While all four of the Reflector’s Eastern Plains 2A Conference schools have some work to do to contend in what has been a tough football league for a long time, they also have plenty of reason for the typical optimism shown prior to the start of the season.
At the EPC coaches’ meeting held at Parker’s Barbecue on Aug. 6, SouthWest Edgecombe was picked atop the media poll just ahead of West Craven. North Pitt was selected to finish third, followed by Farmville Central, Greene Central, Ayden-Grifton and Washington.
Farmville Central
The Jaguars went 9-3 in 2023, including 4-2 in the EPC, before a second-round exit in the NCHSAA Class 2A playoffs.
Farmville Central’s offense was potent last year, ringing up 542 points. The Jaguars scored 42 or more points in nine of their 12 contests in 2023. Farmville Central coach Ron Cook outlined a list of keys necessary for the program to sustain its success.
“It’s doing a lot of little things,” he said. “We have a lot of guys who are starting for the first time, so first thing is being more disciplined, blocking, tackling, controlling the things we can control.”
But the Jaguars will have to replace quarterback Landen Barnes, now at Elizabeth City State, and Alex Moye, who was invited as a special walk-on at East Carolina University. And Cook — starting his fourth season with the Jaguars — understands that replacing players like Barnes and Moye isn’t easy.
But Cook loves what junior BJ Gardner brings behind center.
“He hadn’t missed a day,” Cook said. “Practice. Workouts. Lifting. Going into his junior year. He’s very cerebral. He’s a coach’s quarterback.”
Farmville Central also brings back experience across the lines.
“We’re not very big across the front,” Cook said. “Our guys are all returning. Since I’ve been hired, the weight room has been a priority.
“They’re not big, but they have some good strength. They can all move.”
Ja’quez Dixon already has at least four offers, including ECSU and Johnson C. Smith, while O’Maurie Phillips has an offer from Navy.
Farmville Central starts its season on the road at Goldsboro and North Lenoir, but then will play five of its next six games at home, including its home finale on Oct. 11 against West Craven, before wrapping up the regular season at Greene Central and at North Pitt.
Making the postseason has become a habit under Cook, and he doesn’t envision that changing when asked what will make a successful season for the program.
“We should be in the playoffs every year,” he said. “Our senior class has been in the playoffs two out of their three years. That’s the expectation.”
North Pitt
A 5-6 record and 2-4 mark in the Eastern Plains 2A Conference in 2023 earned the Panthers a postseason berth. North Pitt’s record was an improvement over the Panthers’ 4-7 mark from two years ago, coach CJ Wilson’s first season.
He has learned over the last two years that much of coaching is in the details.
“I learned a lot,” Wilson said. “Every year, you learn something. The biggest thing I learned the last two years is to have a game plan. Injuries are going to happen. We’re going to cross every ‘T’, dot every ‘I.’”
One thing he has this season that he didn’t have in 2023 is depth. What little depth North Pitt had last season was immediately depleted due to a rash of injuries, forcing many of the remaining healthy players to play both ways.
The Panthers and Wilson hope not to go through that again.
“That’s one thing that we have this year,” he said. “We have a two-platoon. We have 11 on offense and 11 on defense. The depth is so much better this year.”
As opposed to last year, where a lot of players played on both sides of the ball throughout the game, Wilson said that he had only three players going both ways going into this season.
The depth carries over to offense. Last year, quarterback Famous Wilson — CJ’s nephew — had a chemistry with Kam Little-Burgess. The latter has graduated, and while Wilson doesn’t yet have a new favorite target, CJ Wilson says it’s not for a lack of trying or because no one has emerged, but again, better roster numbers and depth.
“We have too many guys who can play, who can catch,” Wilson said. “We’re trying to figure out what packages we can put out there.”
Famous Wilson has also progressed, and CJ Wilson has taken notice.
“From Day One, I’ve seen him make throws that most high school quarterbacks don’t make,” CJ Wilson said. “He has a 4.0 GPA in the classroom, so he’s a coach on the field. He goes through the progressions. The way he has progressed, it’s going to be fun to watch.”
North Pitt plays its first two games on the road, at Martin County and at South Central with a bye in between, and doesn’t play its home opener until Sept. 13 against John A. Holmes from Edenton. The Panthers will later play four consecutive road games before wrapping up their regular season in Bethel against West Craven and Farmville Central on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, respectively.
