Good morning. Here’s your A.M. briefing for Monday, Dec. 4 while we all dig out from the rubble of yesterday’s controversial College Football Playoff announcements. Do you agree or disagree with Florida State getting left out of the final four?
Hickory, NC – best football town in NC?
We took to Twitter/X over the weekend and posed the above question (which garnered a record number of likes and impressions). The 2023 season, at least, has been pure gold for the western North Carolina locale, home to about 43,000.
On Friday night, Hickory High nipped Dudley 42-41 to win the 3A West Region championship. The Red Tornadoes, coached by Joe Glass, improved to 15-0 with the triumph and will play for the 3A state title this weekend against Seventy-First.
The next afternoon, Lenoir-Rhyne University blitzed Valdosta State 35-7 in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. The Bears move on to the Final Four where a date at Harding (Ark.) awaits.
—> READ MORE about Lenoir-Rhyne’s triumph over Valdosta State HERE (Game Recap) and HERE (News and Notes).
—> READ MORE: See all the state high school regional final results from Friday and the match-ups for this weekend’s state title games HERE.
Reidsville readers took issue with our labeling of Hickory as best football town in the state. From a high school-only perspective, they have a point. Reidsville High in Rockingham County boasts 22 state football championships, per the school’s Wikipedia page — the most of any high school in North Carolina.
Like Hickory, Reidsville will play for a state championship this weekend. The Rams will face Clinton in the 2A state finale on Saturday at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
Lenoir-Rhyne builds roster with in-state, out-of-state talent
During an interview with David Glenn of the North Carolina Sports Network this past week, Lenoir-Rhyne coach Mike Jacobs was asked how the Bears have managed to maintain gridiron success over the past decade-plus as a Division II school. LR has been a regular in the playoffs, winning 11 post-season games since 2012. Jacobs joined the staff in 2019 after a successful stint at Notre Dame College in Ohio.
Jacobs mentioned Hickory’s location as ideal for recruiting. “We try to draw a target that starts right here in Hickory and radiates out about six hours,” Jacobs told Glenn. “With our central location — that includes the entire state of South Carolina, the entire state of Georgia, the northern part of Florida – the Jacksonville area. It radiates up into Virginia and Tennessee… and then it pushes as far as into West Virginia and the southern part of Ohio.
“There is a ton of great football in a reasonable geographic footprint for us.”
Lenoir-Rhyne’s roster reflects this approach well, and star players hail from both the Old North State and several neighbors. Jacobs also has been able to nab some talented outliers, such as Andre Jefferson, who now holds the school sacks record. Jefferson is from Calumet Park, Ill.
“I can’t be afraid to offer anybody,” Jacobs said. “How do you pick kids who are going to pick Division II? I don’t. I pick kids who are probably Division I football players that for whatever reason, whether they are an inch or two short from somebody’s ridiculous parameters or maybe they are too thin … but they are fantastic football players.”
Jefferson was one of those players who didn’t quite stack up with ideal D1 measurables coming out of high school, Jacobs said. But the Lenoir-Rhyne coaches saw what Jefferson could be — and now has become — and went after him. They have been rewarded, and Jefferson’s prowess was on full display in Saturday’s dismantling of Valdosta State. Jefferson had four tackles for loss.
“The kid’s 304 pounds now and he’s had all 32 NFL teams through (to visit him).”
For the complete interview with Jacobs — Glenn is a master at helping listeners get to know his guests — click this link HERE.
Of Mayonnaise, Avocados and Pop-Tarts: It’s bowl season
It took longer than expected Sunday afternoon, but North Carolina, NC State Duke and Appalachian State finally learned where they’ll go bowling and who they’ll play in their final games of 2023.
The Tar Heels (8-4) will finish right where they started on Labor Day weekend, facing West Virginia (8-4) in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. The game will be Wednesday, Dec. 27 with kickoff at 5:30 p.m. (UNC beat South Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Kickoff Classic on Sept. 2).
NC State (9-3) will line up against Kansas State (8-4) in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 5:45 p.m. One of the perks for the victors? The chance to eat an edible Pop-Tarts mascot. Seriously.
Duke (7-5) will draw Troy (11-2), champions of the Sun Belt Conference, in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 23 at noon. Some of the delay in announcing ACC teams might be because early projections pegged the Blue Devils for the Gasparilla Bowl to face UCF. Since Duke played — and beat — the Knights during the 2022 bowl season, that was not an ideal set-up and ACC teams had to be shuffled around.
Appalachian State (8-5), fresh off a 49-23 humbling loss at Troy in Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference title game, also will be in Orlando for bowl season, just 12 days earlier than NC State. The Mountaineers will play Miami of Ohio in the (you must sing the next three words like the commercial jingle) “Avocados from Mexico” Cure Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 3:30 p.m.
Don’t forget the Golden Bulls
The other North Carolina team playing in a bowl this season competes in Division II. Johnson C. Smith will battle Fort Valley State in the inaugural Florida Beach Bowl in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, Dec. 13. The Golden Bulls have the chance to get their eight win in the game.
Click HERE for more information on getting tickets to support Johnson C. Smith at the Florida Beach Bowl.
Still three NC schools looking for head coaches
Last week took the wind out of Duke’s sails a bit, losing their head coach to Texas A&M and their star quarterback to the transfer portal. (Not to mention, Duke’s men’s basketball team has fallen on hard times).
Will this week bring any news of Mike Elko’s replacement at Duke? Will any other jobs come open around the state?
Right now, Gardner-Webb (FCS) and St. Augustine’s (Division II) are the only other North Carolina schools looking for new head coaches.
Keep up with the latest happenings by reading our Coaching Carousel Tracker HERE:
Statewide Standings
Each week, we like to post the win-loss records of every college football team in the state to see where everyone stacks up. Some folks are amazed when they first learn we have 35 college programs in the Old North State (33 NCAA, 1 NAIA and 1 JUCO).
Here are this week’s Statewide Standings with only a handful of games left to be played before turning the page to 2024.
