Anyone have thoughts on the Northern Carolina 1A/2A conference this year? I know most of the conference has already played one conference game except for South Granville. It seems to me it might be a down year for football in the conference. Although I think most teams played a tougher non-conference schedule than they have in the past. I would be curious to see any predictions for who wins the conference as well as any potential surprises for who might be in the mix for the conference championship at the end of the year.
Northern Carolina 1A/2A
- Thread starter formerviking10
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In the 1A division, 1 of 3 teams will automatically qualify (and the others could get wild cards depending on final adjusted maxpreps rankings) for the playoffs, and could get a 1st Rd bye...this has been Granville Central the last two years, right now they are 3-2, on a three game winning streak, against a tougher schedule than the last two years, and they very easily could be 5-0, but suffered an overtime loss to Ravenscroft in week 1 and a last minute heartbreaking loss to Princeton in week 2....the other two 1A teams are Louisburg & Warren Co. (who dropped from 2A this fall)...Warren has struggled, currently sitting 0-6 but played a brutal non-conference schedule, including Southern Nash, East Duplin, and Vance Co., going to be difficult for them to finish high enough in the rankings to get a wild card playoff berth; their best chance will be to win the 1A division of the conference, but that seems unlikely with their loss to Webb last week. Louisburg is 3-3 so far, and those 3 wins could go a long way toward propelling them to a wild card berth, if and only if, they can pick up some more wins in the conference, and of course they, like Warren Co., could also make the playoffs by winning the 1A division. Remember that statewide, only 48 teams in 1A (and 4A) qualify for the playoffs, while 64 teams do so in 2A (and 3A)
In the 2A division, this year the league is only guaranteed one automatic playoff spot because Warren Co. dropped to 1A. South Granville has won the league outright two years in a row. The majority of those guys have graduated that played big roles in those two undefeated regular seasons. This year, the Vikings are starting a freshman at QB, and have many sophomores and upperclassmen starting on both sides of the ball that have not played a huge role on varsity before. Against a massively upgraded non-conference schedule, the Vikings sit at 2-3 with conference play starting this week. The losses have come to Southern Nash, Knightdale, and Sanderson, while picking up solid wins over Orange and Franklinton...the 2A teams standing in the way of a three-peat for South Granville are Bunn, Roanoke Rapids, and JF Webb...historically in recent years, Bunn & Roanoke Rapids have been tough opponents for South Granville, and this fall, they will both get to host the Vikings....Bunn has played a solid schedule with Southern Nash, Northern Nash, Franklinton, Vance Co., but their only wins have come over SE Halifax and Louisburg in a conference game, RR is 2-3 with wins over SE Halifax and Weldon, and losses to Northampton Co., Vance Co., and Granville Central in a conference game. Webb beat Warren Co. last week to pick up its first win in almost 2 years, and sits at 1-4. We will have a very good idea by the end of October who will come out on top of each division, for playoff seeding purposes, but will probably have to wait until Nov. 8 to see who wins the league outright.
In the 2A division, this year the league is only guaranteed one automatic playoff spot because Warren Co. dropped to 1A. South Granville has won the league outright two years in a row. The majority of those guys have graduated that played big roles in those two undefeated regular seasons. This year, the Vikings are starting a freshman at QB, and have many sophomores and upperclassmen starting on both sides of the ball that have not played a huge role on varsity before. Against a massively upgraded non-conference schedule, the Vikings sit at 2-3 with conference play starting this week. The losses have come to Southern Nash, Knightdale, and Sanderson, while picking up solid wins over Orange and Franklinton...the 2A teams standing in the way of a three-peat for South Granville are Bunn, Roanoke Rapids, and JF Webb...historically in recent years, Bunn & Roanoke Rapids have been tough opponents for South Granville, and this fall, they will both get to host the Vikings....Bunn has played a solid schedule with Southern Nash, Northern Nash, Franklinton, Vance Co., but their only wins have come over SE Halifax and Louisburg in a conference game, RR is 2-3 with wins over SE Halifax and Weldon, and losses to Northampton Co., Vance Co., and Granville Central in a conference game. Webb beat Warren Co. last week to pick up its first win in almost 2 years, and sits at 1-4. We will have a very good idea by the end of October who will come out on top of each division, for playoff seeding purposes, but will probably have to wait until Nov. 8 to see who wins the league outright.
