prepared to shut down the opponent’s run game. But they also have to be able to cover and put pressure on the quarterback when he’s in pass mode.

“If we can control the quarterback, we can control the game,” Elliott said.

As for the Vipers, Elliott said he’ll stick with the game plan that’s been in place this season, “putting an emphasis on getting better and fixing the small stuff,” he said.

In last week’s loss to Wake Forest, Elliott said the punting unit had a solid performance, and he said the fact that the Vipers were able to block a few field goals is proof that the work the team is putting in during practice is showing off a little bit.

Area High School Football Games for Week 8:

  • Vance County (1-5, 0-1 N6C) @ Knightdale (1-5, 0-1 N6C)
  • Franklinton (5-1, 1-0 N6C) @ Heritage (1-5, 0-1 N6C)
  • Wake Forest (2-4, 1-0 N6C) vs. East Wake (3-3, 1-0 N6C)
  • J.F. Webb (4-2) @ Orange (0-6)
  • South Granville (2-4) vs. Carrboro (0-6)
  • Warren County (5-1) @ Northampton County (1-5)
  • Louisburg (6-0) vs. ALA-Johnston (4-3)
  • Bunn (4-2) vs. Wake Prep (4-2)
  • Mecklenburg County, VA (1-5) vs. Magna Vista, VA (5-0)

Vance County travels to Knightdale High School for Week 8 of the 2025 season on Friday, October 10th and you can hear all the action on WIZS 1450AM, 100.1FM, and online at wizs.com with pregame starting around 6:50 p.m. and kickoff at 7:00 p.m.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vance County Football Week 7 Recap

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Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap the weekend that was with Vance County’s football game against Wake Forest, in addition to the other games in High School Football. The guys also talk about the college and NFL games from over the weekend.

High School Football Scores from Week 7:

  • Wake Forest 53 Vance County 0
  • Franklinton 23 Knightdale 19
  • East Wake 34 Heritage 28 2OT
  • J.F. Webb 37 Carrboro 7
  • South Granville 48 Cedar Ridge 0
  • Warren County 49 Southeast Halifax 0
  • Louisburg 16 Nash Central 15
  • Bunn 41 ALA-Johnston 15
  • Wake Prep 27 Roanoke Rapids 14
  • Halifax County, VA 29 Mecklenburg County, VA 14

Area College Football Scores for Week 6:

  • Clemson 38 North Carolina 10
  • Duke 45 California 21
  • North Carolina State 56 Campbell 10
  • Wake Forest 30 Virginia Tech 23
  • Virginia 30 Louisville 27 OT
  • South Florida 54 Charlotte 26
  • App State 27 Oregon State 23
  • Georgia Military College 69 Louisburg College 14

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SportsTalk: Vance County Football starts conference play on Friday

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UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

Wake Forest 53

Vance County 0

RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

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With five games behind them, the Vance County Vipers are headed to Wake Forest Friday to take on the Wake Forest Cougars. Both teams are 1-4, and Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott said he expects the Cougars are hungry for a win, just like his guys.

The Vipers are coming off a bye week, and Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle Thursday that having a few extra days to prepare was a good thing. Plus, it gave his team a little extra time to get over some injuries.

In fact, Elliott said Friday’s matchup will mark – knock on wood –  the first time all season that everybody’s fully healthy when they take the field at Trentini Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Although the last four games have resulted in losses for the Vipers, Elliott said he’s confident that facing those tough non-conference teams will pay off now that conference play is on the doorstep.

He borrowed a term he heard another analyst use and called the Vipers at this point in the season “battle tested.”

Two teams in the conference with better records than the Vipers include Franklinton High at 4-1 and East Wake at 2-3. Elliott takes it in stride. “None of those teams have played a Jordan. None of those teams has played a Northeastern,” he said.

Leading in to Friday’s game, Elliott said he and his team are excited about conference play. “We’ve talked to the kids about how our non-conference was going set us up to be ready for the conference. We’re excited to see what we can do and how much better we’ve gotten since day 1.

One of the keys to the game will be playing disciplined football, Elliott said. What he’s talking about is each player doing his job. “If each person does his job, offensively and defensively, and plays to their capability, I think we’ll be fine.”

As for the Wake Forest Cougars, Elliott said they’re a good team and are well coached. They look good offensively and defensively are pretty sound as well.

Wake Forest Head Coach Reggie Lucas, Elliott said, “knows the game of football and does a good job of coaching his guys up.”

Going head to head against teams with coaches like Lucas helps Elliott and his staff figure out what they need to work on and improve upon.

“It challenges us as coaches as well,” he said. “A lot of times you can be out-coached – and it happens…being able to see good coaches like that and coach against them – it’s fun. And we learn a lot – coaches and players alike.”

