Big week ahead for both sets of unbeaten Warriors

Hunt's thrilling triple-overtime, come-from-behind 37-31 defeat of Nash Central in Friday's N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-AA football playoffs put it where no Warriors edition has ever been: 12-0.

Hunt will shoot for lucky 13 next Friday against Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons, which knocked off Triton 25-15 in the second round. Curiously, the Hunt boys soccer team may face Cardinal Gibbons this week as well. If the Warriors win at Jacksonville on Saturday night and Gibbons gets past Northern Guilford, the Crusaders will host the Warriors, also unbeaten, in the 3-A Eastern final, probably Wednesday. Of course, beating Jacksonville would be a tall order for Hunt, which has been ousted by the Cardinals the last five seasons.

Another football victory for Hunt will send the Warriors back to the 3-AA Eastern final, which they lost to Northern Guilford 28-20 last season. The defending 3-AA champion Nighthawks visit unbeaten Fayetteville Douglas Byrd in the Mideast bracket final Friday. Twenty-eight years ago, the Warriors, with current head coach Randy Raper in his second season as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator Stevie Hinnant as a Skoal-dipping, 150-pound middle linebacker, hosted Byrd in the 4-A Eastern final the day after Thanksgiving. Byrd, coached by former Fike coach Bob Paroli and with such future NFL players as Donnell Woolford and Brad Edwards, spotted the Warriors seven points before going onto a 35-14 win.

Hunt's high-scoring O'Brien commits to UNC

NOTE: Corrected version with accurate season goals total.

Hunt forward Eric O'Brien has made a verbal commitment to the University of North Carolina men's soccer program. Because Eric is just a junior, he hasn't been officially offered by UNC but he's decided he wants to be a Tar Heel, and become possibly the first Wilson County player to sign a soccer scholarship from Carolina.

O'Brien currently has 55 goals on the season, which isn't what I reported earlier today. One of the four goals O'Brien was credited with in Tuesday's 9-1 playoff win against Charles B. Aycock was actually put in the net by junior Craig Edwards.

Sooo, the 55 goals still has him ninth on the single-season scoring list of N.C. High School Athletic Association players. O'Brien probably has no chance to catch Michael Richardson, who scored 92 goals for Surry Central in 2002, a year after finding the net 87 times. But the third-highest total of 66, belonging to Eastern Alamance's Matt Smith in 2003, is reachable. Certainly if the Warriors, who will play West Craven at home in the second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs Thursday night, play at least three more games (which would match their furthest playoff foray), O'Brien should be able to land in the top five. He would need nine goals to do that.

By my count, Hunt has 152 goals this season, leaving the Warriors eight goals shy of the 10th-highest single-season total in NCHSAA history, done in 2002 by, of course, Surry Central.

O'Brien on track to shatter his own scoring mark

Hunt junior Eric O'Brien is on pace to break his own single-season scoring record for the Warriors. After a hat trick in Wednesday night's 10-1 win at Northern Nash, O'Brien has 42 goals, seven shy of the mark he set last fall. With four regular-season matches remaining, O'Brien has a great chance to hit 50 before the postseason begins. If the 3-A Big East Conference holds a postseason tournament this year, O'Brien will have at least one more, if not two chances before the state 3-A playoffs begin.

By the way, the N.C. High School Athletic Association record is 92, set by Surry Central's Michael Richardson in 2001, breaking his own mark of 87 set the year before. O'Brien won't come close to either of those numbers but if he gets to 53, he'll be in the top 10 all-time single-season goal scorers in NCHSAA boys soccer.

If the 14-0 Warriors clinch the Big East's top seed, they should be able to get to the fourth round again, where they will most likely encounter Jacksonville for the fifth straight year. The Cardinals defeated Hunt on penalty kicks in the fourth round last season. The good news for Hunt this time is the Cardinals might not be as strong whereas the Warriors seem better than they were a year ago. If Hunt wins, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons lurks as the potential winner of the "lower" bracket. Gibbons currently is ranked No. 1 in the state in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A poll, one ahead of Hunt.

Congratulations to new boys soccer state champions

The N.C. High School Athletic Association has crowned four new boys soccer champions with 1-A Hendersonville, 2-A Shelby and 3-A Waxhaw Marvin Ridge winning titles Saturday to join Greensboro Page, which captured the 4-A title Friday.