It seems like Bunn and Roanoke Rapids have fallen off from what they were in past years. I think the charter schools have hurt a lot of schools in the conference. I think it will be an exciting year in conference and I will be surprised if any one team can run the table and go undefeated in conference play. Overall I think it is a down year for the conference as a whole and will be shocked if any team makes it out of the 2nd round. I think that Granville Central will easily solidify the 1A playoff berth and likely finish 2nd or 3rd overall. I am predicting South Granville will drop 1 conference game but still win the conference. My bold prediction for the year is that Webb begins to turn things around and finishes in the top 3 or 4. They have played a tough non-conference schedule as well and played with some good teams through the first half and into the 3rd quarter. We will find out what their chances in conference are this Friday when they play Granville Central.
On a separate note it will be interesting to see what happens in the next realignment. I saw a mock realignment on the simmons website the other day and our conference looked like this:
South Granville 836
Webb, J.F. 743
North Johnston 742
Granville Central 734
NCSSM* 678
Louisburg 580
Warren County 578
Raleigh Charter* 563
Research Triangle* 557
Those are the adms from last year and the * denotes schools that do not have football. It will be interesting to see if this sticks and ends up being the new conference.
I figured we could just keep this thread going. Now that everyone has at least one conference game under their belt I think it is worth opening the conversation again. I am shocked to see Roanoke Rapids starting 0-2 in conference. I thought they would be in the mix for 2nd or 3rd in the conference. Especially since they dropped a pretty big L to Louisburg. I was also surprised to see Webb pull out the W against Granville Central. I expected it to be a fairly tight game but thought Central would pull it out in the end. I still expect that Central will clinch a playoff berth no problem. Bunn is at 1-0 in conference play with 20 point win over Louisburg. Looking at their non-conference schedule I would say that Bunn is the favorite to finish 2nd behind S.G. I still believe it is South Granville's conference to win but it is shaping up to be an exciting year for the rest of the conference schedule. A lot has to happen between now and then but it would definitely be cool to see Webb and SG play for the conference championship on Nov. 1st
Yes, every game is critical in conference play....it's interesting that you mentioned the possibility of a conference champion not going undefeated through conference play, that's possible, but for that to happen, either that one loss would have to come to the team that did not finish in second place, or there is a three way tie and the teams draw for it....or of course like 2013, we went into the last game with 4 teams alive for 1st place with tiebreakers (SG, Bunn, Franklinton, Southern Vance), and everything fell right for SG, who needed to win over RR, and have Franklinton beat Southern Vance (Bunn needed to beat Warren Co. and have RR beat SG, the Fra./SV winner would have needed Warren to upset Bunn AND RR upset SG)....SG & Bunn both finished 5-1, and SG's head to head win over Bunn 22-21 gave them the highest playoff seed, yes, it is surprising to see RR start 0-2 in conference, first time that's happened since 2013 I believe, when Webb & Granville Central were not even in the conference
If the second place team had 2 losses and the first place team only had one regardless of if they lost to the second place team they would still finish ahead of them right? Thats more so the situation I was thinking could be a possibility.
What do you think about tonights games in conference?
My picks would be as follows:
Bunn over Warren County
Webb over Louisburg
South Granville over Roanoke Rapids
What do you think about tonights games in conference?
