Welcome back to The Huddle, our notes & trends column for North Carolina high school football.

This week, we’ll take a look at tonight’s most important games for playoff consideration and take early looks at the upcoming head coaching cycle and realignment.

1st Down: The Week 9 Games With the Most at Stake

• Every Eastern Plains Conference game – This league is insane. Nothing makes sense. Every team has a loss and every team has a win. The teams at the bottom of the standings have beaten the teams toward the top. It’s crazy. Ayden-Grifton is currently in first place with a 3-1 overall record. Tonight, the games are Ayden-Grifton (3-1 in conference) at home against SouthWest Edgecombe (2-1), North Pitt (2-1) at Washington (2-1), and Greene Central (1-3) at West Craven (1-2). One of these teams has to start pulling away, right?
• Mallard Creek at Hough – The HSOT Game of the Week is as big as it gets. Both teams are top ten in the state and carry a 6-1 overall record with an unbeaten record in the conference. Both have already beaten top challenger West Charlotte for the overall conference title, so the winner here is not only in good shape to be the top 4A team out of the conference but also the overall conference champion.
• Harding at West Charlotte – A West Charlotte win over one-win Harding would clinch the top 3A seed out of the Queen City 3A/4A for the Lions.
• Charlotte Catholic at Butler – Both teams are 4-0 in Southwestern 4A Conference play and the winner will take the lead for first place. A Charlotte Catholic win would effectively wrap up the conference as the Cougars would have head-to-head tiebreakers over the top two contenders (Independence and Butler). Butler still has to play one-loss Independence in the last week of the season.
• West Cabarrus at Mooresville – The top two teams in the Greater Metro 4A are going to go at it tonight. West Cabarrus has had a special breakout year, but can it continue with a win over Mooresville that would put the Wolverines in first place?
• Sun Valley at Weddington – A Weddington win would give the Warriors a one-game lead on the rest of the Southern Carolina 4A.
• North Brunswick at West Brunswick – North already has a win over South Brunswick. A win over West would give it the head-to-head tiebreaker over the two other 3A teams in the Mideastern 3A/4A Conference, which would clinch the top 3A spot out of this conference with two games to go.
• South Point at Ashbrook – The 5-0 vs. 6-1 matchup could shake up the Big South 3A if Ashbrook can pull off the win. South Point is undefeated in the league and Ashbrook has one loss. It would create a nasty tie scenario along with Crest and Kings Mountain.
• Anson at Monroe – The last two unbeaten teams in the Rocky River 2A/3A Conference are facing off tonight. The winner here likely takes the top 2A slot and is in a good position to win the overall conference championship.
• Southern Nash at Rocky Mount – Both teams are 3-0 in conference play. If either wants to win the conference, they’ll need to win this game before taking on Northern Nash later, which is also unbeaten in conference play.
• Bunker Hill at Maiden – Bunker Hill is 3-0 in conference play and Maiden is 3-1. A Bunker Hill win would put the Bears in the driver’s seat as they would have head-to-head tiebreakers over Maiden and Lincolnton, which is 3-1. A Maiden win would give the Blue Devils a chance to beat Lincolnton next week, which would clinch the top seed out of the Catawba Valley 2A.
• Salisbury at Lexington – These are the last undefeated 2A teams in the Central Carolina !A/3A. every other 2A has at least two losses. A win by either team would reduce their magic number for a top seed in the 2A playoffs down to one.
• Community School of Davidson at Corvian Community – The final two unbeaten teams in the Football Only 1A/2A Conference. A win by Community School of Davidson would put them one win away from clinching the top 2A seed out of this league and put the Spartans in a good position for the overall title. A Corvian win would do the same for the Cards, but on the 1A side of things.
• Reidsville at Walkertown – The last two undefeated teams in the Mid-State 2A will take on each other tonight. The winner puts itself in a good position to take the league.
• Tarboro at Martin County – Martin is the only 2A in the Four Rivers Conference. Along with 1A Tarboro, they are the last unbeaten teams in league play. Both are in a good spot to be a top seed in their respective regions, but the winner here will likely win the overall league title.
• East Wilkes at Starmount – Both of these teams are likely to make the 1A West playoffs, but the winner here has a good shot at the automatic 2nd place seed.
• Wilson Prep at Warren County – This is a huge game in the Tar-Roanoke 1A. These two teams are both 5-0 in league play and tied for first place. The winner here will have a magic number of one starting next week to clinch a top seed in the 1A East playoffs.

2nd Down: An Early Look at the 2025 Coaching Cycle

One thing I’m not looking forward to at the end of the regular season is the start of the head coaching change cycle. We’ll usually see a handful of resignations or dismissals from schools that did not make the postseason. It’s not fun news to deal with when you’re trying to focus on covering playoffs, but alas.