Marvin Ridge downed 3-A East champion Chapel Hill 2-1 in sudden-death overtime Saturday. The Tigers reached the final by giving No. 1 seed Jacksonville its first loss in 29 matches with a 2-1 overtime win Friday in a match that began Wednesday. The Tigers and Cardinals battled to a 1-1 tie in a downpour Wednesday night but the game officials decided the field was unplayable for overtime. So the teams reconvened Friday night at nearby Dixon High to play the decisive OT period.

Hunt falls at Jacksonville 5-0

I have some not-so-good news from Jacksonville where the Hunt High boys soccer team was defeated 5-0 in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A East semifinals.

The Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the state, finished 22-2-1 while the Cardinals, top-ranked and unbeaten through 28 matches, steams into the East final against the winner of the Chapel Hill-Cardinal Gibbons semifinal. Still no score from that one.

UPDATE at 9 p.m.: Looks like Jacksonville will get Chapel Hill in the East final as the Tiger eliminated Cardinal Gibbons 4-3.

In Erwin, Southern Nash trails Triton 7-6 at the start of the third quarter in their NCHSAA 3-AA football playoff opener. Will have updates later.

UPDATE at 9 p.m.: Southern Nash leads Triton 20-7 with about 3:30 to play in the game.

Warriors last area team standing in soccer playoffs

It seemed like the high school fall sports playoffs just started and now they're quickly wrapping up for area teams — except football, of course, which begins its postseason next week.

All the independent and Christian school playoffs are done (and congratulations to the Greenfield boys soccer team and Wilson Christian volleyball team for doing what they seem to do each fall — win a state championship.) For this area, volleyball is over and boys soccer, after just one round, is down to Hunt, which should be around for a couple more rounds.

The Warriors, ranked fifth in 3-A for much of the season, haven't been challenged for much of the season. They might find one Saturday against Jacksonville White Oak or in a potential third-round matchup against South Johnston. But Hunt should be able to get to the fourth round where it will truly have its work cut out against No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Jacksonville, assuming the Cardinals are upset before then. This could be one of head coach Dave Miller's best team.

West Carteret head coach Ben Emmons, whose team plays in the Coastal Conference with Jacksonville, told me after Hunt's 5-0 win Wednesday night the Warriors backs will have to figure out Jacksonville's dazzling scheme in the front third of the field.

But no matter what, anyone who wants to win the state 3-A boys soccer championship has known for at least two months it will probably have to beat Jacksonville to get there. So if the Warriors have to do it in the fourth round rather than the East final or the state championship, that's when it going to have to get done. But that matchup, should it materialize, will be in Jacksonville as the Coastal has seeding priority over the Big East Conference.

A look at boys soccer first-round possibilities

Here's a look at some probable N.C. High School Athletic Association first-round playoff matchups for our area high school boys soccer team based on the NCHSAA Web site pairings and the conference standings at EurosportScoreboard.com.

In the 3-A ranks, Big East Conference regular-season and tournament champion Hunt, ranked No. 5 in the state, should draw Coastal No. 3 D.H. Conley while Fike, No. 4 from the Big East, will visit Eastern Carolina Conference champion South Johnston. The Warriors' potential second-round foe should be either No. 4 Coastal Jacksonville White Oak or Waccamaw king West Brunswick. If Fike wins, it'll travel to the winner of the Northeastern Coastal No. 1 Currituck-Coastal No. 2 West Carteret match.

In a pretty interesting matchup, Charles B. Aycock, the ECC runner-up, looks to be the guest of Big East No. 2 Rocky Mount in the first round.

In the 2-A East bracket, Beddingfield, the No. 4 seed from the Eastern Plains Conference, should travel to Northeastern Coastal No. 1 Kill Devil Hills First Flight. Had the Bruins beaten Farmville Central in the EPC tournament final this week, they'd likely travel to Waccamaw No. 2 East Bladen.

Greene Central, No. 3 from the EPC, seems to be heading to East Central champion Swansboro. North Johnston, the Northern Carolina runner-up, should get Carolina 9 No. 3 Durham School for the Arts.

The first round kicks off Monday!