My picks would be as follows:
Bunn over Warren County
Webb over Louisburg
South Granville over Roanoke Rapids
I think Webb/Louisburg is the toughest one to pick.....Louisburg won this game last year, and they are coming off of a win over Roanoke Rapids, but Webb is coming off of back to back conference wins for the first time in a while, this game is in a weekly picking contest I participate in on another message board and I went with Webb (so the way my picks have gone this year, expect Louisburg to win).....Warren Co. has not won a game this year, so Bunn is the on-paper favorite, having beaten the Eagles many years in a row....as a South Granville partisan myself, I'm hoping for a Viking win at Roanoke Rapids, but know it can always be tricky taking that long road trip....also don't forget that Granville Central played on Tuesday this week in a make up game due to weather, and picked up another non-conference win over KIPP Pride
I saw that Central beat KIPP pretty bad. I definitely think Webb vs Louisburg will be the game to watch in the conference tonight, as far as it being a close game. I think Bunn and South Granville both win big tonight. I haven't seen them in person but it seems like Roanoke Rapids is having a down year. Louisburg beat them by 19. Granted Louisburg is 4-3 right now but looking at their schedule they haven't really played anyone. What questions do you have that get answered tonight? I think we don't find out much tonight outside of the Webb vs Louisburg match up. If Webb wins big I might would begin to put them in the conversation as a contender for 1st or 2nd in conference this year.
Well....we found out that Roanoke Rapids will fight and scrap, tooth and nail....their defense gave it everything they had on homecoming, holding SG under 150 yards total offense...SG wins an ugly defensive struggle 14-7....SG scored on third play from scrimmage on a break away run to go up early 7-0, then both teams just traded punts until midway through 3rd quarter when another breakaway run set up a short TD late in 3rd quarter for SG to lead 14-0....RR got on the scoreboard with about 5 minutes to go, and forced a defensive stop to get the ball back with a chance, but the SG defense played well tonight in its own right, only allowing around 150 yards total offense, and forcing a turnover on downs with 40 seconds left in 4th quarter to seal the win.....I heard that Webb pulled away from Louisburg late and won 38-6....last report I heard from Bunn game was they were leading 34-16 but haven't heard a final....hoping the SG offense can get back on track at home in the Pink game against Louisburg
I think Bunn ended up winning 53 - 24. I saw the SG vs RR score and was wondering what happened. After seeing RR take a few bad losses I was surprised to see it was competitive. I heard they had a few injuries and might have had some players return last night. I don’t know if there was any truth to that or not. Webb went into the half up 8-6 vs Louisburg. I thought it was clear during the 1st half Webb was the better team. They just had a few miscues that allowed Louisburg to extend drives and take up time. The second half was all Webb.
I think the matchups for next week are:
Warren County vs Granville Central
Louisburg vs South Granville
Bunn vs Webb
Roanoke Rapids has a bye
I think the matchups for next week are:
Warren County vs Granville Central
Louisburg vs South Granville
Bunn vs Webb
Roanoke Rapids has a bye
RR was missing a lot of typical starters due to injuries and/or suspensions but the guys on the field played about as solid as their staff and fan base could have hoped for; they hit a couple of big offensive plays, one of which set up their lone scoring drive in the 4th quarter, and their defense kept the SG flexbone in check on all but 3 or 4 plays....their younger guys are getting a ton of experience that will pay off for the program down the road
I thought that might be the case with the type of year they are having. What are your picks for Friday's games? Mine are:
Granville Central over Warren County by 18
South Granville over Louisburg by 30
Webb over Bunn by 10
Granville Central over Warren County by 18
South Granville over Louisburg by 30
Webb over Bunn by 10
The Webb/Bunn game looks like a toss up, both are undefeated in conference play, though Bunn did beat Warren Co. by a lot more than Webb did....both beat Louisburg by a lot, Webb has to be playing with more confidence than they have in a long time, one of them will still be undefeated in conference play after this week....also keep in mind that now with only four teams in the league at 2A, it is possible, depending on the final adjusted maxpreps rankings, that no wild card/at large playoff berths come out of this conference....there is guaranteed to be a 1A automatic and a 2A automatic bid, (most likely both seeded in tier of of 1s/conference champions in their respective bracket, but not necessarily), but with the looks of the rankings right now, whoever loses the Bunn/Webb game is going to have very little margin for error down the stretch if they hope to qualify for the playoffs
I agree. I don't see any 2a team with 2 conference losses getting an at large bid. I think the only way 2 2a teams from our conference get in is if the conference champ goes undefeated in conference and the runner up only has 1 loss. After this weeks match up of Webb vs Bunn and next week of Bunn vs SG we should have a pretty good idea of who will make the playoffs. Personally I am hoping to see a Webb vs SG matchup on Nov. 1st that is for the conference championship.
