Mid-southeastern sends four to finals

Richmond County takes on conference rival Fayetteville Britt in 4-AA and Fayetteville Seventy-First plays Fayetteville Byrd for the 4-A title

The four teams in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A and 4-AA finals are very familiar with each other.

All four are from the Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference, and each has played the other three.

"You learn to never say never, but I'm pretty sure nothing like this has ever happened before," said Charlie Adams, the executive director of the NCHSAA.

Fayetteville Britt (14-1) won the Mid-Southeastern 4-A regular-season title and will play Richmond County (11-3-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. for the 4-AA championship.

Richmond shared second place with Fayetteville Byrd and Fayetteville Seventy-First, who play each other Saturday at 11 a.m. for the 4-A title.

Of the 90-some NCHSAA 4-A schools in the state, three of the big-school finalists -- Britt, Byrd and Seventy-First -- are located within a four-mile radius.

"That's the most remarkable thing," veteran Seventy-First coach Bob Paroli said. "All these kids packed into one area.

"To have three teams from the same community and four teams from the same conference is unimaginable. It is a tribute to these young players and the coaches, but also to the community.

"High school football is very important to the Cumberland County community, and these young men realize that. They've worked hard and made sacrifices."

Although the four teams are from the same conference, Richmond and Seventy-First advanced through the West brackets while Britt and Byrd were in the East.

Richmond and Seventy-First were the westernmost of 4-A qualifiers in the east or central part of the state and thus were placed in the western bracket.

Britt coach Richard Bailey said he knew the league was tough but that he never envisioned four league teams playing for state titles.

"It is amazing," Bailey said. "Playing such good teams all year helped prepare all of us for the playoffs."