North Edgecombe has been a middle of the pack team for the most part for the last 10 years or so, except for one year, I think 2010, where they went all the way to the regional final. They went to the state final six times between 1985 and 1998 and won the 1-A title twice, in 1994 and 1997. Their '96 team, which was state runners-up, set a bunch of state rushing records that have never been broken. They put in a Wishbone offense at mid-season 1994 and have never run anything else since. Prior to that, they were running a spread offense years before it became popular.
Most of that happened when Raymond Cobb was the coach there. He moved down the road to SouthWest Edgecombe, which was within walking distance of his home, around 2001, and that was the end of the dynasty.
As for tonight, Princeton killed them 43-14. I went to Rosewood first, expecting NE to stay competitive for a while, but they didn't. I got to PHS right before halftime, just in time to see the Dawgs score to make it 43-0. They had a running clock the whole second half, and NE scored twice on the Princeton backups. Princeton could have easily won 70-0 or more if they'd wanted to. I didn't see the first half so I can't offer any analysis, but Coach Minor said they were clicking on all cylinders, and they must have been. NE isn't what they once were, but they're not incompetent, either.