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FOOTBALL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS TONIGHT |
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By the end of the night, we will know which teams will be playing for football state championships next week. Here's a list of the regional championship matchups tonight. Winners of tonight's games will advance to the state championships.
We've had a bunch of preview coverage this week, and more coming later today. Here are some links:
The NCHSAA released the schedule for the football state championships this week too. Games will be played on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at NC State and UNC.
We'll have statewide coverage of the regional championships tonight. Of course, our live scoreboard will be up too. You can catch it all on HighSchoolOT.com and on the free HighSchoolOT app! |
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NFL DRAFT UPDATE: TITANS TAKE MAIDEN'S FARLEY |
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The first round of the NFL Draft is in the books (don't talk to me about the Panthers) and one former North Carolina high school football player has already been drafted.
Former Maiden High School player Caleb Farley was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 22nd overall pick. The Virginia Tech corner stands at 6-foot-2 and 197 pounds.
There will be other former North Carolina players who are drafted this week. You can see a full preview here.
Also, check out the video chat Kyle Morton and Joel Bryant had with The Draft Network's Jordan Reid. |
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TRANSGENDER SPORTS BILL IS DEAD... FOR NOW |
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The Associated Press broke this story yesterday, but we have also confirmed the reporting.
House Speaker Tim Moore's chief of staff told me the Save Women's Sports Act will not advance through the legislature this year. The bill would have restricted sports participation for transgender students, but Moore's chief of staff said the speaker doesn't see a path forward for the bill to become law. Reading between the lines, if it had passed through the General Assembly, the expectation was that Gov. Roy Cooper would veto it and the Republicans would not have the votes to override the veto.
The wording from Moore is interesting though. He specifically says it won't advance "this year." I asked his chief of staff if this bill could resurface next year, he said Moore's office would not have any further comment at this time.
Moore did tell the AP that he doesn't think this bill addresses a current problem in our state. The NCHSAA previously told me it has had fewer than 10 transgender student-athletes who petitioned to play sports based on their gender identity.
We'll see if this bill is reintroduced at a later date. Stay tuned. |
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FIVE MORE SPORTS BEGIN PLAYOFFS NEXT WEEK |
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In addition to the football state championships next week, five more sports begin postseason play. Here's the calendar:
Monday:
- Boys & Girls Golf Regionals
- Girls Soccer 1st Round
- Softball 1st Round
Tuesday:
- Boys & Girls Golf Regionals
Wednesday:
- Girls Soccer 2nd Round
- Softball 2nd Round
Thursday:
- Football State Championships
Friday:
- Football State Championships
- Girls Soccer 3rd Round
- Softball 3rd Round
- Boys Tennis Regionals
Saturday:
- Football State Championships
- Boys Tennis Regionals
(If you have any ideas about how we can cover all of this stuff -- maybe cloning technology? -- let me know!) |
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SOFTBALL, GIRLS SOCCER BRACKETS COMING TOMORROW |
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Tomorrow is Seeding Saturday -- again! It feels like we have one of these every other week these days.
By tomorrow afternoon, we should have official state playoff brackets for NCHSAA softball and girls soccer. We will have coverage throughout the day of the bracket release. Download the HighSchoolOT app and we'll alert you when the preliminary and final brackets are released.
Here's what you can expect:
- NCHSAA will release official final conference standings first thing Saturday morning. Schools will have an opportunity to report any errors.
- After the deadline to report conference standings errors passes, the NCHSAA will begin to work on brackets.
- Preliminary brackets will be released first. These are not final and can (and often do) change. These give schools a chance to report any errors or ask questions of the NCHSAA.
- After the deadline for reporting errors in preliminary brackets passes, the NCHSAA will release finalized brackets. These brackets are official.
I've been updating our playoff projections for softball and girls soccer this week and you can expect multiple updates in the next 24 hours.
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HSOT BOYS SOCCER ALL-STATE TEAMS RELEASED |
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Earlier this week, we released our all-state teams for boys soccer. These teams were selected by our staff, but we had input from boys soccer coaches and members of the media from across the state.
Our all-state team includes a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team, as well as a list of honorable mentions.
Congratulations to all the players who made the cut! |
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The final sports season of the 2020-2021 school year started this week. Here's a look at our preseason rankings and some of the top athletes you should watch for. |
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Heritage's girls soccer team defeated rival Wake Forest in overtime to claim the conference title and automatic bid to the 4A playoffs in the Northern Athletic Conference. |
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Northwest Guilford's Emma Moberg completed a perfect game in a 15-0 win over High Point Central in four innings, racking up seven strikeouts. |
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There's a lot to keep an eye on, isn't there?
Our focus at HighSchoolOT over the next week will be on playoff coverage. There's enough to go around. We'll have live scores from all playoffs, results, stories, highlights, interviews, and a lot more. I've said it a few times already, let me say it again though -- if you don't have the HighSchoolOT app downloaded yet, do it now. You'll want it during this busy time.
Here's a little insight into something we're working on. Remember the survey of athletic directors we conducted in February? We're in the middle of conducting a follow-up survey to cover all the other sports. There are some alarming early trends (but we do have a lot more data to collect, so this could change). It looks like girls sports have been impacted more than boys sports (though none have been spared). The trend of declining participation doesn't appear to be slowing despite more kids returning to in-person learning and life beginning to return to normal. That could be concerning for the future.
We will be releasing results of the survey in the near future, so stay tuned.
Good luck to all the teams competing tonight!
Nick Stevens |
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Thank you for reading the HighSchoolOT Newsletter this week. Do you have suggestions, comments, or concerns? You can email me any time at nstevens@wral.com. |
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