Tarboro is still a one-school town. It is still small enough when the local high school team makes a splash in any playoff, the entire town goes loco.
This week Tarboro has gone crazy over their Tarboro Vikings. The eastern regional 2-A champs had the pleasure of playing four home playoff games.
The Vikes took care of business and their reward is a trip to Chapel Hill Friday night and a chance to play for the NCHSAA state 2-A title.
Rocky Mount is a city with seven area high schools that play sports. Whenever one of them goes as far, as Rocky Mount did this year, there is simply not much support for the other schools.
Rocky Mount is much like State-Carolina- and Duke are. Whenever one advances further than the others, the others hope they lose.
That's not the case in Tarboro.
The entire population of Tarboro has gone coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.
The first hint that this team might be special was in their county rival game against SouthWest Edgecombe.
It was a loss but the Vikings were in it all the way.
They steamedrolled through conference play. The four playoff games were never in doubt in the second half of any game.
Jeff Craddock and some of the Tarboro administration went to Chapel Hill on Monday to the state championship media day.
The week before the big game, Craddock has found out he has cousins he didn't know existed.
His phone has rung off the hook.
He even got a call from yours truly inviting him and and few players to be on the Stretchlon Sports show Sunday night on WHIG-TV at 8 p.m.
The team will be leaving at 10.30 Friday morning to head to Chapel Hill for a trip of a lifetime. They are not planning a pep rally as of yet, but I can't believe that when the team leaves, the entire school won't be there to send them off and I bet half of the town will be there too.
Back in 1988 while I was still in Ahoskie doing the games for Hertford County, they played for the 2-A title and left at 10 a.m. to go to Thomasville. What I remember most about that day was it was snowing like crazy when the team left with all the students lining the parking lot and the band playing the fight song as the team drove off. I had chill bumps on top of chill bumps watching the snow fall and the excitement of the upcoming game later that day.
Tarboro is the last team still standing in the Twin Counties.
Right now our area is No. 1 in the state for the unemployment rate. There is no better remedy for the economic misery our area is having than for the Tarboro Vikings to bring home a crown.
Good luck Vikings
Git'er done!!!!!!
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