There are already a few schools that we know for sure will be open.

Providence Grove saw an 11th-hour resignation by former head coach David Hayes in August. The Patriots picked Mark Heilig to serve as the interim. There is a chance that Heilig, a longtime assistant coach, will earn the job on a full-time basis. So far, the Patriots are 2-5 overall with three of the losses coming in one-score games. It could have been far, far worse given the circumstances that this team was put in right before the season.

So far during the season, two coaches have resigned.

Bobby Griffin resigned as the head coach at Pamlico County on September 20, a Friday. Pamlico played that night against Washington and lost 41-28. On the following Monday, Jack Taylor was named the interim. Since Taylor has taken over, Pamlico is 1-2 with one of the losses coming in overtime to Northside-Pinetown. Pamlico is expected to be a 2A in the 8A realignment.

Another abrupt coaching change during this season came out of Harding University High School. Former head coach JT Stone resigned on September 23, after four games of the season. Harding picked Terence Cunningham to serve as the interim. Harding is 1-6 so far this season and has only scored 32 points. The team is extraordinarily young. With next year’s realignment, it seems likely that Harding will become a 6A school and find itself detached from the powers of the current Queen City 3A/4A Conference, which are all positioned to be 8A.

Also, with that historic realignment coming, I foresee many current head coaches looking to capitalize and go to a school that has an advantageous setup in its new conference or classification. Even though chasing wins is not what this is supposed to be about! Anyways.

We’ll also see some coaches who hit their retirement zone, as always. Some will take the opportunity to retire, while others will keep going. There’s also a chance we see more head coaches leave for other states to take roles that pay them better than the head coach role in North Carolina.

With realignment coming and the changing landscape of high school sports (NIL is an issue some coaches are passionately against), I could see a situation where we reach 100 coaches deciding to move on.

3rd Down: Potential Super Conferences in Next Year’s Realignment

We’re getting close to this historic realignment. Everything will change when we go to 8A. Within a matter of a couple of months, we’ll start getting a peak at the new classifications and conferences.

New ADM numbers are on the way and could change some of the conferences that have been rumored or speculated. So take all of the following with a grain of salt.

There’s a chance this realignment will give us conferences that have a higher concentration of the best football programs.

In the East, I think a conference that merges the best of the NAC 6 and Greater Neuse River could be on the way. This 7A/8A league would combine Rolesville, Wake Forest, and Heritage with the likes of Cleveland, Clayton, and Corinth Holders. It would instantly have an argument for the best football conference in the East.

With this scenario, I would see Garner, Middle Creek, Holly Springs, and Fuquay-Varina all ending back up together in a 7A league. That used to be a really fun conference with the Apex schools mixed in.

In the Triad, there is a high likelihood that the best programs from Guilford and Forsyth Counties get tossed together. The rumored Super Triad 7A/8A Conference would feature Grimsley and East Forsyth as 7As with West Forsyth, Reagan, and Northwest Guilford as 7As. Additionally, there is a chance for Dudley and Mount Tabor to wind up together in a 6A conference.

The Sandhills region could have Scotland, Seventy-First, Cape Fear, Terry Sanford, and South View as 6As. There is a world where that group becomes the core of a new conference.

There’s a realistic chance for Hickory, St. Stephens, and Watauga to be 6A schools and wind up together in a conference. A league with those schools to go with Freedom and Alexander Central would be really fun. That would be a heck of a conference of coaches with Ryan Habich, Joe Glass, J.K. Adkins, and more quality men.

Wait, what if 6A Hickory doesn’t get sent up with those northwest schools? Do you know which 6A school would be just an hour south? Kings Mountain. Another school that is around an hour south? Crest, which could be 5A. The Chargers are used to being with Kings Mountain, as is South Point High, which is also expected to be 5A. How about we wrap South Point in this? Some more 5A programs that might fit between Hickory and the Big South schools? East Lincoln and North Lincoln. I don’t see this conference as the most likely option, but it would be an incredible collection of historic programs.

The craziest conference in North Carolina this year is the Eastern Plains 2A. This is the league that has the food chain where every school has eaten another in a perfect circle. Well, next year, the league could morph into a 3A/4A split conference that adds in Martin County, which is a rapidly ascending program.

I have a feeling that something massive is going to happen in Charlotte.