Warriors No. 5 in NCSCA 3-A poll

The Hunt boys soccer team keeps climbing the 3-A rankings in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association poll.

The Warriors (11-1-1) are No. 5 while 3-A Big East Conference rival Rocky Mount (13-1-2) remains at No. 12. Hunt's former 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference nemesis Charles B. Aycock (11-1-1) debuted at No. 15 this week.

Hunt has a big game at Northern Nash Wednesday night. The Knights, which fell 3-1 to Rocky Mount Monday, were 5-1 losers to the Warriors in Wilson last month but Northern Nash was without five starters in that game, head coach Joe McCarthy told me. I will be at Wednesday's showdown in Red Oak.

Those are the only teams in The Wilson Times readership area that are ranked but Tarboro is No. 6 in the 2-A poll.

Hunt-Rocky Mount soccer rivalry gets a bit too heated

The Rocky Mount-Wilson high school soccer rivalry seems to have taken on an extra layer with Wednesday night's match between Rocky Mount and Hunt.

Unfortunately, it's not a good one.

In the last four years in the now defunct 3-A NEW 6 Conference, Rocky Mount and Fike were archrivals in girls and boys soccer. There were some spirited games, at times with extracurricular activities spurring the rivalry. Former Gryphons coach Patrick Sensiba, a fiery leader, made it often clear that Fike was the team in Rocky Mount's sights. And Fike, which enjoyed quite a bit of success in the NEW 6, seemed to relish the role of the Gryphons' antagonist.

But when Sensiba departed following the 2007-08 school year, he was succeeded by Drew Nick, who spent one year at Hunt, which was then in the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference. Nick left Hunt somewhat reluctantly because he wasn't offered a teaching job at the school.

Now the Warriors are in the 3-A Big East Conference, along with Fike, Rocky Mount and the rest of the former NEW 6 schools. Because many current Warriors played for Nick, a natural rivalry has developed. Factor in the status of Hunt and Rocky Mount as state-ranked teams and Fike falling off a bit this year, it makes sense that the Warriors and Gryphons would have some intense matches this season. Fueling the fire is the fact that many Hunt and Rocky Mount players compete together on the same travel soccer teams.

That certainly was the case Wednesday night as Hunt won an emotion-charged 3-1 decision in which two yellow cards (by my count) were handed out to each team. Unfortunately for the Warriors, both their yellows went to high-scoring senior forward Aaron White who will have to sit out two games following his ejection.

CORRECTION: Since White's red card was the result of two yellows, he was merely disqualified from Wednesday's match and will not have to serve further suspension.

But the most disappointing part of Wednesday's match came early in the second half when White was taken down by Rocky Mount's Justin Hartney in the box. White was awarded a penalty kick which he converted for a 3-0 Hunt lead. However, Warriors head coach Trent Dorough took exception to what he thought was Nick yelling to players to "take him out," meaning White.

Dorough, usually a mild-mannered coach, was incensed enough to complain to the officials who conferred with Nick at midfield. Nick denied the claim even though all the Warriors on the bench raised their hands when Dorough asked if they heard him say it.

I must admit I didn't hear Nick say that but I wasn't listening intently. I will say that having known Nick in his time at Hunt, I would be very surprised if he intended for his players to cause injury to a former player. That just does not compute to me.

After the match, Nick was intent on telling his side of the story.

"If I could comment, I would never and have never had one of my kids take another player out," he said. "So the accusations from the coach on the other side are totally false and he should apologize. Not for nothing, he’s created bad blood between us."

Dorough didn't refer to the situation directly in his postgame remarks but did point to questionable officiating. (White wasn't even sent off the field following his first yellow card.)

"I hate we got out of our game, I hate what happened on the sidelines," Dorough said. "I just hate the way the game was officiated. The whole game was just a brawl; it wasn’t a soccer match. It wasn’t fun ... It wasn’t the way I like to play."

It wasn't fun for me either since I know and like both coaches and think the intensity of the match probably led to the situation. Hopefully the rematch at Rocky Mount won't be about this situation because these are two pretty good soccer teams and they put on a good show Wednesday night.

