NCHSAA state football playoff pairings and notes: 2 local schools now have longest postseason streaks and 1 local county got shutout

By Richard Walker

Nine Mecklenburg County teams, four Cleveland County teams, one Lincoln County team and no Gaston County teams made the 2021 N.C. High School Athletic Association spring football playoffs.

Hough, a 29-22 winner over defending state champion Vance on Friday night to win the I-Meck 4A title, is the only No. 1 seed as the Huskies are atop the Western N.C. 4AA bracket. Teams joining Hough from Mecklenburg County are Southwestern 4A champion Myers Park, So Meck 4A tri-champions Kell, Olympic and Providence, Vance, Butler, Christ the King and Community School of Davidson.

All four Cleveland County teams are the in the playoffs, with Southwestern 2A champion Shelby in Class 2A, Big South 3A champion Kings Mountain in Class 3A, Burns in Class 2AA and Crest in Class 3A.

West Lincoln is the only Lincoln County team by virtue of its 27-21 overtime win over East Lincoln on April 2. The Rebels will play in Class 2A.

And Gaston County got shut out of the state playoffs for the first time since 1990.

Third-place teams South Point and Ashbrook were the best chances but neither qualified as wild card teams when the pairings were announced.

The release of the pairings in a year where the regular season was shortened to seven games and one round of the postseason was eliminated saw some long playoff streaks extended – and others ended.

The biggest news is that a state record streak of consecutive playoff seasons ended at 35 years for Garner. The Trojans, who finished fourth in the South Wake 4A, hadn’t missed the postseason since 1985. Other long streaks that ended include Swain County (21 years) and East Bladen (20 years) in addition to a pair of long local streaks for East Lincoln (15 years) and South Point (13).

With Garner’s streak coming to an end, a pair of Cleveland County schools – Crest and Shelby – now have the longest streaks of consecutive postseason appearances at 28 years apiece. Murphy is close behind at 27 years.

Crest will seek to set a state record in its first round playoff game at Charlotte Catholic this week. The Chargers have won 27 straight opening round contests and would break a tie with Thomasville for most consecutive first round postseason victories with a win on Friday. Crest has won at least one playoff game since 1993 and Thomasville’s streak lasted from 1986 to 2012.

Shelby is close behind with 25 straight first round playoff victories; The Golden Lions host Walkertown on Friday.

After Friday’s first round, the playoffs will continue through April 23 and April 30 with state championship games played on May 8.

Here are the full statewide first round pairings:

Class 1A
(East)
#1 West Columbus (2-3) vs. #8 Pamlico County (4-2)
#4 Rosewood (6-1) vs. #5 Northside-Pinetown (5-2)
#3 Bear Grass Charter (3-1) vs. #6 Perquimans (4-1)
#2 Northampton Co. (1-3) vs. #7 North Duplin (3-4)
(West)
#1 Elkin (5-1) vs. #8 Andrews (4-2)
#4 Murphy (6-1) vs. #5 Thomas Jefferson (6-0)
#3 Mitchell (6-0) vs. #6 Christ the King (4-3)
#2 Robbinsville (7-0) vs. #7 Winston-Salem Prep (5-2)

Class 1AA
(East)
#1 Tarboro (5-0) vs. #8 Manteo (2-4)
#4 John A. Holmes (5-0) vs. #5 Princeton (7-0)
#3 East Carteret (5-2) vs. #6 Hobbton (2-5)
#2 Louisburg (4-2) vs. #7 Lakewood (2-5)
(West)
#1 North Stanly (6-0) vs. #8 Polk County (4-1)
#4 North Rowan (4-2) vs. #5 Community School of Davidson (5-2)
#3 Pine Lake Prep (7-0) vs. #6 Mount Airy (4-2)
#2 East Surry (6-1) vs. #7 North Moore (4-3)

Class 2A
(East)
#1 Reidsville (6-0) vs. #8 Southwest Onslow (4-1)
#4 Wallace-Rose Hill (4-3) vs. #5 Red Springs (4-1)
#3 Northeastern (4-0) vs. #6 Kinston (5-1)
#2 Clinton (7-0) vs. #7 Eastern Randolph (4-1)
(West)
#1 Hendersonville (5-2) vs. #8 Bunker Hill (6-1)
#4 Shelby (5-2) vs. #5 Walkertown (5-0)
#3 Mount Pleasant (7-0) vs. #6 West Lincoln (5-2)
#2 Mountain Heritage (4-1) vs. #7 Forbush (6-0)

Class 2AA
(East)
#1 Washington (5-1) vs. #8 South Granville (5-2)
#4 Croatan (6-1) vs. #5 McMichael (2-5)
#3 Southwest Edgecombe (5-2) vs. #6 Roanoke Rapids (5-1)
#2 St. Pauls (5-0) vs. #7 Randleman (7-0)
(West)
#1 North Davidson (6-1) vs. #8 Pisgah (6-1)
#4 Ashe County (7-0) vs. #5 Oak Grove (5-2)
#3 Hibriten (7-0) vs. #6 Burns (5-2)
#2 Maiden (6-0) vs. #7 Salisbury (5-2)