Northern Carolina 1A/2A Conference Update
Oct. 18 Scoreboard
-Bunn over Webb, J.F. 36-20....Bunn scored first to lead 6-0, Webb scored 20 unanswered to lead 20-6 early in 3rd quarter, but Bunn answered with a score to get with in 20-14, then a Webb fumble gave them a short field, Bunn scored again with another 2 pt play to lead 22-20, Webb's next drive ended with another turnover; QB pass to WR was dropped, ruled a backward pass (could have been ruled either way, every replay I've seen made it look definitely not "forward; is the 'Ask the Ref' forum still around?), picked up and returned to the house to give Bunn 30-20 lead after another 2 pt play, then Bunn added one more score late
-Granville Central over Warren Co. 51-14...no details, anybody that has any, please share below
-South Granville over Louisburg 51-8...Louisburg ball first and had to punt, SG scored first to lead 7-0, Louisburg answered with 12 play, 78 yard drive, converting a couple of 3rd downs, and 2 pt conversion after scoring on a 10 yd pass on 3rd & Goal to lead 8-7 at end of 1st qtr, all SG after that...curious that Louisburg's only punt came on their opening drive in 1st qtr...they scored on their second series, then the rest of the game, had one fumble, and turned the ball over on downs 5 or 6 times, going for it on their own side of the 50 at least three times, including a fake punt from around their own 20 on 4th & 15 shortly before halftime
Standings
South Granville Vikings 3-0 5-3
Bunn Wildcats 3-0 4-4
Webb, J.F. Warriors 3-1 3-5
Granville Central Panthers 2-1 5-3
Louisburg Warriors 1-3 4-5
Roanoke Rapids Yellow Jackets 0-3 2-5
Warren Co. Eagles 0-4 0-9
Oct. 25 Schedule:
-Granville Central @ Louisburg...winner has a leg up toward being the 1A division champion (automatic playoff berth) but will still have work to do, Louisburg definitely improved from 2018 on offense, but defense might have trouble stopping GC offense, could turn into a high scoring game with both teams in the 30s or higher and go to the team who makes the fewest mistakes on offense in the penalty and turnover department
-South Granville @ Bunn...winner has the inside track to being the 2A division champion (automatic playoff berth) but will still have work to do....Bunn won league in 2015 & 2016; SG won league in 2017 & 2018...both sit at 3-0 league play with 3 weeks left; winner of this game putting themselves in a great spot to win conference outright, though both still have to play Granville Central, SG also has Webb left after this, Bunn also has RR left, these SG/Bunn games always seem to find a way to come down to the 4th quarter....in each of the last 4 years, this matchup has been either tied or seen lead changes in the 4th quarter, and again, in each of those contests, whoever won it went on to win the conference outright
-Webb, J.F. @ Roanoke Rapids...the numbers say that right now that RR does not have a great shot at making the playoffs, as they are one loss away from being mathematically eliminated from a chance to claim a share of 1st place, in addition to Webb, they still have to play Warren Co. (which they should win if they play anything like they did against SG), and Bunn, if they get hot, their ranking could jump high enough to give them a chance at a wild card even if they finish 2nd or 3rd, or if the cards fall right, even a share of 1st place....Webb currently sits just outside the top 64 in the adjusted maxpreps rankings but picking up a win or two in the last few weeks could boost that ranking....and they also are still mathematically alive for a share of first place if they win out and the cards fall right,
Oct. 18 Scoreboard
-Bunn over Webb, J.F. 36-20....Bunn scored first to lead 6-0, Webb scored 20 unanswered to lead 20-6 early in 3rd quarter, but Bunn answered with a score to get with in 20-14, then a Webb fumble gave them a short field, Bunn scored again with another 2 pt play to lead 22-20, Webb's next drive ended with another turnover; QB pass to WR was dropped, ruled a backward pass (could have been ruled either way, every replay I've seen made it look definitely not "forward; is the 'Ask the Ref' forum still around?), picked up and returned to the house to give Bunn 30-20 lead after another 2 pt play, then Bunn added one more score late
-Granville Central over Warren Co. 51-14...no details, anybody that has any, please share below
-South Granville over Louisburg 51-8...Louisburg ball first and had to punt, SG scored first to lead 7-0, Louisburg answered with 12 play, 78 yard drive, converting a couple of 3rd downs, and 2 pt conversion after scoring on a 10 yd pass on 3rd & Goal to lead 8-7 at end of 1st qtr, all SG after that...curious that Louisburg's only punt came on their opening drive in 1st qtr...they scored on their second series, then the rest of the game, had one fumble, and turned the ball over on downs 5 or 6 times, going for it on their own side of the 50 at least three times, including a fake punt from around their own 20 on 4th & 15 shortly before halftime
