High school football teams across ENC compete in pre-season jamborees

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Tuesday night began a busy week for high school football teams across Eastern North Carolina.

Scrimmages and jamboree took place as opening night is a week from Friday. At J.H. Rose High School Tuesday, six teams competed in a jamboree.

The home Rampants took on West Carteret despite missing 45 helmets and a lot of practice time due to inclement weather.

“It’s just to get you to evaluate the players. You know, we got a lot of kids, our first on the depth chart, the backups, and then you got them third try,” J.H. Rose Head Coach Will Bland said. “And kids are trying to get some playing time. So we’ll be able to evaluate them, let them get some play time, then tell you, hey, this is the reason why you play a lot, or this is why you don’t play. You need to get better. So that’s going to help us out in the long run.”

Bland spoke to the challenges his team has dealt with recently. “Oh, no, I. I’m just waiting for the next obstacle. Just go with the flow and just try to do the best I can with what I got.”

Also taking part in the jamboree were South Central and Northeastern who took on each other and Bertie County played against Camden County.

D.H. Conley played host to 1A powerhouse Tarboro in a scrimmage Tuesday morning. “Oh, yeah. We love coming up here. I love that, you know, we got road trips, business trips, nothing but respect for Coach Connor and the Conley football team,” Tarboro Head Coach Jeff Craddock said. “We’ve been doing it. I don’t know how many years now, but it’s always great competition for a fun way to start the season.”

Coach Conner with Conley had equal sentiments. “It’s wonderful. Coach Craddock does a wonderful job every year. They have a championship-caliber program, which is evident. I mean, I think they’ve been in the past seven state championships,” he said. “It allows us to evaluate where we are at this time of the year and really put ourselves in some tough situations. We love it.”

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