It’s a new era of Wake County high school football, and it’s being ushered in by Wake Forest

On behalf of Wake County high school football, someone needed to slay the dragon.

Teams from the Charlotte area had dominated N.C. High School Athletic Association 4AA state football championship games since subdivisions – two champs per classification, with brackets divided based on teams’ enrollments – started in 2002.

Mecklenburg County fully deserved the statewide respect they’ve received over time.

Independence, Butler and Mallard Creek had won 11 of the 15 previous titles going into Saturday’s championship, and some of those scorelines were brutal: 54-7, 41-7, 48-17, 44-0, 56-28, 59-21 and 49-6. A few of those came against Wake County underdogs who were essentially defeated after the first quarter if not sooner.

Wake Forest’s championship last year resembled one of those scorelines – 29-0 over Page High from Greensboro – but the elephant in the room wasn’t in the stadium for that game: a team from Charlotte. That changed this season, but Wake Forest was not intimidated like so many of its predecessors, and delivered another shutout, a 21-0 win.

The Cougars are building their own mystique once reserved at this level for those Mecklenburg powers.

After all, it’s the school that once had Stanford’s Bryce Love and Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence on the same team for three years.

It has 31 straight wins and has played in five title games since 2010.

It’s outscored teams in the state championships 50-0 over the last two years – the first time since 1920 a team pulled off two shutouts in two straight state finals and the first time a Wake County team has won back-to-back crowns since Raleigh High won the state’s very first three title games from 1913-15.

And its coach, Reggie Lucas, is currently the all-time leader in win-loss percentage for any N.C. high school football coach with more than 100 wins (117-15 overall, 88.6 percent).

The Cougars are the torch-bearers needed to make a case that high school football in Raleigh or its suburb towns is just as good as anywhere else in the state.

And let’s give credit to Mallard Creek. The 21-0 score doesn’t indicate just how close the game was, because the Mavericks played 42 minutes some of the most disciplined defense you’ll see at the high school level. Their offensive line was enormous, and they had athletic players in the backfield.

In other words, they looked a lot like Wake Forest.

A Charlotte team playing like a Wake County one is, once again, a compliment.

Respect for Wake County football was rising as it morphs into a recruiting hotbed, but credibility is won on the field.

Over the last two seasons, the best team in the county has dominated the entire state.

On the back of Wake Forest, Wake County has earned respect.

This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 3:17 PM with the headline "It’s a new era of Wake County high school football, and it’s being ushered in by Wake Forest."