Area High School Football Games for Week 7:

  • Vance County (1-4) @ Wake Forest (1-4)
  • Franklinton (4-1) vs. Knightdale (1-4)
  • Heritage (1-4) @ East Wake (2-3)
  • J.F. Webb (3-2) vs. Carrboro (0-5)
  • South Granville (1-4) vs. Cedar Ridge (1-4)
  • Warren County (4-1) vs. Southeast Halifax (4-1)
  • Louisburg (5-0) @ Nash Central (1-4)
  • Bunn (3-2) @ ALA-Johnston (4-2)
  • Wake Prep (3-2) vs. Roanoke Rapids (1-4)
  • Mecklenburg County, VA (1-4) @ Halifax County, VA (2-3)

Vance County travels to Wake Forest High School for Week 7 of the 2025 season on Friday, October 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 at 7:00 p.m.

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SportsTalk: VCFNF Week 3 Recap

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Scout Hughes and Doc Ayscue recap Week 3 in the High School Football Season. The guys also go over scores from college and the NFL.

High School Scores for Week 3:

  • Jordan 52 Vance County 0
  • Franklinton 26 South Granville 14
  • Millbrook 48 Wake Forest 7
  • Leesville Road 50 Heritage 3
  • Panther Creek 24 Knightdale 21
  • Southeast Raleigh 52 East Wake 7
  • Bunn 71 J.F. Webb 32
  • Louisburg 42 Northampton County 0
  • Wake Prep 54 Pamlico County 8
  • Hopewell (VA) 16 Mecklenburg County (VA) 14

College Scores around our area for Week 2:

  • North Carolina 20 Charlotte 3
  • Illinois 45 Duke 17
  • NC State 35 Virginia 31
  • Wake Forest 42 Western Carolina 10
  • East Carolina 56 Campbell 3
  • App State 20 Lindenwood 13
  • Vanderbilt 44 Virginia Tech 20
  • Old Dominion 54 NC Central 6
  • Presbyterian College JV 39 Louisburg College 29

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SportsTalk: 1-1 Vipers Ready to Face Jordan Falcons Friday

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UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

Jordan 52

Vance County 0

RECAP MONDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

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Vance County Vipers Head Coach Aaron Elliott was able to find something positive in last week’s 33-6 loss to South Granville High School, and that’s enough to keep him and the team focused on Friday’s matchup against the Jordan Falcons.

The offense racked up “a considerable amount of yards,” Elliott told WIZS’s Scout Hughes and George Hoyle. “We improved from the week before. We’re not where we want to be, but we improved offensively.”

Elliott said there will be a half dozen or so JV players dressed out, mainly because of some lingering injuries hanging around.

“I’ve never had the injury bug hit us like it’s gotten us the last two weeks,” he said. Zion Thornton is still nursing an ankle injury he sustained in a pre-season scrimmage, for example.

“Our main goal with him – and everybody really – is to get them healthy for conference time,” Elliott said.

But he’s not looking past Jordan, which he said is a good team with a solid coaching staff. They’re 2-0 in the young season, and Elliott said the Falcons beat two good teams – a 22-20 victory over Leesville Road and a 30-7 romp over cross-county rival Southern School of Energy and Sustainability (formerly known as Southern Durham).

“I’ve told my guys all week, if we’re prepared and (we) do not make mistakes – if we play a mistake-free ball game, we can definitely compete,” he said.

Keys to the game are making sure the players are playing assignment football and executing the plays.

“We’ve talked all week about executing,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good game plan, we’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to line up right defensively and we’ve got to do all the small things offensively,” he added.

The Labor Day Holiday meant a shortened week of practice for the Vipers, but Elliott said the team has had a couple of really good days. At the team meeting, Elliott and his staff addressed first thing all the missed assignments and alignments that hampered the Vipers against South Granville.

“We made too many mistakes,” Elliott said of his team’s performance last week in Creedmoor. “The very first play on defense we lined up wrong.” But he’s not one to wallow too long in what could have been.

He told his team not to let that game define who they are as a team. “We want to win. We want our best out there, but we have to think about us being healthy going in to conference play.”

“We built this schedule to make us better…the next three weeks are going to be tough,” Elliott said, but that’s ok because it will only help toughen up the team for what Elliott hopes will be  strong conference play that extends through the regular season and in post-season play.

And, just for the record, the last time Vance County took the field against Jordan was in Elliott’s first year as head coach. After a lackluster first half performance, Elliott was able to rally his team for a second half surge and ultimately a W with a 28-27 final score.

“I’ve definitely learned, especially from that season, that these kids are going to fight to the end,” Elliott said. “Our kids didn’t fold.”

