The Triangle hasn't produced an N.C. High School Athletic Association state championship team since Northern Durham won the 4-A title in 1993.

And it doesn't take long to roll through all the area's state football title teams in the past 36 years.

First-year coach Dave Riggs led Broughton to the 4-A title in 1970.

Hal Stewart, who built Garner into the power that it remains, posted an undefeated 4-A season in 1987.

Two years later, Gary Fowler guided Clayton to a 2-A crown.

That's it unless you want to include Burlington, Clinton and Sanford in the Triangle.

No other major metropolitan area in the state has had as little success in winning state high school football championships as the Raleigh-Durham area. Why?

There are several standard explanations:

* There are so many 4-A high schools in the area.

The reasoning goes that the talent is split among the 19 4-A schools in Wake County while a school like Richmond County gets all the top athletes in the county.

But nine of the 23 largest high schools in the state are in Wake County. There should be enough football talent among 2,000 students to field an exceptional football team.

The Mecklenburg County system has 14 schools but that hasn't kept Charlotte Independence from winning six straight 4-A titles.

* Independence, the perennial 4-A champ, has open enrollment and pulls the best football players in Mecklenburg County.

Maybe so. But with all the magnet programs in the Triangle, don't kids here get to pick their school much of the time?

* Then there's the argument that academic requirements are tougher here.

Academic requirements in the Triangle are tougher than the ones suggested by the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

Those requirements often are waived, but eliminating only two or three players from a team can make a big difference.

Other sports programs in the area have been successful in winning titles.

Think of Broughton girls tennis and girls soccer. Look at a list of the boys soccer champions.

Enloe has dominated boys swimming for years. Wakefield has won two state basketball titles in three years.

Why have they succeeded while football teams have not?

Here are my guesses:

1. CONTINUITY. Football, more than most sports, needs continuity. And attendance lines in the area are in a constant flux. A child in elementary school in the Triangle has little idea of where he will go to high school.

The typical high school football team in the Triangle has players from several middle schools. That's not the case statewide.

2. PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE. High school football is good where the community wants it to be good. Around here, fans are more likely to send a donation than attend a game.

3. LUCK. It is a factor. Northern Durham was good enough for several years to win titles, but not lucky enough. Garner had a few teams that were good enough to win.

Don't think you've got to be lucky? The 1987 Garner team was incredibly talented, but needed a fourth-down pass interference call at Richmond County to advance.

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