Remember back at the turn of the new Millineum when the state subdivided the class 1A playoffs, and awarded 2-1A titles for 1A & 1AA, beginning in 2001?.....Those first 10 years, the West claimed 9 of the first 10 1AA titles with Albemarle(5) and Thomasville(4) winning multiple titles during those years with James Kenan's 13-6 victory over West Montgomery in 2007 as the lone Eastern 1AA title during that span....As for the 1A titles, the West claimed 7 of the first 10 with Elkin(4),Swain County(2) and Mount Airy(1), claiming titles during that span....The remaining 3 titles claimed by the East, belonged to Wallace Rose-Hill(2) and Plymouth(1).....If you fast forward to today, and take a look at what's happened in just the past 5 years, a reasonable person might say that the script has flipped somewhat, especially in the 1AA title chase as the East has won 3 of the last 4, including the last 3, and 3 different teams accomplished that feat(SW Onslow-Now 2A, James Kenan and Wallace Rose-Hill)....And once again this year, the East is considered to be where the top-tier 1AA teams are locacted with a veteran championship calibre team at Wallace Rose-Hill that is poised to repeat as champ....The 1A East has not been as successful as late as Smoky Mountain heavyweights Murphy(2) and Robbinsville have claimed 3 of the last 4 state titles.... 2 of those 3 Western 1A titles have came against Plymouth with the other against Jones Senior...Plymouth who has played in the last 3 1A title games, winning the 2012 title over Murphy(20-15), are hardly finished as the Vikings are the prohibitive favorite in the East to return to the title game for a 4th consecutive season....
Let's take a look at what's happening in the 7 conferences that make up the 1A East:
The Coastal-10 has only 9 members who play football as Ocracoke is too small...Nonetheless, Plymouth has developed into somewhat of an Eastern 1A dynasty, and appear ready to contend for not just another conference title but also a chance at another state title as the Vikings have 2 state 1A titles(07' & 12") and 2 state runnerup finishes(13' & 14') in just last 8 years....This year's chase for the conference title in the C-10 appears to be a 3-team race between Plymouth(1-1), Camden County(2-0) and Manteo(1-0)....The Vikings tasted defeat in the opener at the hands of Eastern 2A Powerhouse ranked Northeastern(40-7) in the home opener before bouncing-back last week with a hard fought win(34-27) over a much-improved Riverside-Martin team....Meanwhile, Camden County which returns 15 starters and 24 letterman from last year's 9-4 team that lost to Princeton in the 2nd round of the 1AA playoffs last year, has beaten 2A teams Pasquotank(61-23) and Currituck(26-19) on the road to open the season, but will get NO break in their home opener this week as the Bruins entertain the unbeaten 2A Eagles from Northeastern...The Manteo Redskins opened the season with a 23-14 victory over 2A Currituck in the home opener, and were off this week in preparation for their short trip across the bridge to Kitty Hawk to face 2A First Flight(1-1) this friday....Later this season, Manteo will have to travel to both Camden County and Plymouth, which makes for a difficult road to the C-10 title for the Redskins...As for the game of the year, it'll come pretty soon when Plymouth travels to Camden County on September 18th, but stay tuned!
The Carolina Conference currently has 3 unbeaten teams in Lakewood(2-0), James Kenan(1-0) and surprising Spring Creek(2-0) as the Gators have won their first 2 games of the season for the first time since the school opened shortly after the new Millineum....Meanwhile, James Kenan had last week off after dismantling 3A Southern Wayne(56-6) in the home opener...This week's home game will be much much more difficult for the Tigers as the defending state 1AA champs from WRH come to town after ending James Kenan's season(34-31) in the Eastern 1AA Finals, last year...Meanwhile, Lakewood has recorded 2 shutouts to open the season over Union and East Columbus, ad will be heavily favored at home this week against the winless devilpups of Lejeune...The Leopards first road game at 2A Midway(2-0) in a couple weeks will be thei first test of the new season for the Leopards....
One of the most improved conferences in the state is the Two Rivers Conference....Tarboro which was a fixture in the 2A title game prior to being realigned into the 1A class, is poised to have their most competitive 1A team, this year....The Vikings are the obvious preseason favorite in the TRC, having already claimed the first 2 outright titles since joining the conference....Thus far this season, Tarboro(2-0) has already claimed road wins at 3A Nash Central(40-12) and at powerhouse 2A Washington(32-7), last friday....Another TRC unbeaten is South Creek(2-0) who beat Southeast Halifax on the road for the 2nd time in less than a year, winning this year by 10 more points(34-23) than they did in the playoffs last year(20-19)...Both North Edgecombe and Riverside-Martin opened the season with victories before losing to Eastern powers 2A SW Edgecombe and Plymouth, respectabily....
The Tar-Roanoke Conference has a state marquee player in All-State Preseason QB Jay Parker from Granville Central who passed for over 3200yds and 33TDs last season, but the TRC doesn't seem to have a marquee team?....The Panthers are once again expected to contend for the TRC title with SE Halifax, and will host the Trojans on October 16th....Overall, the conference does not have any unbeaten or ranked teams as Granville Central lost a shootout(46-36) in the home opener last friday to the 4A Person Rockets....Louisburg(0-2) could be in for a long season, unless they can recover from lopsided home losses to 2A North Johnston(63-20) an Franklinton(56-7) to open the season....
Last year, it was Southside and Pamlico and everybody else in the Coastal Plains Conference, but early indications are that the CPC as a whole may be quite a bit more competitive this year than it was last year? There are currently 3 unbeaten teams in the CPC with Southside(2-0), Northside-Pinetown(2-0) and East Carteret(2-0) all beginning the season on a good note....At least one of those 3 teams will have a loss after this coming friday as Southside travels to Northside-PT for a non-conference tilt with the Panthers....East Carteret will try to stay unblemished against another surprising unbeaten team as Spring Creek from the Carolina Conference makes the trip to Beaufort this friday...The Mariners will likely get a better gage of their team on September 18th when James Kenan comes to town?
There are 2 split-class Conferences in the East, and the 1A teams from those 2 conferences, are expected to contend for titles in those respective conferences....
Wallace Rose-Hill in particular is favored to defend their 2014 1AA title, and who's too argue---The Bulldogs(2-0) sit atop of every statewide 1A poll, and have hammered thier first 2 opponents 4A Laney(42-14) ,and shutout 2A East Duplin(45-0) to open the season...No 1A team in the Four Rivers Conference is likely to challenge the talented Bulldogs, but a couple of 2A teams Clinton and East Bladen likely will, especially Clinton(1-0) who finished as the state 2A Runnerup to Shelby, last season...The season-ending showdown between 2A Clinton and WRH in Clinton, will likely determine the 15' FCC champ as it has the last couple of seasons....Heide Trask(1-1), Union(0-1) and Pender County(0-1) will be hard-pressed to stay competitive with WRH or the 2A teams in this conference, but head-to-head games between those 3 teams should be closely contested?
As for the Three Rivers Conference, Whiteville(0-2) in spite of their slow start is still the clear favorite to win the conference, and the Wolfpack are head and shoulders above their fellow TRC 1A brethen East Columbus(0-2),South Robeson(0-2) and West Columbus(0-2) all of which are winless on the season...The 1A Wolfpack will try to pick up thier first win of the season in Bladenboro this friday when they face unbeaten 2A West Bladen(2-0)...2A Red Springs is currently the only unbeaten team in the TRC...
That's what I know thus far about these 7 Eastern 1A Conferences....Maybe some of our knowledgeable Eastern folk would like to tell us more?
Comments and Opinions as always are welcomed!
