In the small town of Tarboro, tradition never graduates and expectations never change

Tarboro High School head coach Jeff Craddock didn’t even need to give his Vikings a pregame speech before their collected their fifth N.C. High School Athletic Association 1AA Championship title Saturday. Not in his own words, anyway.

All Craddock did was read, word-for-word, a text message he received from former player Tyquan Lewis. Lewis, a senior at Ohio State University, was a junior the last time Tarboro won a state championship in 2011.

The workhorse running back on that team, a guy named Todd Gurley, also sent Craddock a message leading up to the 1AA title game against Mount Airy. Gurley’s words weren’t as touching, or inspiring, as the text from Lewis.

Lewis told the players that Saturday was their time to etch their names in greatness, putting themselves right next to the Tarboro greats, and the teams that earned state championship rings. “Don’t knock on the door,” Lewis sent via a text, “kick the door down.”

“Tyquan’s message was really phenomenal,” Craddock said. “Todd was like ‘Coach it’s been too long, it’s time for the boys to bring it home.’”

The coach joked with Gurley, who now plays for the Los Angeles Rams, that he should worry about “winning the Super Bowl” and he would take care of his players.

Craddock’s players, led by senior running back Deontae Williams (12 carries for 119 yards, two TDs) on offense and linebacker Phillip Willoughby (10 tackles) on defense, helped lead the Vikings to a 32-7 win over Mount Airy.

Williams is one of 13 seniors who moved up to the varsity as a sophomore, and the expectations were heavy for the group of 10th graders who didn’t get the benefit of the doubt from fans and former players who were used to winning titles. The players were asked constantly when the next one was coming.

“We heard that since the first day we moved up (to varsity) as sophomores,” senior quarterback Tae Randolph said. “It started then and everyone has been waiting for this moment and it finally came today.”

Randolph and Willoughby said they grew up watching guys like Gurley and Lewis play, one day picturing themselves in the purple and gold. The duo also never missed one of the three consecutive state title games Tarboro played in and won from 2009-2011. The goal was always to win one of their own, accomplishing a goal they had since they first put on shoulder pads.

“All the time,” Randolph said. “Phillip and I have been friends since first grade and we used to go to the games together and always talk about winning some rings, and it’s just finally here.”

Randolph said his grandfather was a big Tarboro fan, and once he turned 4 he knew he was going to play football one day, dreaming of running the famed “Tarboro T,” an offense that if Craddock didn’t run it, he joked he would get run out of town.

Craddock doesn’t have to worry about that anytime soon. If anything, the loyal fans of Tarboro – population 11,415 – might start plans to erect a statue of Craddock if he gets them on another state championship winning streak. Craddock said the community relies heavily on Tarboro football being successful. The residents hadn’t grown restless, but six years without a title, by their standards, was way too long. But, throughout it all, the community still loved their Vikings.

“Trust me, Tarboro football is going to be there long after I’m gone,” Craddock said. “What we try to create is just a family atmosphere. It’s not something that happened overnight. We’ve been blessed, obviously. The last 10 years it’s just kind of blossomed into the great program that it is.”

To walk around town as a Tarboro football player means to walk with pride, the players said.

“It’s fun because we know that we make people proud,” Randolph said. “Not just our family and our coaches, but everybody. We have little kids who look up to us and people who make sure that we are doing good.”

As the players celebrated on the field, posing for pictures with the state title trophy, Tarboro athletic director Jamie Willoughby said these kids won’t realize until 10 years from now how big this is. To the thousands of fans who braved the snow and made the trip up highway 64 from Tarboro to Raleigh, this was just as much for them, as it was to the players.

“They (the community) take so much pride in us,” Craddock said. “I’m just happy to be able to bring another title to them. It’s just a great feeling.”

This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "In the small town of Tarboro, tradition never graduates and expectations never change."