NCHSAA State Football Championship Notebook
December 11th, 2007 Posted in High School Football, High School Playoffs, NCHSAA
Photo: New Bern vs Independence, Ken Charnock for LocalReplay
Some notes follow from the NCHSAA state football championship notebook about the the 94th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state football championships that took place on December 8, 2007.
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RECORD SETTING: No game has featured more offense since the North Carolina High School Athletic Association moved its football championships to neutral sites in 1989 than the 2007 3-A title game, in which Western Alamance outscored North Gaston 62-36 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. The 98 combined points represented the most ever in the neutral-site era (surpassing the 94 compiled by Albemarle and Wallace-Rose Hill in the 2001 1-AA championship at Kenan Stadium), and is actually the highest scoring total for two teams ever in classified play (which dates to 1929). Raleigh did beat Asheville 117-0 in the 1914 final. The two teams also combined for 1,130 yards in total offense, with North Gaston amassing 575 and Western Alamance 555,shattering the previous total offense mark of 904 which had been held by Albemarle and Wallace-Rose Hill. Western Alamance’s 62 points was the fifth-highest point total by a team in a championship game since play went to four classes in 1959. North Gaston also rushed for a whopping 496 yards, besting by 69 the rushing mark set by Bertie in the 1994 3-A game against High Point Central.
LONG RUN: Princeton Brooks of North Gaston broke a 90-yard scoring run in that 3-A game, which was the third longest rushing touchdown since 1989.
Bryan Haywood of Chocowinity Southside had a 94-yard run against Swain in 2004, which is still the record. Brooks rambled for 269 yards in 17 carries, the fourth best individual rushing mark in a championship game since ‘89.
TELEVISION: All eight of the NCHSAA state football championship games are now available on Time Warner Cable systems across these state. Time Warner digital subscribers may go to channel 1234 to download any of the games for free and watch them at their convenience. The NCHSAA volleyball championships from earlier in the fall are also available for viewing.
EAST SIDE: The East had tremendous success in the state football championships, winning seven of the eight titles. Only Lincolnton, the 2-A West representative, broke through for the Western squads by winning the 2-A title 28-14 over previously undefeated South Columbus.
NOT USED TO THIS: James Kenan head coach Ken Avent Jr. noted something interesting about his team in the post-game press conference following his Tigers’ 13-6 victory over West Montgomery for the 1-AA championship. When West took the lead in the third quarter by the unlikely score of 6-5, it marked the only time all season long that James Kenan had been behind in any game. James Kenan won its first NCHSAA state football championship since 1960, when it took the 1-A title over the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf by a 13-12 score.
STOUT DEFENSES: Wilmington Hoggard held Mount Tabor’s vaunted offense to 199 total yards as the Vikings shut out Mount Tabor 28-0 to capture the 4-A championship. James Kenan limited West Montgomery to just 117 yards in total offense in the 1-AA final, and Lincolnton held South Columbus to 175 total yards.
MVP PERFORMANCE: Greensboro Dudley quarterback Ricky Lewis Jr. did it all in the Panthers’ 28-20 triumph over Charlotte Catholic for the 3-AA crown. He rushed 24 times for 150 yards and one score and completed seven of 10 passes for 196 yards and three TDs, including a 76-yard scoring strike.
NEW BERN SNAPS THE STRING: the Bears of New Bern snapped Charlotte Independence’s string of state titles at seven with a 28-17 victory over the Patriots at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem in the 4-AA championship game. The Bears had lost to Independence in the championship games in 2002, ¹03 and ¹05, so in this case the fourth time was the charm. New Bern’s Brett Williams completed nine of 14 passes for 189 yards and two scores and rushed for 109 yards in 19 attempts to lead his team to victory.
FIRST TITLE: Plymouth won its first NCHSAA team championship in any sport last Saturday as it downed North Duplin 20-13 in the 1-A title game at Carter-Finley Stadium to complete a perfect 16-0 campaign.
TITLE SPONSOR: For the third year in a row, BB&T served as the title sponsor of the NCHSAA football championship. Every player on each winning team received a special commemorative hat and all of the schools in the championships were supplied with championship helmet stickers for the game.
FAMILIAR WITH THESE SURROUNDINGS: Both Reidsville and Shelby, which battled for the 2-AA championship, are used to playing in NCHSAA state football championships. Reidsville downed the Golden Lions 28-20 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh to win the 2007 title, a rematch of the 2005 contest in which Shelby had beaten Reidsville 26-18 at Kenan Stadium. Shelby was playing in its 10th NCHSAA championship game and has earned five state titles. The Golden Lions have qualified for the title game in each of the last four years. During its days in the old Western North Carolina High School Activities Association, Shelby won four WNCHSAA titles, including the final one for that organization in 1976. Reidsville has had a remarkable program through the years, as the Rams played in a remarkable 18th state championship football game and now have earned 13 championships: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1943 (co-champs), 1945, 1950, 1954, 2002, 2003 and 2007. In addition, Reidsville captured three regional titles (1963, 69, ‘70) when there was no overall state championship and the furthest a team could go was to the regional championship game. Counting all sports, Shelby has won 24 NCHSAA state team championships during its tenure with the Association while Reidsville now has 22.