Especially the goalkeepers, Hunt junior Will Jacobs and Rocky Mount sophomore Drew Gorham. No official statistics were kept but both keepers made some spectacular saves as well as boomed punts to keep the opposing offenses off-balance.

Gorham, by the way, played for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association '93 Explosion Blue which included Hunt's Sam Hoeferkamp, among others.

Warriors take a week off, move up in the polls

A week (or has it been a month?) off for the Hunt boys soccer team hasn't hurt the Warriors in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A rankings.

Hunt (6-1-1) has moved into the No. 7 spot despite not having played since a 10-0 spanking of Southern Wayne on Sept. 9. That was Hunt's only game since winning 10-0 at Southern Wayne on Sept. 2. The Warriors kick off 3-A Big East Conference play Monday at home against Northern Nash then welcome No. 10 Rocky Mount (9-0-2) Tuesday.

Charles B. Aycock (7-1-1) is getting votes but the Golden Falcons remain outside the top 15 in the 3-A poll.

No other team in The Wilson Times readership area is ranked.

The Brittany for the Boys V isn't far off

The high school football season kicks off in less than three weeks with all three Wilson County teams in action Friday, Aug. 21. But that's not all the kicking that will go on that night as The Brittany for the Boys V cranks up at Gillette Soccer Complex with 12 games that night.

There will be another 18 games the next day, Saturday, Aug. 22, with 30 games total, five fewer than the previous Brittany for the Boys last August. It appears as though there will be 54 teams involved, with six, including Fike, playing two games. Again, four fewer than last year's total.

With school budgets being trimmed, it's not surprising The Brittany contracted a wee bit but it's still the biggest and best high school soccer showcase in the state, as the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association proclaimed last May.

Here's the schedule for The Brittany for the Boys V.

Thanks for the honors

I'm not normally one to toot my horn but here's a couple of items I thought I'd share with you.

On Sunday, I was honored by the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association as its 2009 Media Person of the Year. The award was presented to me by Brent Walston as part of the all-state ceremony at East Chapel Hill High School. As Brent (the boys soccer coach and athletic director at North Johnston) said, it was fitting that I got the award today because it was the same day Mike Petty was honored for his work with The Brittany Willis Memorial Scholarship Soccer Showcase.

Petty, who was the guest speaker (and I'll have more on that this week), was surprised when he was given the special award The Brittany, deemed "The Best Soccer Event in North Carolina." Petty, now living in Fayetteville, is a member of the original organizing committee for The Brittany and was Brittany's coach at Hunt.

For my part, I was nominated for coverage of The Brittany as well as the six-part series I did last summer, Soccer in Wilson.

I didn't issue any public thank-you's today but I would like to point out that, as someone who never played a minute of organized soccer outside a P.E. class in high school, whatever I know about the sport comes from the coaches with whom I have worked. That means Brent Walston, Ben Forbes, Toni Varacchi, Gary Hall, Glenn Griffin, Stacey Tant, Matt Akins, Michael Michalakis, Maitland Barnes, Rhine Sharp, Trent Dorough, Luke Poore, Scott Wofford, Drew Nick, Ike Onyeador and many more who have helped me understand the nuances of a sport I'm still learning.

In January, the N.C. Youth Soccer Association presented its 2009 Media Award to the Wilson Times for our coverage of the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III championships last June.

Thanks to both the NCSCA and the NCYSA for recognizing the work we've done. But as Forbes pointed out to me Sunday, I just raised the bar on myself.

That's OK, Coach. I brought my notepad and a camera to the ceremony Sunday and I've got a few stories coming up!

Area soccer players get some ink

More acclaim for a pair of highly acclaimed Wilson high school players in the Dec. 15 issue of Southern Soccer Scene, a regional soccer publication.

Greenfield's march to its 10th state 1-A championship was mentioned along with senior forward Curran Blackwell's team-best 35 goals. Under the "N.C. Soccer" notebook, Hunt junior Aaron White was saluted for setting "a new school single season scoring record with 44 goals, including eight hat tricks."

I wonder how SSS determined that White's feat was a Hunt record since very few Hunt soccer records have been kept over the past three decades. I would say that it is believed to be a record since there doesn't seem to be any challengers. If former Warriors head coach Brent Walston, now at North Johnston, didn't have anyone with more than 44 goals in his very successful 10-year run, it's very doubtful anyone had 44 goals at Hunt. And Coach Walston is known for his meticulous record-keeping.