Class 3A
(East)
#1 Rocky Mount (6-1) vs. #8 Eastern Alamance (5-1)
#4 Terry Sanford (6-1) vs. #5 Western Alamance (7-0)
#3 Havelock (7-0) vs. #6 Southern Guilford (5-2)
#2 Northwood (5-2) vs. #7 West Carteret (5-2)
(West)
#1 A.C. Reynolds (6-1) vs. #8 West Rowan (4-2)
#4 Charlotte Catholic (5-1) vs. #5 Crest (6-1)
#3 Kings Mountain (7-0) vs. #6 J.M. Robinson (5-2)
#2 Statesville (5-1) vs. #7 Monroe (5-2)

Class 3AA
(East)
#1 Cleveland (7-0) vs. #8 Southern Durham (5-1)
#4 J.H. Rose (6-0) vs. #5 Lee County (7-0)
#3 West Brunswick (5-1) vs. #6 Chapel Hill (5-1)
#2 Southeast Guilford (6-1) vs. #7 Clayton (6-1)
(West)
#1 Watauga (5-1) vs. #8 Dudley (6-1)
#4 A.L. Brown (6-1) vs. #5 T.C. Roberson (6-1)
#3 Weddington (6-0) vs. #6 Asheville (5-2)
#2 Mount Tabor (7-0) vs. #7 Alexander Central (5-2)

Class 4A
(East)
#1 Cardinal Gibbons (6-0) vs. #8 Pine Forest (4-2)
#4 Richmond (3-0) vs. #5 Middle Creek (6-1)
#3 New Bern (5-1) vs. #6 Scotland (4-1)
#2 South View (6-1) vs. #7 Jack Britt (4-1)
(West)
#1 Grimsley (6-0) vs. #8 East Forsyth (3-3)
#4 South Caldwell (3-2) vs. #5 Hillside (5-1)
#3 Glenn (5-1) vs. #6 Butler (6-1)
#2 Providence (6-1) vs. #7 Hickory Ridge (5-2)

Class 4AA
(East)
#1 Apex Friendship (7-0) vs. #8 Pinecrest (5-2)
#4 Millbrook (5-2) vs. #5 Wake Forest (5-1)
#3 Hoggard (7-0) vs. #6 Leesville Road (5-2)
#2 Rolesville (6-0) vs. #7 Holly Springs (4-3)
(West)
#1 Hough (7-0) vs. #8 Green Hope (4-1)
#4 Ardrey Kell (6-1) vs. #5 Z.B. Vance (6-1)
#3 Panther Creek (7-0) vs. #6 Olympic (6-1)
#2 Myers Park (7-0) vs. #7 Northwest Guilford (6-1)

 

 

Conference standings for area leagues through Friday’s games listed by conference record, overall record:

BIG SOUTH 3A
Kings Mountain 6-0, 7-0
Crest 5-1, 6-1
Ashbrook 4-2, 4-3
Forestview 3-3, 4-3
Huss 2-4, 2-4
Cramer 1-5, 1-6
North Gaston 0-6, 0-7

SOUTHWESTERN 2A
Shelby 5-1, 5-2
Burns 5-1, 5-2
South Point 4-2, 5-2
Chase 3-3, 4-3
R-S Central 3-3, 4-3
East Gaston 1-5, 2-5
East Rutherford 0-6, 0-7

SOUTH FORK 2A
Maiden 6-0, 6-0
West Lincoln 4-2, 5-2
East Lincoln 4-2, 5-2
North Lincoln 3-3, 4-3
Newton-Conover 2-4, 2-4
Bandys 1-5, 1-5
Lincolnton 1-5, 1-5

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A
Pine Lake Prep 6-0, 7-0
Thomas Jefferson 5-0, 6-0
Community Davidson 4-2, 5-2
Christ the King 4-3, 4-3
Mtn Isl Charter 2-3, 2-5
Cherryville 2-4, 2-5
Highland Tech 1-4, 1-4
Bessemer City 1-5, 1-6
Union Academy 1-5, 1-5

I-MECK 4A
Hough 7-0, 7-0
Vance 6-1, 6-1
Lake Norman 5-2, 5-2
Mallard Creek 4-3, 4-3
West Charlotte 2-5, 2-5
Mooresville 1-5, 1-5
North Meck 1-5, 1-5
Hopewell 1-6, 1-6

SOUTHWESTERN 4A
Myers Park 7-0, 7-0
Butler 6-1, 6-1
Hickory Ridge 5-2, 5-2
Porter Ridge 4-3, 4-3
Rocky River 3-4, 3-4
Independence 2-5, 2-5
East Meck 1-6, 1-6
Garinger 0-7, 0-7

SOUTHERN MECK 4A
Kell 5-1, 6-1
Olympic 5-1, 6-1
Providence 5-1, 6-1
South Meck 3-3, 4-3
Berry Academy 2-4, 3-4
West Meck 1-5, 1-6
Harding 0-6, 0-7