Ever since opening night when the Rocky Mount Gryphons jumped out to a 43-0 lead on 4-A East Forsyth, the feeling in the Gryphon Nation was that anything less than a No. 1 seed would be a letdown.
Even though we feel we are No. 1 in the east, it took a drawing with West Craven to make it happen.
The Gryphons got that No. 1 seed and a date with the 2-8 Cardinals of Jacksonville High, which is a playoff foe from out of our 4-A past.
The big prize is that whoever wins the east 3-A will have to win it by beating Rocky Mount at the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex, where the Gryphons have not lost at home since Dec. 5, 2005 to Western Alamance in the eastern 3-A finals.
As long as the Gryphons win, they will play in front of the home folks. A victory Friday and they would play host to the winner of the Beddingfield-Oxford Webb (a possible return for former RM head coach John Hammett) game.
If they win four straight at home, they will have a date at high noon on Dec. 13 with the western berth winner in Winston-Salem at the old Groves Stadium, which is now called BB&T field until someone offers more money for the naming rights.
SouthWest Edgecombe, the NEW 6's No. 2 seed, will have a home game against South Granville Friday. SouthWest is the only team in the 3-A bracket to play both West Craven and Rocky Mount and if it wins its first two games , it would get a rematch first with West Craven - assuming all teams are still alive, and an eastern final is possible against SWE.
Nash Central, having won Friday, is the luckiest team in the 3-A bracket. Yes, this year they are a 3-A playoff team. Fike, which had a ADM of 1244, drew the AA bracket and Nash Central with a 1243 stayed in the small A.
So we have to assume Fike is the last team in the 3-AA and Nash Central is the first team that qualified as a 3-A school. Their Bulldogs' first-round game will be at Kinston.
Remember, I said a couple of days ago that who ever got Nash Central was getting a 7-win team, but because of the two forfeits, it is disguised as a 5-win squad. Kinston is the unlucky team that drew the Bulldogs.
Fike, as I said, is in the 3-AA and travels Friday to Asheboro in the first round.
Southern Nash is the most disappointed team in the league as they failed to get in with four wins.
Rocky Mount is not the only local team that will enjoy their confines of home. Tarboro is the No. 1 seed in the east in the NCHSAA 2-A bracket and have drawn Pasquotank from Elizabeth City in the opening round.
I understand that Jacksonville is in a 3-A school in a 4-A/3-A league and they are seeded as a No. 3 in its league, but there is something wrong when a four-win team like Southern Nash sits and Jacksonville plays.
It's the way the split leagues are looked at by the NCHSAA. I will use Hertford County as an example. Hertford County lost to Northeastern ,which is a 2-A school in that league. Northeastern got the No. 1 seed as the 2-A representative and Hertford County got a top seed as the 3-A rep from their league.
It seems to me that Hertford County should have been a No. 2 in their league. That is one of the screwy rules that I think needs to be changed.
When looking at Jacksonville, it finished seventh in its 4A/3-A league, dead last, but go as the No. 3 seeded 3-A school. A seventh place team in their league is in and a No. 5 in our league, Southern Nash, is out.
Go figure!
Even though we feel we are No. 1 in the east, it took a drawing with West Craven to make it happen.
The Gryphons got that No. 1 seed and a date with the 2-8 Cardinals of Jacksonville High, which is a playoff foe from out of our 4-A past.
The big prize is that whoever wins the east 3-A will have to win it by beating Rocky Mount at the Rocky Mount Athletic Complex, where the Gryphons have not lost at home since Dec. 5, 2005 to Western Alamance in the eastern 3-A finals.
As long as the Gryphons win, they will play in front of the home folks. A victory Friday and they would play host to the winner of the Beddingfield-Oxford Webb (a possible return for former RM head coach John Hammett) game.
If they win four straight at home, they will have a date at high noon on Dec. 13 with the western berth winner in Winston-Salem at the old Groves Stadium, which is now called BB&T field until someone offers more money for the naming rights.
SouthWest Edgecombe, the NEW 6's No. 2 seed, will have a home game against South Granville Friday. SouthWest is the only team in the 3-A bracket to play both West Craven and Rocky Mount and if it wins its first two games , it would get a rematch first with West Craven - assuming all teams are still alive, and an eastern final is possible against SWE.
Nash Central, having won Friday, is the luckiest team in the 3-A bracket. Yes, this year they are a 3-A playoff team. Fike, which had a ADM of 1244, drew the AA bracket and Nash Central with a 1243 stayed in the small A.
So we have to assume Fike is the last team in the 3-AA and Nash Central is the first team that qualified as a 3-A school. Their Bulldogs' first-round game will be at Kinston.
Remember, I said a couple of days ago that who ever got Nash Central was getting a 7-win team, but because of the two forfeits, it is disguised as a 5-win squad. Kinston is the unlucky team that drew the Bulldogs.
Fike, as I said, is in the 3-AA and travels Friday to Asheboro in the first round.
Southern Nash is the most disappointed team in the league as they failed to get in with four wins.
Rocky Mount is not the only local team that will enjoy their confines of home. Tarboro is the No. 1 seed in the east in the NCHSAA 2-A bracket and have drawn Pasquotank from Elizabeth City in the opening round.
I understand that Jacksonville is in a 3-A school in a 4-A/3-A league and they are seeded as a No. 3 in its league, but there is something wrong when a four-win team like Southern Nash sits and Jacksonville plays.
It's the way the split leagues are looked at by the NCHSAA. I will use Hertford County as an example. Hertford County lost to Northeastern ,which is a 2-A school in that league. Northeastern got the No. 1 seed as the 2-A representative and Hertford County got a top seed as the 3-A rep from their league.
It seems to me that Hertford County should have been a No. 2 in their league. That is one of the screwy rules that I think needs to be changed.
When looking at Jacksonville, it finished seventh in its 4A/3-A league, dead last, but go as the No. 3 seeded 3-A school. A seventh place team in their league is in and a No. 5 in our league, Southern Nash, is out.
Go figure!
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