Standings
South Granville Vikings 3-0 5-3
Bunn Wildcats 3-0 4-4
Webb, J.F. Warriors 3-1 3-5
Granville Central Panthers 2-1 5-3
Louisburg Warriors 1-3 4-5
Roanoke Rapids Yellow Jackets 0-3 2-5
Warren Co. Eagles 0-4 0-9
Oct. 25 Schedule:
-Granville Central @ Louisburg...winner has a leg up toward being the 1A division champion (automatic playoff berth) but will still have work to do, Louisburg definitely improved from 2018 on offense, but defense might have trouble stopping GC offense, could turn into a high scoring game with both teams in the 30s or higher and go to the team who makes the fewest mistakes on offense in the penalty and turnover department
-South Granville @ Bunn...winner has the inside track to being the 2A division champion (automatic playoff berth) but will still have work to do....Bunn won league in 2015 & 2016; SG won league in 2017 & 2018...both sit at 3-0 league play with 3 weeks left; winner of this game putting themselves in a great spot to win conference outright, though both still have to play Granville Central, SG also has Webb left after this, Bunn also has RR left, these SG/Bunn games always seem to find a way to come down to the 4th quarter....in each of the last 4 years, this matchup has been either tied or seen lead changes in the 4th quarter, and again, in each of those contests, whoever won it went on to win the conference outright
-Webb, J.F. @ Roanoke Rapids...the numbers say that right now that RR does not have a great shot at making the playoffs, as they are one loss away from being mathematically eliminated from a chance to claim a share of 1st place, in addition to Webb, they still have to play Warren Co. (which they should win if they play anything like they did against SG), and Bunn, if they get hot, their ranking could jump high enough to give them a chance at a wild card even if they finish 2nd or 3rd, or if the cards fall right, even a share of 1st place....Webb currently sits just outside the top 64 in the adjusted maxpreps rankings but picking up a win or two in the last few weeks could boost that ranking....and they also are still mathematically alive for a share of first place if they win out and the cards fall right,
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Granville Central - Louisburg.... I think Central wins by 2 possessions. This is a much improved Louisburg team. I think things are moving in the right direction for them but there are a year or two away from being competitive. Central is talented, I think the losses they have had this year have been self inflected and they have shot themselves in the foot a time or two.
South Granville - Bunn.... Definitely the "game of the week" in the conference. This game could very well determine who wins the conference. Both teams will be favorited to win every game they have left on the schedule, probably not by a huge margin but still favorites. I think South Granville comes away with the win in a one possession game.
Webb - Roanoke Rapids..... This matchup is a must win for both teams to keep their playoff hopes alive. After hearing about the R.R. S.G. game I believe this will be a close game. I think they have built on that game in their bye week last week and will come out strong. I think Webb had a chance to win against Bunn and probably should have. We will see how they bounce back this week. I think this is a game Webb should win but they still have a lot to prove in order to show that they can be competitive for a top spot in the conference. I pick Webb to win by 10.
South Granville - Bunn.... Definitely the "game of the week" in the conference. This game could very well determine who wins the conference. Both teams will be favorited to win every game they have left on the schedule, probably not by a huge margin but still favorites. I think South Granville comes away with the win in a one possession game.
Webb - Roanoke Rapids..... This matchup is a must win for both teams to keep their playoff hopes alive. After hearing about the R.R. S.G. game I believe this will be a close game. I think they have built on that game in their bye week last week and will come out strong. I think Webb had a chance to win against Bunn and probably should have. We will see how they bounce back this week. I think this is a game Webb should win but they still have a lot to prove in order to show that they can be competitive for a top spot in the conference. I pick Webb to win by 10.
