Well, we're now 3 weeks into the season, and the number of unbeaten Western 1A teams continue to dwindle, so let's take a look at the 6 Western Conferences, and what's happening:
Yadkin Valley Conference(YVC)-9 Members
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The one thing about being one of the biggest conferences in the state is that you don't have to find as many non-conference opponents to fill your schedule, and such is the case in the 9-member YVC as conference play begins this week for several teams.....The YVC has two teams with a winning record, and both schools are located in Montgomery County....West Montgomery(3-0) remains unbeaten after a hard fought victory(13-6) over 2A Thomasville(1-2) last friday in MT Gilead...Meanwhile, East Montgomery(2-1) won their 2nd consecutive game, beating 2A Trinity(1-2) 33-14....It won't take long for the 1A Eagles to find out about themselves as they host a hungry and winless Albemarle(0-3) Bulldog team this coming friday in the YVC opener for both teams...Meanwhile, North Stanly(1-1) will play their first home game this friday, a couple weeks after losing their first game of the season at 3A Sun Valley(63-38)...This week the Comets will try to prevent 2A West Stanly(2-1) from claiming the outright Stanly County Championship as the 2A Colts have already beaten South Stanly(30-12) and Albemarle(6-0) on Saturday to put themselves in position to claim the undisputed Stanly County 2015 title...Along with Albemarle, Chatham Central, South Davidson and the Union Academy Cardinals have also started the season 0-3...North Moore(1-1) which was off last week will open conference play this friday when they host the South Stanly Rebel Bulls(0-2) in Robbins...
Smoky Mountain Conference(SMC)-7 Members
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After the first 3 weeks, only 2 SMC teams remain unbeaten....Hayesville(2-0) was idle last week, and will face their first team from within the state of N.C. this friday when the Yellowjackets travel to face 3A Enka(1-2)...Meanwhile, the Rosman Tigers(3-0) continued their impressive start as the Tigers pummeled winless Madison County 37-7 in Marshall last friday...Competition gets a whole lot tougher for the Tigers beginning this friday when they host a good 2A Mountain Heritage(2-1) Cougar team that beat 3A North Buncombe(26-7) on the road last friday... Both Swain County(2-1) and Murphy(2-1) bounced-back after suffering their first loss of the season to 2A WNAC foes Smoky Mountain and Franklin...The Maroondevils traveled to Henderson County on friday, and knocked-off the previously unbeaten 3A North Henderson Knights(28-24), and won't get a breather this friday in Franklin at the Panther Pit....Murphy shutout(43-0) the Carolina Wildcats from Pickens S.C., and will travel to face another home school team this friday when they play the North Georgia Falcons...Much like Cherokee the week before, Andrews found points and yards hard to come by on the road at Mitchell County as the Wildcats were shutout 49-0 by the powerful Mountaineers from Mitchell County(3-0)...Meanwhile, Cherokee's "Battle between the Nations" with Chowtaw Mississippi came down to the final minutes, but a Cherokee turnover late in the game sealed the Braves' doom in a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to their rivals in Mississippi....The defending state champs from Robbinsville(1-2) suffered their 2nd straight defeat of the season, down in Trenton Georgia, losing to Dade County 20-6...The Black Knights will look to bounce back this week against another Georgia team from Rabun Gap...
Southern Piedmont Conference(SPC)-7 Members
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The SPC still has 3 Unbeaten teams after 3 weeks, and those teams are the Community School of Davidson(3-0) Pine Lake Pride(3-0) and the Gryphons from Thomas Jefferson(3-0) who hammered the Mountain Island Charter(0-3) 63-36 in the home and conference opener for the Gryphons last friday...Pine Lake Prep shutout(28-0) the team(Statesville Christian) that Thomas Jefferson will face this coming friday...Pine Lake Prep will try to remain unbeaten, but competition will be tougher this week at the Cannon School....The Community School of Davidson(3-0) began their 3-week road gauntlet last week at Lake Norman Charter(1-1), and beat the 2A knights 30-13 to register their first road win of the new season....The road doesn't get any better this week for the Spartans as they travel to face 4A North Mecklenburg(2-1), followed by a trip to Davidson Day before hosting Mountain Island Charter in the conference opener...Bessemer City's first home game of the season, ended with a 21-8 loss to 2A Chase....The Yellowjackets will try to bounce back this friday at Stuart Cramer?....Along with Mountain Island Charter(0-3 & 0-2), Cherryville(0-3) and Highland Tech(0-2) are also winless thus far this season...The Rams who have yet to score a point this season is mired in a 1A worse 18 game losing-streak prior to this week's game with First Assembly Christian which was delayed by weather until monday...The Ironmen who have scored a meager 6pts in their 3 losses to open the season, were shutout for the 2nd time this season(27-0) last friday at 2A West Lincoln...
