Familiar names on college football rosters

Several former area players are on Atlantic Coast Conference football rosters this fall. The list includes freshman Qwen Ballard, a walk-on at N.C. State who played at Hunt. Also, former SouthWest Edgecombe running back Jerome Dupree is with the Wolfpack.

North Carolina has 2011 Charles B. Aycock graduate Jarrod James on the offensive line while Kwamaine Battle, the 2006 Wilson Times Ironman of the Year, is a redshirt-senior defensive lineman at Virginia Tech. Battle redshirted last season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the Hokies' second game last fall.

Also, former Fike standout defensive tackle Leroy Vick is at East Carolina but will redshirt this season after a knee injury incurred in the Pirates first spring scrimmage. Vick earned National Junior College Athletic Association preseason All-America acclaim last fall at Georgia Military and enrolled at ECU in January.

Best of the Decade voting heats up

With less than 24 hours until voting ends for the Best of the Decade contest, the action has heated up considerably.

Perhaps it was due to the voting results no longer being visible for the final three days of the contest but more than 30,000 votes were cast Thursday, the single biggest day of voting in the nearly three weeks since the contest began.

Although I'm not at liberty to discuss specifics, I will say there are major new developments in the race for Player and Coach of the Year. The next 23 1/2 hours are going to be very interesting!

Griffith, Raging Wolves begin season

The Carolina Raging Wolves kicked off their 2010 Women's Football Alliance season with a 42-36 loss at the Tampa Bay Pirates on Saturday. It was not only the Raging Wolves' season opener but their first game ever.

Danielle Griffith, a Fike High product and a student at UNC Pembroke, registered a tackle for the Raging Wolves.

The Raging Wolves take on the Central Florida Anarchy this Saturday at 7 p.m. in their home opener at St. Pauls High School in St. Pauls.

Rountree's recruitment heating up

The pursuit of Beddingfield High junior basketball player Aaron Rountree is beginning to heat up.

The 6-foot-7 wing for will hold a workout at the school Tuesday with coaches from N.C. State, Virginia, Elon and Virginia Commonwealth present, Bruins head coach Jeremy Howard said. Rountree is a talent-in-progress but certainly showed a lot of it this past season when he averaged 10.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Rountree was an integral performer on a talented Beddingfield that might just be the team to beat in not only the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference but also the 2-A Eastern region as well next year. Returning with Rountree are fellow Wilson Times All-Area selections 6-7 junior X-Keem Jones and junior playmaker Daquan Langston.

Expected a lot of attention focused on Rountree and the Bruins next winter.

Best voters of the decade

In approximately six days there have been nearly 20,000 votes cast on this Web site for the player, coach and team of the decade. With more than two weeks left to vote, it seems a given the vote count will top the 100,000 mark.

Color me impressed, Wilson County high school sports fans.