Vance County hosts Jordan on Military and First Responders Appreciation Night for Week 3 of the 2025 season on Friday, September 5th 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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SportsTalk: Vance County Prepares for South Granville

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UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

South Granville 33

Vance County 6

RECAP TUESDAY ON SPORTSTALK 

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

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 

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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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TownTalk: Vance County Friday Night Football A Month Away

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The Vance County Vipers 2025-26 football season kicks off Friday, Aug. 22 with a 7 p.m. home game against non-conference opponent Warren County.

Head Coach Aaron Elliott and his staff are preparing for the upcoming season that puts them in a new conference, thanks to a huge realignment back in March by the N.C. High School Athletic Association. As part of the realignment plan, the NCHSAA expanded from 1A to 4A classification to an 8A classification. VCHS is in the 6A classification.

VCHS is one of six schools in the Northern Six conference, along with 6A Franklinton High School, and four 7A Wake County high schools: East Wake, Heritage, Knightdale and Wake Forest.

WIZS’s Scout Hughes discussed the upcoming season with SportsTalk regulars Doc Ayscue and George Hoyle on Tuesday’s TownTalk. The first game of the season is just one month away, and the trio chatted about this year’s team and the opportunities that lie ahead.

“I’m ready for some football,” Hoyle said, adding that he’s looking forward to the new season and getting off to a strong start in a new conference.

Ayscue said he’s interested in seeing new faces and new names on the field “and how they improve as year goes along – how you start and how you finish,” he said.

Hoyle said that although the team will miss some key contributors from last year, he is hopeful that the Vipers will hold their own in conference play.

The Wake County schools are newer schools, he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be right there with them,” he said of the Vipers’ competitiveness.

WIZS’s longtime game announcer Bill Harris phoned in with a question about how the lack of local teams on the schedule may affect attendance.

“With this schedule, there’s no Oxford Webb, no Louisburg, Bunn,” Harris said that would ordinarily draw local interest.

“Football is a sport that brings a lot of ‘gate,’” he said.

Indeed, J.F. Webb is not on the schedule, but the Vipers are set to play Granville County’s other high school, South Granville, in an away game on Aug. 29.

Ayscue said he hoped Webb would return to the schedule.

Both Granville County high schools are classified as 5A.

The non-conference teams included in this season’s lineup all made the playoffs last year, it was noted.

Hughes said, “Coach Elliott is trying to make them better, more prepared for the post-season” with the schedule that he’s built.

Last year’s regular-season game against Rocky Mount, for example, was a hard-fought battle that ended with a 23-22 W for the Vipers on the road.

Hughes’s prediction: Folks who follow Vance County football are going to be “very excited” about the prospects for this season.

 

 

Here’s the complete schedule for the Vance County Vipers football season:

Aug. 22 – Warren County (home)

Aug. 29 – South Granville (away)

Sept. 5 – Jordan (home – Military/First Responders Appreciation Night)

Sept. 12 – Rocky Mount (home – Homecoming)

Sept. 19 – Northeastern (away)

Oct. 3 – Wake Forest (away)

Oct. 10 – Knightdale (away)

Oct. 17 – Heritage (home – Breast Cancer Awareness Night)

Oct. 24 – East Wake (away)

Oct. 31 – Franklinton (home – Senior Night)

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High School Football Recap and Playoffs

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— by Jeff Jenkins

Following a close 20-14 Optimist Bowl victory over Northern Vance last Friday night, Southern Vance finished the 2017 football season with a 6-5 overall record — the Raiders’ first winning season since 2011 ! Although the Raiders’ 5-3 Northern Carolina 2A Conference record was not quite good enough for a playoff berth, first year head Darry Ragland and his team hope to carry some momentum into the offseason, with plans to rebuild around a crop of young players who will return without their senior leaders: QB Elijah Stewart, WR Kyree Ford, RB Tyrese Henderson, and wounded warrior Zamari Ellis, who missed the entire season with a foot injury.

Meanwhile over at Northern Vance, first year head coach Antwain Cook and his Vikings will remember the 2017 season as one of mostly disappointments, but with evidence of better things to come. Their offense, which had to completely regroup after Elijah Stewart and Kyree Ford transferred to Southern Vance, was shut out in 3 of their first 4 games, but improved over the last two-thirds of the season, scoring points against Warren County, Roanoke Rapids, and Bunn, and collecting their two wins against Louisburg (17-14) and Webb (33-13). Almost as sweet as another win, the Vikings led Southern Vance 14-0 at the half of last week’s Optimist Bowl, and the outcome was closer than most anyone predicted!

AND NOW the playoffs begin, with undisputed Northern Carolina 2A Conference champs South Granville (11-0) seeded #3 in the 2AA East, Bunn (8-3) at #8, and Roanoke Rapids at #13. Granville Central, only 5-6 overall, but the NCC’s 1A champs (via their win over Louisburg) is seeded #4 in the 1AA East and has a Bye this Friday, while all three 2A teams play their first round this Friday.

Check out this same spot on the Web next week for a report on which NCC teams survive the first round.