Hough, Chambers, Mallard Creek, North Mecklenburg, and West Charlotte (7A) will be together for sure. How incredible would it be if the realignment committee sent 7As Independence and Butler up there with those schools? No exaggeration, that could be the best football conference to ever exist in this state. On the flip side, I think there’s a stronger likelihood that Butler and Independence, both on the east side of Charlotte, get wrapped in with the powers from Union County: Weddington, Marvin Ridge, Cuthbertson, and Porter Ridge. All of those Union schools are trending to be 7A along with Indy and Butler. The committee could also put those Union 7As into a split conference with the Union 6As Sun Valley and Piedmont, along with Charlotte Catholic.

Next week, I’m planning on releasing a final conference projection using last year’s ADM numbers. So be on the lookout for that. It’s going to take a lot of thinking during college football and NFL this weekend.

4th Down: Milestones & Streaks

There was an incredible moment last Friday as South Rowan defeated Concord for the first time in 40 years. Precisely, it was 39 years and 364 days since the Raiders defeated the Spiders. Not only did the Raiders end the streak, but they ended it with authority. It was a 17-0 shutout on Friday.

Similarly, West Wilkes ended a 17-game losing streak to rival Wilkes Central that lasted back to 2006. The Blackhawks scored 21 unanswered points to win 14-0 after falling behind by two scores in the first quarter.

These are the active winning and losing streaks in North Carolina which are at least 10 games long.

Winning Streaks

• Hickory winning streak (23 games)
• Mount Airy winning streak (38 games)
• Reidsville winning streak (19 games)
• Weddington winning streak (12 games)

Losing Streaks

• Cedar Ridge losing streak (27 games)
• East Columbus losing streak (12 games)
• East Rowan losing streak (18 games)
• Foard losing streak (40 games)
• Garinger losing streak (35 games)
• Patton losing streak (14 games)
• Rocky Mount Prep losing streak (22 games)
• Smithfield-Selma losing streak (18 games)
• South Brunswick losing streak (13 games)
• South Lenoir losing streak (15 games)
• Swansboro losing streak (19 games)
• Union losing streak (12 games)
• West Caldwell losing streak (37 games)
• Western Harnett losing streak (19 games)
• Wheatmore losing streak (13 games)

Other streaks to watch this season:

• Cleveland has not lost a regular season varsity game since 2019. The Rams have won 49-straight regular season games and 49-straight JV games
• Reidsville has gone 385 games in a row without being shut out. They’ve scored at least 10 points in the last 125 games
• Northeastern has won 13 consecutive conference championships
• Watauga has not lost a conference game since October of 2017. The Pioneers have won 36 straight conference games
• Tarboro has appeared in seven consecutive state championships dating back to 2017

Quick Hits

• Donut Squad: These teams shut out their opponents in week 8 of the high school football season: Alleghany, Apex Friendship, Ashbrook, Brevard, Burns, Cape Fear, Cardinal Gibbons, Charlotte Catholic, Cherokee, Cherryville, Community School of Davidson, Covenant Day, Cummings, Dudley, East Duplin, East Lincoln, East Surry, Eastern Alamance, Eastern Wayne, Harrells Christian, Jordan, Mallard Creek, Northeastern, Northampton County, Oak Grove, Piedmont, Rockingham County, Rocky Mount, Rolesville, South Columbus, South Rowan, South View, Southeast Alamance, Southern Guilford, Statesville, Terry Sanford, Thomasville, Weddington, West Forsyth, Whiteville
• 50-Burgers! These 11-man teams eclipsed 50 points scored in week 8 of the high school football season: Salisbury (73), Martin County (72), South Columbus (71), Northwood (69), Pender (68), Southwest Onslow (67), Eastern Alamance (64), Lincolnton (63), White Oak (63), East Forsyth (62), Southern Nash (62), Tarboro (62), Burns (61), Metrolina Christian (61), Hillside (60), Whiteville (58), Charlotte Catholic (57), Eastern Randolph (57), Midway (57), Reidsville (57), Southern School of Energy and Sustainability (57), Central Davidson (56), Cummings (56), Jordan (56), Leesville Road (56), New Bern (56), Monroe (55), Starmount (55), Trinity Christian (55), Brevard (54), Chapel Hill (54), East Duplin (54), Eastern Wayne (54), Southeast Alamance (54), Corvian Community (53), Mallard Creek (53), Mount Tabor (52), North Johnston (52), Pine Forest (52), Weldon (52), Cape Fear (51), Community School of Davidson (51), Butler (50), Harrells Christian (50), Northampton County (50)

Victory Formation

I’ll be going to South Point at Ashbrook this evening. The Red Raiders already have crucial Big South 3A wins over Crest and Kinst Mountain under their belt, but a win over the Greenwave this evening would effectively clinch the conference. South Point’s final two games are against Forestview and North Gaston, which have a combined three wins.

Source: highschoolot.com