Also, Larry Taylor reports from Morganton that his son, Collin, was featured in a story in The News Herald about his freshman season as goalkeeper at Appalachian State University. Collin, who was named to the All-Southern Conference first team and the all-freshman team, is the roommate of his former high school rival, Mark Bridges.

Taylor starred at Morganton Freedom High while Bridges, also on the SoCon all-frosh team, was an East Burke High standout.

For those who don't know, the Taylors lived in Wilson for many years where Collin learned the game playing for the Wilson Recreation Department and Wilson Youth Soccer Association, which Larry served as president for several years.

CBA wins ECC tournament

Charles B. Aycock defeated Hunt 4-2 in the finals of the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference boys soccer tournament in Pikeville on Wednesday evening.

The Golden Falcons get the No. 1 seed from the ECC in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs, which begin next week. Aycock will play a wild card entry.

Hunt, on the other hand, gets .... Fike. The Warriors and Demons split their pair of regular-season meetings. The game, which will be played at Hunt, is either Tuesday or Wednesday.

The winner will get a second-round match with the winner of the No. 1 seed from the Northeastern Coastal Conference and the No. 2 from the Coastal Conference. After that, No. 8 state-ranked Jacksonville lurks in the bracket.

Beddingfield, the ECC's No. 4 seed, will take on Northern Nash, the top seed from the NEW 6 Conference.

CBA stays No. 2 in 3-A poll

Here's a quick glance at teams in The Wilson Daily Times readership area that are ranked in their respective state polls.

Charles B. Aycock's unbeaten boys soccer team remains second in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A poll. The Golden Falcons (12-0-0) trail Asheville T.C. Roberson. After losses to CBA and Fike last week, Hunt dropped out of the top 15.

In the public school poll, defending N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A state champion Greenfield rose one spot to 10th. The Knight have won seven straight.

In girls tennis, Fike holds onto the No. 3 spot in the N.C. High School Tennis Coaches Association 3-A rankings. Rocky Mount is fifth. In the 2-A poll, Greene Central, the defending N.C. High School Athletic Association 2-A champion, is third.

High school football rankings come out Tuesday so stay tuned.

The Brittany for the Boys IV pairings announced

It's hard to believe but The Brittany Willis Memorial Scholarship Soccer Showcase for boys teams, ie, The Brittany for the Boys IV, is less than a month away.

The action begins Friday, Aug. 22, at J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex with 17 games. There will be another 18 on Saturday with, if my math is correct, 60 teams competing. That would be a record number for the Brittany, if I'm not mistaken.

Interestingly, the Wilson teams involved (Beddingfield, Fike, Hunt, Greenfield, Community Christian and Wilson Christian) are only playing one game.

The schedule for the area teams is as follows:

FRIDAY: Charles B. Aycock vs. St. Stephens, 4 p.m., Field No. 1; Community Christian vs. Wayne Christian, 4 p.m., No. 4; Wilson Christian vs. Wayne Country Day, 6 p.m., No. 4; Greenfield vs. Southwest Onslow, 8 p.m., No. 4

SATURDAY: North Johnston vs. Southern Nash, 9:30 a.m., No. 1; Beddingfield vs. Franklinton, 9:30 a.m., No. 4; Fike vs. Asheville T.C. Roberson, 11:45 a.m., No. 4; Hunt vs. Raleigh Wakefield, 2 p.m., No. 4

The complete schedule can be found at thebrittany.org.

Former Wilsonian earns national honor

Collin Taylor, who grew up in Wilson before starring for the Morganton Freedom High School boys soccer team, has landed a pretty cool honor.

Taylor, an all-state goalkeeper, received Saturday the National Soccer Coaches Association/ADIDAS Boys High School Scholar All-America Team award.

Taylor spent his youth playing soccer on several Wilson Youth Soccer Association squads. His dad, Larry, served as WYSA president for several years before his work took him and the family to Burke County just before Collin was to begin high school at Fike. (Would have been nice to see Collin in a Golden Demons the past four years!)

Matt Collins of the Morganton News-Herald did a pretty neat story on Collin.