Tag Archive for: #vipers

Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Elliott And Vipers Prepare To Kickoff 2022 Season

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Twelve midnight!  12:01 a.m. Monday to be exact.  That’s when the Vance Co. Vipers football team will begin the first official practice of the 2022 season.  According to Coach Aaron Elliott, the team is excited about the “midnight madness” practice.  The team will gather around 9 p.m. Sunday to prepare and learn the rules and expectations from Elliott and his coaching staff. “I’ve always wanted to have a midnight practice. I’m super excited,” Elliott said on Thursday’s SportsTalk.

“We have a special group of kids. Very mature. They stick together and hold each other accountable,” Elliott said of the 2022 Vipers. Right now Elliott has between 45 and 50 kids. Twenty of those will be on the JV team with the remainder making up the varsity unit. The Vipers have not had a JV team for several years but this season Elliott has re-established the JV team and they will have a full schedule.

Coach Elliott, in his first season, has been building relationships with the Vipers. He has taken them bowling, eaten dinner and brought a water slide to the school. He hopes all of this will add up to the Vipers playing as a team. “Talent and good players don’t necessarily make a great team,” Elliott said, citing the Louisburg Warriors team where he was a coach a few seasons ago. Louisburg went deep in the playoffs that season because of team work not because he had the best talent.  He’s hoping for the same thing to take place with the Vipers.

The Vipers, who made it to the playoffs last season, have a strong core to build around.  Elliott feels the receiver corp, anchored around Israel Terry, is particularly strong and Quarterback Nazir Garrett has also been impressive. Elliott adds the offense is ahead of his expectations.

On August 12th the Vipers will host the annual Jamboree with Cedar Ridge, Western Guilford and Roanoke Rapids participating and then on Friday night, August 19th, the season gets underway against Warren County – a team that Elliott says the Vipers will have to be ready for because the Eagles don’t quit.

You can catch the action all season long on Vance Co. Friday Night Football on WIZS beginning with the Vipers traveling to Warren County to take on the Eagles.

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Vance County High School

Sportstalk: Noel Readies Vipers for Fall Sports

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After 15 seasons of guiding Granville Central as athletic director, Ray Noel has started his first season in that same role with Vance Co. High School. Noel is currently preparing for the upcoming fall sports season. “I’m learning a lot and putting my spin on this,” Noel said on Tuesday’s SportsTalk show on WIZS.

While students are still on summer break, things are starting to happen such as the fall meeting for parents and athletes which takes place this Friday at the high school at 6:30pm. It’s a required meeting for those interested in fall sports and will give student athletes the opportunity to meet coaches and learn more information about playing sports this year.

This time of year Noel is busy preparing for football. The first game is August 19th against Warren County in Warrenton and leading up to that will be the first practice which takes place on August 1st at 12:01am.  It’s a fun and interesting way to get practice started Noel said and should have solid participation.  “We’ve had 45 to 50 kids for football camps,” Noel said.

On Friday, August 12th the annual jamboree will take place at 6pm at the high school and the following Friday the Vipers will tangle with the Warren County Eagles followed by two games at home.

Follow the Vipers all season long on WIZS for Friday Night Football with live play by play which, of course, will begin on Friday night, August 19th at Warren County.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Vipers Head For State Playoffs

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Dixon High School in Onslow County will be taking to the road for their first round state playoff softball matchup against the Vance Co. Vipers.  The Vipers have had a long road as well but not because of travel. The team, coached by Jordan Garrett Wilder, got off to a slow start but built momentum as the season as moved along. At one point the Vipers put together a five game winning streak finishing the regular season with an 8-6 record overall and 7-2 in the conference finishing second to South Granville.  The game, which will be played in Henderson, is scheduled to start at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.

“We are hoping for a good practice and be ready for tomorrow’s game,” Wilder said.  The final regular season game was to have happened Friday night but was canceled due to the weather. An extra day off may help the Vipers to be ready for the contest against Dixon.

Wilder said her seniors, such as Madison Ayscue and Jasmine Richardson, have been a big reason why the Vipers have been successful this season. “She can play anywhere you put her,” Wilder said of Richardson. She not only leads the team in batting average but also has 15 stolen bases to her credit this year.  Richardson’s ability to play anywhere will help the Vipers tomorrow as the team suffered an injury in a game last week against South Granville when an infielder got cleated and will miss 10 days.

Seniors are not the only reason the Vipers qualified for the playoffs.  Wilder also spoke of the success that sophomore pitcher Blake Vick has had this year. Vick has racked up over 100 strike outs this season.

Wilder said the team’s slow start was due to some players  never having played the sport but she was looking for athletes that could grasp the rules and the game.  She and her staff have taken those players and crafted them into a winning program. One that is getting noticed too.  Even the coaches at South Granville told Wilder the Vipers are heading in the right direction.

