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.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
How to build a basketball arena in 8 days
Here's a really cool time-lapse video of the stands and basketball court being constructed on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, where later today top-ranked North Carolina and Michigan State will tip off the season in San Diego.
The video was shot by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Lowell Whitman.
We've got some local folks at the game today and next week I hope to have a story on their experiences at this unique event helping to celebrate Veterans Day.
If you know a vet, give him or her five for helping keep us alive.
The video was shot by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Lowell Whitman.
We've got some local folks at the game today and next week I hope to have a story on their experiences at this unique event helping to celebrate Veterans Day.
If you know a vet, give him or her five for helping keep us alive.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
High school football playoffs are here and so are my predictions
The high school football playoffs are here and I've decided it's time to revive my tradition of explaining my picks as seen in the weekly Football Forecast in The Wilson Times. Wait a minute ... is it still a tradition if it takes a year-long break? Ah, never mind, I'm here now, right?
West Brunswick at Hunt: The Warriors went 10-0 in the regular season and this is not the time for their first loss. The Trojans have the only losing record in the East bracket, or pod if you will, and shouldn't provide much resistance to the Warriors, who are hungry to follow last year's 3-AA Eastern final appearance. That path will be much harder this time around for Hunt, which will see either Nash Central or Gray's Creek next week in Warrior Stadium. Nash Central gave Hunt all it could handle two weeks ago and a second trip to Wilson might prove fruitful for the Bulldogs. Gray's Creek is also formidable, losing just once and by only six points to unbeaten Douglas Byrd. Hunt 38, West Craven 12
Interesting sidenote to a potential Hunt-Gray's Creek matchup: You think Gray's Creek fans will remind Hunt head coach Randy Raper of his peacemaking role in the girls soccer fight in the playoffs a few years ago?
Fike at West Carteret: The Golden Demons, by virtue of record and seeding, are considered the underdogs here. But let's face it, the Patriots are sputtering down the stretch and the reason for that is they finally played some good teams. West Carteret's first five games were against opposition with a combined 21-32 record. The Golden Demons, on the other hand, faced teams in their first five games that went 39-13, including unbeaten Jacksonville Northside and Hunt. Fike 27, West Carteret 16
Southern Nash at Triton: Wow! What a powerhouse first-round matchup. The Firebirds are arguably two plays from being 9-1, just like the Hawks, who won the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference title. Talk about grind-it-out, smashmouth football, these teams should put on a trench war that will, as these affairs always do, come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. Because the Firebirds have shown a tendency to hurt themselves in that regard, I've got to take Triton — but not by much. Triton 28, Southern Nash 26
SW Edgecombe at Kinston: Cougars head coach Raymond Cobb credits his team's second-half showing in its 40-12 loss at home to Kinston during the regular season as the impetus for the Cougars' turnaround from an 0-4 start, including the loss to the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference Vikings. Clearly, this isn't the same SWE team Kinston saw in mid-September and while I won't be surprised to hear Coach Cobb calling me Friday night to report a winning score, I can't, in good faith, go against the top seed playing at home in the first round. Especially when said No. 1 seed has C.J. Bradshaw at quarterback. The Cougars keep it interesting for a spell but Kinston's got too much of everything. And that's just enough. No miracle for SouthWest. Kinston 40, SW Edgecombe 27
North Johnston at Roanoke Rapids: These two teams got in a shootout in the Roanoke Valley a few weeks ago and the Yellow Jackets made out with a 55-40 win after building a big lead courtesy of Panthers turnovers. A road win is certainly within NoJo's capability but I'm sticking with recent tradition, which says when North Johnston and Roanoke Rapids play football, the Jackets win. Roanoke Rapids 34, North Johnston 20
Greene Central at Jacksonville Northside: Rams coach Kenneth Grantham and Monarchs mentor Bob Eason are buddies, played football together at Greene Central, went to ECU together. But don't expect Eason to show much sentimentality other than to not run up the score. Had the Rams not had personnel issues during the season, they might be 7-3 or 8-2 and hosting a game instead of 5-5 at the No. 1 seed. But that's not where they are and Friday probably won't be pleasant for Greene Central. Northside 52, Greene Central 14
West Brunswick at Hunt: The Warriors went 10-0 in the regular season and this is not the time for their first loss. The Trojans have the only losing record in the East bracket, or pod if you will, and shouldn't provide much resistance to the Warriors, who are hungry to follow last year's 3-AA Eastern final appearance. That path will be much harder this time around for Hunt, which will see either Nash Central or Gray's Creek next week in Warrior Stadium. Nash Central gave Hunt all it could handle two weeks ago and a second trip to Wilson might prove fruitful for the Bulldogs. Gray's Creek is also formidable, losing just once and by only six points to unbeaten Douglas Byrd. Hunt 38, West Craven 12
Interesting sidenote to a potential Hunt-Gray's Creek matchup: You think Gray's Creek fans will remind Hunt head coach Randy Raper of his peacemaking role in the girls soccer fight in the playoffs a few years ago?
