It will be business as usual for the Cape Fear Valley 3A conference this season, as Gray's Creek and Douglas Byrd will fight it out for the conference title, but three other teams may have something to say before the regular season ends.

The conference season begins on Week #5 (September 21), and Gray's Creek will be traveling to Byrd. Whoever wins this game will have the inside track on winning the conference title.

Southern Lee will try to throw a wrench in the conference title race. The Cavaliers lost a lot of talent from last season, but will reload and get better as the season progresses.

Overhills will be overrated as usual. The Jaguars have strong JV teams, but when they move up to varsity, they usually disappoint when it comes to Friday nights. They usually play a tough non-conference schedule and are competitive in the conference. But, Overhills has never had a winning season in school history. Perhaps the Jaguars should look for new leadership. They may need it when they move up to the 4A classification next year.

Westover could be the biggest spoiler of all in the CFV 3A as they have a new head coach. Greg Bryant comes in to take over for the Wolverines. Bryant was previously an assistant at Jack Britt, but has had head coaching experience in stops at Seventy-First (before Bob Paroli) and Hoke County.

Western Harnett and Union Pines will both be fighting to stay out of the conference basement. UP has lost 13 consecutive conference games (16 straight versus 3A opponents). Numbers of players reporting to the first practice were very low for a 3A team (low 70s both JV and varsity). In order to be competitive, the Vikings will need to play a lot of players both was and stay injury free. Line play on both sides of the line will need to improve dramatically though there will not be a lot of size on both sides of the line. Backs will need to take the ball to the end zone instead of just running around trying to avoid being tackled. Finally, penalties, mistakes, and turnovers will need to be kept to a bare minimum.

Hopefully, UP will overachieve and perhaps make the playoffs. The Simmons Ratings rated the Vikings as the worst 3A squad out of 97 3A teams last year There is no where to go to up for UP. Maybe this will be the year.

Cape Fear Valley 3A

1. Douglas Byrd, 6-0 conference, 11-0 overall
2. Gray's Creek, 5-1, 10-1
3. Southern Lee, 4-2, 7-4
4. Overhills, 3-3, 3-8
5. Westover, 2-4, 3-8
6. Western Harnett, 1-5, 2-9
7. Union Pines, 0-6, 2-9

Comments

Jee_Duhb 9 months, 2 weeks ago

GO EAGLES! BYRD ALL THE WAY!

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