October 25 Scoreboard
Granville Central over Louisburg 57-6: From what I heard, Central dominated this one from start to finish, and clinches the automatic playoff berth in 1A
South Granville over Bunn 27-26: Barn burner; crazy game, was there, could have gone either way; Bunn led 14-0 early, before SG ran a play, SG battled back to tie game at 14-14 by middle of 3rd qtr, only to have Bunn answer right back with long scoring drive to lead 20-14 (missed PAT), SG goes down field and takes lead 21-20, Bunn returns ensuing kickoff to take lead back 26-21 (missed 2 pt conv.), SG goes down field and scores to take 27-26 lead (missed 2 pt. conv.), SG defense holds Bunn to 3 & out but they have timeouts left and one get one final crack, then SG defense forces a 4 & out to bring up kneel down time
Roanoke Rapids over Webb, J.F. 31-14: Seemed like a good game, entertaining first half, RR dominated second half and eventually pulled away
Conference Standings
South Granville Vikings 4-0 6-3
Granville Central Panthers 3-1 6-3
Bunn Wildcats 3-1 4-5
Webb, J.F. Warriors 3-2 3-6
Roanoke Rapids Yellow Jackets 1-3 3-5
Louisburg Warriors 1-4 4-6
Warren Co. Eagles 0-4 0-9
November 1 Schedule
Bunn @ Granville Central: If Bunn wants to make the playoffs, they need to win this game, if Granville Central wants a 1st Rd bye, like they've had the last two years, they need to win this game
Roanoke Rapids @ Warren Co.: Any outside chance that RR has to make the playoffs must involve running the table, which would start with this game
Webb, J.F. @ South Granville: SG has a chance to clinch the 2A division and automatic playoff berth, Webb needs to win this game if they want to be in the mix for a wild card playoff berth
Looking ahead: November 8 Schedule
Carrboro @ Webb, J.F.
Louisburg @ Warren Co.
Roanoke Rapids @ Bunn
South Granville @ Granville Central
Granville Central over Louisburg 57-6: From what I heard, Central dominated this one from start to finish, and clinches the automatic playoff berth in 1A
South Granville over Bunn 27-26: Barn burner; crazy game, was there, could have gone either way; Bunn led 14-0 early, before SG ran a play, SG battled back to tie game at 14-14 by middle of 3rd qtr, only to have Bunn answer right back with long scoring drive to lead 20-14 (missed PAT), SG goes down field and takes lead 21-20, Bunn returns ensuing kickoff to take lead back 26-21 (missed 2 pt conv.), SG goes down field and scores to take 27-26 lead (missed 2 pt. conv.), SG defense holds Bunn to 3 & out but they have timeouts left and one get one final crack, then SG defense forces a 4 & out to bring up kneel down time
Roanoke Rapids over Webb, J.F. 31-14: Seemed like a good game, entertaining first half, RR dominated second half and eventually pulled away
Conference Standings
South Granville Vikings 4-0 6-3
Granville Central Panthers 3-1 6-3
Bunn Wildcats 3-1 4-5
Webb, J.F. Warriors 3-2 3-6
Roanoke Rapids Yellow Jackets 1-3 3-5
Louisburg Warriors 1-4 4-6
Warren Co. Eagles 0-4 0-9
November 1 Schedule
Bunn @ Granville Central: If Bunn wants to make the playoffs, they need to win this game, if Granville Central wants a 1st Rd bye, like they've had the last two years, they need to win this game
Roanoke Rapids @ Warren Co.: Any outside chance that RR has to make the playoffs must involve running the table, which would start with this game
Webb, J.F. @ South Granville: SG has a chance to clinch the 2A division and automatic playoff berth, Webb needs to win this game if they want to be in the mix for a wild card playoff berth
Looking ahead: November 8 Schedule
Carrboro @ Webb, J.F.
Louisburg @ Warren Co.
Roanoke Rapids @ Bunn
South Granville @ Granville Central