Fike at West Carteret: The Golden Demons, by virtue of record and seeding, are considered the underdogs here. But let's face it, the Patriots are sputtering down the stretch and the reason for that is they finally played some good teams. West Carteret's first five games were against opposition with a combined 21-32 record. The Golden Demons, on the other hand, faced teams in their first five games that went 39-13, including unbeaten Jacksonville Northside and Hunt. Fike 27, West Carteret 16
Southern Nash at Triton: Wow! What a powerhouse first-round matchup. The Firebirds are arguably two plays from being 9-1, just like the Hawks, who won the 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference title. Talk about grind-it-out, smashmouth football, these teams should put on a trench war that will, as these affairs always do, come down to who makes the fewest mistakes. Because the Firebirds have shown a tendency to hurt themselves in that regard, I've got to take Triton — but not by much. Triton 28, Southern Nash 26
SW Edgecombe at Kinston: Cougars head coach Raymond Cobb credits his team's second-half showing in its 40-12 loss at home to Kinston during the regular season as the impetus for the Cougars' turnaround from an 0-4 start, including the loss to the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference Vikings. Clearly, this isn't the same SWE team Kinston saw in mid-September and while I won't be surprised to hear Coach Cobb calling me Friday night to report a winning score, I can't, in good faith, go against the top seed playing at home in the first round. Especially when said No. 1 seed has C.J. Bradshaw at quarterback. The Cougars keep it interesting for a spell but Kinston's got too much of everything. And that's just enough. No miracle for SouthWest. Kinston 40, SW Edgecombe 27
North Johnston at Roanoke Rapids: These two teams got in a shootout in the Roanoke Valley a few weeks ago and the Yellow Jackets made out with a 55-40 win after building a big lead courtesy of Panthers turnovers. A road win is certainly within NoJo's capability but I'm sticking with recent tradition, which says when North Johnston and Roanoke Rapids play football, the Jackets win. Roanoke Rapids 34, North Johnston 20
Greene Central at Jacksonville Northside: Rams coach Kenneth Grantham and Monarchs mentor Bob Eason are buddies, played football together at Greene Central, went to ECU together. But don't expect Eason to show much sentimentality other than to not run up the score. Had the Rams not had personnel issues during the season, they might be 7-3 or 8-2 and hosting a game instead of 5-5 at the No. 1 seed. But that's not where they are and Friday probably won't be pleasant for Greene Central. Northside 52, Greene Central 14
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Hunt gets top seed in 3-AA Eastern region
The NCHSAA has released unofficial brackets for its 1-A and 3-A football playoffs. The 2-A and 4-A should be up soon. All of these are subject to final review and recent history indicates some changes will be made.
But for now, here's what it means for area teams. Unbeaten Hunt, the No. 1 seed in the 3-AA East region and East bracket, will host West Brunswick (4-6) in the first round. If the Warriors win, they'll play the winner between No. 5 Nash Central (8-2) and No. 4 Gray's Creek (9-1) in the next round. Hunt has the homefield advantage all the way to the 3-AA Eastern final if it keeps winning.
Southern Nash (7-3), No. 7 in the East, visits No. 2 Triton (9-1) in the first round. No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons (9-1) and No. 6 D.H. Conley (7-3) are in the other half of the bracket.
In the 3-A East, Fike (4-6) got the No. 5 seed and will visit No. 4 West Carteret (7-3). The winner gets No. 1 Havelock (10-0), unless the Rams stumble against No. 8 Hertford County (4-6) in the first round.
The rest of the 3-A East bracket is No. 7 Washington (4-5) and No. 2 Currituck County (7-3) and No. 6 Jacksonville White Oak (5-5) at No. 3 South Brunswick (7-3).
My take is that the 3-AA East is very tough. Hunt won't have a cakewalk this time, not that they did last fall but the Warriors weren't seriously tested until the third round. They'll get all they want in the second round with either Nash Central or Gray's Creek. And down at the bottom of the Mideast bracket as the No. 2 seed is defending 3-AA champion Northern Guilford, which ended Hunt's run in Wilson last December.
Fike has a good chance to win a playoff game but the Golden Demons will have a major chore in taking down Havelock, coached by former Greene Central head coach Jim Bob Bryant. Still, if Fike ends up 1-1 in the postseason and 5-7 on the year, that's not too shabby considering they just went 4-18 the past two seasons.
But for now, here's what it means for area teams. Unbeaten Hunt, the No. 1 seed in the 3-AA East region and East bracket, will host West Brunswick (4-6) in the first round. If the Warriors win, they'll play the winner between No. 5 Nash Central (8-2) and No. 4 Gray's Creek (9-1) in the next round. Hunt has the homefield advantage all the way to the 3-AA Eastern final if it keeps winning.
Southern Nash (7-3), No. 7 in the East, visits No. 2 Triton (9-1) in the first round. No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons (9-1) and No. 6 D.H. Conley (7-3) are in the other half of the bracket.
In the 3-A East, Fike (4-6) got the No. 5 seed and will visit No. 4 West Carteret (7-3). The winner gets No. 1 Havelock (10-0), unless the Rams stumble against No. 8 Hertford County (4-6) in the first round.
The rest of the 3-A East bracket is No. 7 Washington (4-5) and No. 2 Currituck County (7-3) and No. 6 Jacksonville White Oak (5-5) at No. 3 South Brunswick (7-3).
My take is that the 3-AA East is very tough. Hunt won't have a cakewalk this time, not that they did last fall but the Warriors weren't seriously tested until the third round. They'll get all they want in the second round with either Nash Central or Gray's Creek. And down at the bottom of the Mideast bracket as the No. 2 seed is defending 3-AA champion Northern Guilford, which ended Hunt's run in Wilson last December.
Fike has a good chance to win a playoff game but the Golden Demons will have a major chore in taking down Havelock, coached by former Greene Central head coach Jim Bob Bryant. Still, if Fike ends up 1-1 in the postseason and 5-7 on the year, that's not too shabby considering they just went 4-18 the past two seasons.
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