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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: Pender Preparing Vipers For Rain And Vikings

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While the Vikings of South Granville High School may not come from the land of ice and snow, as the song says, weather may very well be a factor in tomorrow night’s homecoming game at Vance County High School.

South Granville brings a 1-5 record to Henderson to face the 4-1 Vipers but Vipers Coach Wilber Pender explained that the South Granville record is somewhat deceiving. Pender said the Vikings losses have been to some very strong competition such as Orange, Hillside, Heritage, Southern Nash and Lee County. “South Granville has challenged themselves,” Coach Pender said on Thursday. “They are battle tested,” he added.  South Granville will likely keep the ball on the ground which, considering the 70% chance of rain Friday night, might be smart. “They are not going to stop until you decide to stop it,” Pender said of the South Granville offense.  However, the Vipers have a ground attack of their own with Dave Vines-Holder, who racked up nearly 200 yard last week against Carrboro and Carl Stephens who added nearly one hundred yards in the 36-12 win over the Jaguars last Friday night.

Coach Pender felt that while the team played well against the Jaguars he is still not satisfied. “We are making progress and improving each week. We are putting in the work and it’s starting to show on the field,” the coach said.

Those are things Pender can control but the weather is not. He says that rain is just another element to the game. He has had the Vipers practicing with a wet ball in anticipation of a wet field and while the weather may have an impact, Pender says that the game “comes down to focus”.  For Vance County the rain will pose more challenges for the passing game than the ground game and the staff feels that receivers must focus on catching the ball. Those pass routes may be a bit shorter too.

As Pender prepares for the Vikings and the elements he says he has concerns about about inconsistencies with the Vipers. On some series, he says, the team looks great while others are not. As the team plays their second conference game Friday night Coach Pender says the team in the conference that gives him the most nightmares is Vance County because of those inconsistencies.

Tomorrow night will be the Vipers first home in several weeks and with homecoming taking place Pender expects to have a great home turnout, rain or not.

The Vipers kick off against the South Granville Vikings at 7:00 tomorrow night.  WIZS will have live coverage with Trey Snide and Doc Ayscue beginning immediately following the Joy Christian Center Broadcast around 6:45.

 

Vance County High School

VIPERS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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VIPERS FOOTBALL PREVIEW

North Lenoir at Vance County

Saturday, October 15th, 2018

Game Time: 1:00 PM

Southern Vance lost last year’s first-ever meeting with the Hawks in a 50-36 shootout, but N. Lenoir went on to a 5-6 record (2-4 in their conference) and missed the playoffs.  The Hawks’ 2017 offense, a lot like this year’s Vipers on paper, was not too bad,  averaging 25 points per game, and breaking 40 points in 4 of their 5 wins;  but their defense had a lot of holes in it, so when they lost they lost big, allowing an average of 34 points per game.

First-year coach Jim Collins inherited an improved program, elevated by his predecessor from records of 2-9 in both 2014 and 2015, to 6-6 in 2017, and 5-6 last year.  This year’s 50-man roster includes 16 seniors, so there should have been a core to build on.  But the Hawks were 0-3 as of September 7 this season, and they missed 3 games in a row because of the hurricane.  Returning to action against conference opponent Greene Central last week, the Hawks lost 42-26. Meeting a winless team at home who has similar challenges to their own, the Vipers have a clear opportunity to notch their second victory before entering their conference home stretch.

Catch all the action right here on WIZS 100.1 FM / 1450 AM and online at www.wizs.com.

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 High School

VIPERS IMPROVE IN 40-20 LOSS TO TOUGH RED DEVILS

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VIPERS IMPROVE IN 40-20 LOSS TO TOUGH RED DEVILS

— by Jeff Jenkins

The Vance County High School Vipers continued their three-game road trip Friday night against Red Springs, a three-hour ride to the south beyond Fayetteville. In spite of clear improvement in all aspects of the their offense, the Vipers could only manage three touchdowns and took a 40-20 defeat. The game was very similar to the opener against Franklinton as Red Springs is also a hard-running team. Viper Quarterback Samien Burwell’s only touchdown pass against Franklinton last week was called back on a Viper penalty, and he threw five interceptions. Against Red Springs, though, Burwell threw a TD pass to Josh Joyner in the second quarter, took better care of the ball, and ran for a touchdown late in the game. Between Burwell’s scores, Noah Terry ran for a TD, just as he did at Franklinton. As happened at Franklinton, however, VCHS found itself in a hole at halftime, and was unable to make up the deficit in the face of continued scoring by the Red Devils.

Vance County Friday Night Football on WIZS will be on the air next on Thursday night this week (August 30) as VCHS travels to Beddingfield.

For all VCHS fall sports schedules, click here.