Wilson and North Pitt will be seeking more progress, such as more than two wins in the conference. The Panthers have progressed during Wilson’s time with the program, and he outlined how that can continue.
“Discipline is the No. 1 thing,” Wilson said. “The way we treat the locker room. Be on time, so we can get through our practices. Understand what we are doing. Be a smart kid in the classroom. We want guys who give great effort. We want great men.”
Ayden-Grifton
The Chargers are coming off a 3-7 record, including 0-6 in the EPC. But not only was it a three-win improvement over 2022’s winless campaign, but it was also coach Paul Cornwell’s return following a two-year break.
During Cornwell’s first stint in Littlefield, he took the Chargers to the playoffs his last 15 seasons at the helm, compiling a 132-65 record. Ayden-Grifton showed signs of progress in 2023. Also helping issues is that the Chargers return 16 starters. One of those starters, 6-foot-5, 228-pound Jack Ewell, has received offers at the next level, including Appalachian State.
Ewell is a centerpiece at tight end on offense and as a mainstay linebacker on defense. He expects to make his college decision soon, but in the meantime, he will be one of Cornwell’s potential gamebreakers every week.
“He’s a big weapon, he’s a tough kid and smart,” Cornwell said of Ewell. “A lot of it runs through him.”
The Chargers are still young, with lots of sophomores manning key positions on the lines, but things are changing fast after a very productive offseason.
“Throughout the offseason, we got lots of guys into the weight room that haven’t been there before, so we made some strides physically,” Cornwell said. “We’re not there yet but we’re bigger, faster, stronger than we were a year ago. Hopefully, that will help us be more competitive. We’re still young but that should help us a lot.
“With some of the guys that got thrown in last year, they have a good idea now of what’s going on and how to compete, so they’ve definitely made some strides and are key contributors now. We have a lot of sophomore linemen that are learning, and it’s on the job training. For the future it’s a big benefit but it makes things inconsistent at times right now.”
Senior quarterback Nathan Brooks has emerged to compete with junior returning starter John Fields for the top job under center this season.
Cornwell loves that the competition has had a positive impact on the offseason and will potentially have a similar impact on the season.
“They have kind of competed, and it’s helped them grow,” Cornwell said, noting that slot-style junior receiver EJ Ruffin will be a valuable weapon in both the running and passing games, while junior Nygel Morgan, primarily a defensive back, will also be a big-play threat in both the pass and return games. “I think consistency is the big thing. Anytime you have a young team, it’s finding that consistency in everything you do and knowing it all has a purpose ... that executing the little things is very important when you’re trying to be successful.”
The Chargers open the season at home with two non-conference games against Wilson Prep and Martin County, but also starts its EPC schedule on the road at West Craven and at Greene Central.
Greene Central
Greene Central went 4-7 and 3-3 in the EPC in 2023. Rams coach Jay Wilson, starting his sixth season in Snow Hill, will be looking to recover following a 10-win campaign in 2022.
Wilson was pleased with his team’s offseason, noting that many of his players were on the track team in the spring — he was the coach — and that leaders have filled holes vacated by players who graduated.
Wilson believes that his lines — both offensive and defensive — will help set the tone for the Rams. Greene Central returns four of its five offensive lineman and the entire defensive line from 2023.
“We definitely want to work inside out. That is the game plan,” Wilson said. “We can’t always have the 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4s (in the 40-yard dash) on the edges, but with the lines we can be consistent.”
Where the Rams could wreak some havoc is defensively. In addition to the experienced line, the Rams have Mez Coppedge at the ready to make plays.
“He’s playing some outside linebacker,” Wilson said. “He’s playing some safety. As dynamic as he is on the basketball court, he’s even more dynamic to me on the football field. He’s cerebral. We try not to overcoach him and just let him play.”
The Rams also return Mike Suggs, who had five interceptions last year, and Wilson expects big things from him as well.
Wilson is seeking improvement, and he’s looking to use the momentum of the school’s baseball state championship to help lift the football program. Greene Central will be looking to show the form that got the Rams 10 wins two years ago.
“We’ll close out some games, and that will give us some wins that we didn’t get last year,” Wilson said.
Wilson was realistic in outlining what he feels are keys to a successful season.
“To exceed expectations,” Wilson said. “Win one more football game than we’re supposed to. They had us picked fifth, and we don’t feel like we’re a fifth-place team. Those last two weeks of the season, we want to be competing for a conference championship. That’s what I always think for our guys.”
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