NorthWest Conference(NWC)-7Members
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East Surry(3-0) remains unbeaten after a hard fought 35-32 victory over 2A Surry County rival North(2-1)...The Cardinals travel to face another unbeaten team this friday in 2A West Stokes(3-0) who has already beaten NWC foe Mount Airy(27-20) a couple weeks ago in Mount Airy....Weather impacted several NWC games on friday with North Stokes(2-0)' game at county rival 2A South Stokes being postponed until tuesday....The surprising Vikings who began the season with a 30-game losing streak, have shutout their first 2 oppnents to start the season...Mount Airy(2-1) erupted for a season-high 63pts last thursday in a televised broadcast between the Granite Bears and Elkin who managed only 7 points in the game...The Bears will host Surry County 2A foe North Surry(2-1) this friday....Meanwhile, Walkertown's chance for a Forsyth County statement game at 4A R.J.Reynolds came up just a little short in a 41-38 loss to the 4A Demons....Next up for the Wolfpack is another class 4A opponent in Parkland who'll meet fellow NWC foe W-S Prep(0-1) on monday in a game postponed due to weather....W-S Prep will get two opportunities this week to pick up their first-ever varsity football win as the Phoenix will host private school Work of God out of Raleigh this coming friday....The Atkins Camels(0-3) look to be headed for a long season, losing 55-0 to 4A Glenn...Perhaps the Camels best chance of victory this season, will come in the final 2 weeks of the regular season when they host W-S Prep and North Stokes?
1A/2A Mountain Valley Conference(MVC)-4 1A Members
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It was a strange week schedule-wise in the MVC last week as half of the members(Ashe County, East Wilkes, Starmount and West Wilkes) were all Idle last week, while the other MVC foes played on Thursday, Friday,Saturday and Monday...On Thursday, Elkin(0-3) remained winless with a lopsided televised loss(63-7) to Mount Airy...On friday, Alleghany(0-3) was surprised by the previously winless Villians of Bishop McGuinness(1-2) 34-22...On Saturday, 2A North Wilkes(1-2) lost a heartbreaker(20-19) at home to 2A Forbush....And on Monday, 2A Wilkes Central(2-0)will try to remain unbeaten as they host winless Surry Central(0-2) in a game postponed from friday, due to weather...Meanwhile, East Wilkes(2-0) has had 2 weeks to prepare for a rare battle between unbeatens as surprising North Stokes makes the trip to Ronda to face the Cardinals this coming friday...Starmount too has had 2 weeks to right the ship after road losses to Mount Airy(14-2) and East Surry(41-21) to open the season...This week's road game will be a little closer as the Rams travel to face rival 2A Forbush(2-1) this friday....2A MVC foes Ashe County and West Wilkes will look to pick up their first win of the season with home games against Hibriten and North Iredell, respectably....
1A/2A Western Highlands Conference(WHC)-2 1A Members
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The two 1A schools in the WHC are currently at opposite ends of the win/loss spectrum as Mitchell County(3-0) remains unbeaten after their 2nd straight lopsided victory over a team from the Smoky Mountain Conference, beating previously unbeaten Andrews 49-0, last friday...This week, the Mountaineers will step up in competition when they travel off the mountain to face an improved 4A Titan team from McDowell(2-1)....Avery County(0-3)lost at McDowell(42-12) a couple weeks ago, and remained winless after a loss to nearby 4A Watauga(34-13), last friday...Meanwhile, 2A WHC foes Mountain Heritage(2-1) and Hendersonville(1-2) beat 3A foes North Buncombe and East Henderson on the road last week to get back in the win column after losses to Erwin and West Henderson the week before...Perennial WHC contenders Polk County(1-2) and Owen(0-3) lost to nearby 3A foes R-S Central and A.C. Reynolds last friday, and find themselves in a very unfamiliar situation at or near the bottom of the WHC standings at the moment...
Comments and Opinions as always, are welcomed!
Roar Tigers Roar!