It's near kickoff time: County teams start football season Saturday

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on July 31, 2015 1:48 PM

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In less than 24 hours, the 2015 high school football season officially kicks off in Wayne County and statewide.

Three teams -- Charles B. Aycock, Rosewood and North Duplin -- have scheduled first-ever midnight madness practices. The Golden Falcons will practice at the Eastern Carolina Athletic Park.

The change of venue is necessary since Aycock is currently under construction due to the addition of new classrooms and has been shut down. Teams in all sports are not permitted to practice on campus.

Rosewood and North Duplin remain on schedule.

Eastern Wayne's players will almost greet the rising sun with a 7 a.m. practice Saturday. Goldsboro and Princeton will each start at 8 a.m., followed by Spring Creek at 8:30.

Southern Wayne meets at 9 a.m.

Teams are permitted to wear just helmets, cleats, T-shirts and shorts during the first three days of practice. Pads may be added on the fourth day and full-body contact is allowed on the seventh day.

Regular-season play begins Aug. 21.

Each team enters its respective season with plenty of story lines.

Opposing defensive coordinators are delighted to know that Eastern Wayne's KK Best is finally a senior. The dual-threat quarterback has helped lead the Warriors to back-to-back appearances in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A eastern regional final.

Aycock's Damien Darden has surfaced on several recruiting radars during the offseason and recently received a full ride to N.C. State. The 246-pound junior recorded 37 tackles a year ago.

"That speaks volumes for our program and we're proud of Damien, it shows the hard work he's put in, but he's got plenty of hard work ahead of him," third-year CBA head coach Steve Brooks said.

"He knows he's going to get pushed harder."

Rosewood returns most of its offense intact, including quarterback Cam Helt and state champion sprinter Marquail "Red" Al-montaser. But head coach Robert Britt has to find -- and develop -- nine quality players on defense. The biggest loss is Tyree Chavious, who signed with James Madison University.

Bennett Johnson, a record-setting quarterback in high school, returns for his second season with Goldsboro. He's applauded his team's weight-room ethic on Twitter throughout the summer, but also "weeded" out players who haven't either bought into his system or shown the commitment necessary to help the program.

Princeton takes the field with a new head coach, Travis Gaster.

His first task is to replace record-setting running back Johnny Frasier, who signed with N.C. State; and quarterback Michael Wooten, the program's second most-prolific signal caller behind David Gurganus.

Spring and summer workouts in Seven Springs have pleased head coach Aaron Sanders. Although he has two pairs of big cleats -- Tre Hammonds and Jordan Hicks to fill -- he thinks the Gators just may surprise a few opponents.

And Sanders could field a JV team.

Injury-riddled throughout the past 2 1/2 seasons, Southern Wayne continues to diligently work with head coach David Lee. The key loss is Tyaire Allen, but there are several talented skill players expected to suit up for the Saints.

North Duplin returns three key starters -- Emiliano Mora, JP Payton and Daquan Goodman. Each two-way starter, at some point last season, endured injuries which kept them out of the lineup. Should they stay healthy, the Rebels could finish among the top three in Carolina 1-A Conference play.