Cherokee High playing a one-game series against Wake Christian Academy may be one of the unusual strangest scheduling quirks in state high school football history.
Cherokee and Wake Christian are separated by more than 315 miles - and by even more culturally.
Stuart Albright, a creative writing teacher and assistant football coach at Durham Jordan, devoted a chapter to Cherokee High in "Sidelines," his excellent book about high school football in North Carolina
When you play Cherokee, you're not just playing a high school football team, you are playing a nation.
"Whenever we talk to our players, we emphasize that we are a nation of people," Cherokee coach Craig Barker said. "We mention that every time. Everything we say and do, on and off the field, reflects on our people."
The federal government's Bureau of Indian Affairs owns and operates most native American reservations, but the Cherokee, an indigenous people of North Carolina, own their own land, which is the Qualla Boundary.
The school's tradition and pride may be unmatched.
One of my most vivid memories was the 1991 1-A boys basketball championship game at the Smith Center between St. Paul's and Cherokee.
All of the Cherokee cheerleaders were male, and the enthusiasm by the students was impressive in the 81-69 St. Paul's win.
Cherokee is the ultimate community school. Ninety-nine percent of the students are Native Americans.
The story behind the scheduling of the game with Wake Christian isn't very romantic.
Cherokee and nearby Andrews played each other twice during the regular season in 2009 because travel in the North Carolina mountains can be difficult.
Last year, they met in the playoffs, so they played three times. The teams decided to play only once during the regular season this year.
Wake Christian was the only school Cherokee could find with an open date on Aug. 27. Cherokee volunteered to travel, a relief to Wake Christian coach David Williams, whose team got home at 5 a.m. after a game at Robbinsville, near Cherokee, last year.
"Our players, and the coaches, slept most of the way home," WCA athletic director Randy Johnson said.
Wake Christian went to Robbinsville on Thursday and drove back after the game.
Cherokee has a slightly different plan in mind.
"We'll leave Friday morning, hit the gridiron and then hit the bus for the long ride home," said Barker, the Cherokee coach. "It will be a long day."
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