Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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26 UCW APRIL 19-25, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM As you'll note elsewhere on this page, today begins the first in a series of spring high school football previews as teams hold conditioning workouts preparing for the 2017 season. This year's workouts are a little different, as the N.C. High School Athletic Association gave schools two options for how to hold them. Schools could have 21 players out per day for a slightly longer stretch from early April to mid-May, or they could opt for having the full squad out for 10 days beginning in mid-May. We'll preview the teams that chose the early workouts first: Westover, Seventy-First, Jack Britt and South View. Then we'll pick up with the remaining six county schools who chose the mid-May start: Terry Sanford, E.E. Smith, Pine Forest, Cape Fear, Gray's Creek and Douglas Byrd. • Changes look to be coming for the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs as soon as the 2017-18 school year. The N.C. Athletic Directors Association held its annual gathering in Wilmington recently, and central office staffers from the NCHSAA were on hand to discuss the possible new look of the state playoffs in all sports. Vernon Aldridge, student activities director for Cumberland County Schools, attended the meetings in Wilmington. He said the change is being forced by the new alignment of schools which goes into effect for the 2017-18 school year. The NCHSAA has changed the number of schools in each of its four size classifications. The largest schools are now in the 20 percent that make up the 4-A class. The smallest 20 percent of schools will be in the 1-A class. That leaves 30 percent in 2-A and 30 percent in 3-A. Under the current plans in football and basketball, 64 teams make the playoffs in each classification. Football subdivides classes into A and AA based on enrollment with 32 playoff teams in each subdivided class. Under the new alignment, there will be less than 80 schools in the entire 4-A class. That would mean a little over a dozen wouldn't make the playoffs, and that's why the state is looking at dropping the numbers. This will likely be taken up at the NCHSAA's spring Board of Directors meeting in May. It'll be interesting to see what they decide. • Pine Forest High School is holding its annual golf fundraiser on Sunday, May 21, at King's Grant. The individual registration fee is $65 and sponsorship packages are available for $100, $300, $750 or $1,500. Registration is at 11 a.m. the day of the tournament, with lunch at noon and a 1 p.m. shotgun start. There will be door prizes and awards for longest drive and closest to the pin. There will also be a putting contest at 11:30 a.m. For further information on entering, call head football coach Bill Sochovka or athletic director Jason Norton during school hours at 488-2384. Westover's football team made a major step forward under coach Stephen Roberson last season, sharing the Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference football title with Lee County and advancing to the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association football playoffs. But the 8-4 record and a 35-34 first-round playoff defeat to a Jacksonville team that comprised the 3-AA Eastern Regional finals are history as far as Roberson is concerned. The focus this spring is to start taking the steps to be even better in the fall. "I thought we were better than a one-and-out team,'' Roberson said of the first-round defeat against the traditionally strong Cardinals. "We felt we underachieved and had a little chip on our shoulder coming back into this season.'' Roberson said the goal for the spring sessions will be fundamental work. He plans to give special attention to blocking techniques, as the Wolverines will be looking for three new offensive linemen from the junior varsity team. Spring sports will cut into some of the numbers Roberson would like to have on the practice field, but he's been pleased with the turnout so far. "We lost 20 seniors but we've got 11 starters returning,'' he said. "We have a lot of experience, guys who have played for two or three years and guys who have played a solid two years of varsity.'' One thing new this fall that Roberson has no control over is the new conference Westover will join. It mingles 4-A and 3-A schools from Cumberland County together with Overhills. "When you're a 3-A ... 4-A schools in the conference you're never happy,'' Roberson said. "I thought we could have kept it a straight 3-A conference with the 3-A teams in the county.'' Cape Fear and E.E. Smith are dropping to 3-A to join former Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference members Douglas Byrd, Gray's Creek, Terry Sanford and Westover. The new 4-A teams in the conference are Overhills, Pine Forest and South View. "Those decisions are over my head,'' Roberson said of the new split conference. "We'll adjust and be ready to go.'' That's the feeling of junior linebacker Jayson Leach, who felt last season was a big step forward for the Wolverines and wants to continue turning the Wolverine program around. "We've proven to everybody we can win,'' he said. "We want to be better than the next team.'' He expects the new conference to be more challenging than the Cape Fear Valley 3-A was. "We have in our mind to be the best, don't think anybody is better than us,'' he said. "We're staying focused and not listening to what everybody else in the county is saying.'' Westover Football Prepares for a New Season by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Spring High School Football Previews by EARL VAUGHAN JR. EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-987-5311 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Vernon Aldridge Jayson Leach Bill Sochovka Attention Students: Do you have a story or idea to share with High School Highligts? Email us at highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com Stephen Roberson