PrepsNow Playbook: Is the SWAC the area’s strongest conference?

The Southwest Wake Athletic 4A isn’t quite done with its nonconference slate, yet it has an argument as the Triangle’s top football league.

The SWAC has two undefeated teams and is 15-11 in nonconference play with four games left.

The Cap-8 4A has one undefeated team, Wake Forest, and is 13-15 with two games left.

The Greater Neuse River 4A, which kicks off conference play this week, went 14-18 with seven losses to 3A teams. No team in the PAC-6 4A is better than 2-2.

Punching up

The best case among 3A leagues might be the Big 8 (17-11 overall), where every team is 2-2 or better with one more week of nonconference play left. The Big 8 is 7-5 against 4A teams.

The Two Rivers 3A is 11-12 overall with a 7-8 mark against 4A teams.

Hawks go for 2, get win

Holly Springs coach Robert Furth wanted no part of Green Hope in overtime, so that’s why he went for a two-point conversion and win with less than a minute left in Friday’s 22-21 victory.

Conventional wisdom says to only go for two and the win on the road, but Furth saw it differently.

“I didn’t know if we had enough gas left in the tank if we had to go to overtime,” Furth said. “It was now or never, and the kids just responded. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Injury bug hits

Leesville Road and Garner’s clash was supposed to be an offensive showdown but Pride quarterback Clay Vick and Trojans running back Collin Eaddy were both out with injury. Garner won 24-7.

Apex star senior Ian Boyd left a 44-20 win at Athens Drive with an apparent hernia.

Clayton playmaker Blake Joyner caught two passes, both for touchdowns, before leaving with a shoulder injury.

Game of the week

Panther Creek and Middle Creek have forged a “Battle of the Creeks” rivalry in football over the years, and this Friday should be another big one.

Technically crosstown rivals – though Middle Creek has an Apex address and draws more students from five other towns than it does Cary – the two have had lots of recent success.

The last time neither won at least a share of the SWAC was 2008.

The Starting 11: players of the week

(Number of times on The Starting 11 in parentheses)

Montel Goods, Northwood (1): Seven of his 14 carries (for 206 yards) went for touchdowns.

Tevin Evans, J.F. Webb (1): Ran for 190 yards and five TDs.

Kavante Johnson, South Johnston (2): Ran for 152 yards on 23 carries with a TD.

Caiden Norman, Cleveland (3): Completed 23-of-34 passes for 319 yards and also rushing for 42 yards and three TDs in a loss to unbeaten Fuquay-Varina.

Jeffery Onyegbule, Southeast Raleigh (1): The junior running back carried 10 times for 142 yards and three TDs.

Dylan Parham, Southeast Raleigh (2): Was 17 of 25 for 272 yards and four TDs through the air and added a rushing score.

Dominique Shoffner, Middle Creek (2): Was 8 of 15 passing for 133 yards and four TDs.

Colten Smith, Fuquay-Varina (1): Ran 14 times for 221 yards and three TDs.

Howard Watson, Corinth Holders (1): 287 yards rushing (32 carries, 3 TDs) broke his own school record.

Bryse Wilson, Orange (2): The linebacker threw for 314 yards and three TDs, rushed for another, blocked a punt and had an interception.

Your local school’s student section: Every section of crazies, rowdies, loonies, etc. on Friday night donned red, white and blue as their colors or “American Pride” as their theme. Fourteen years after the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, it was nice to see the students – either on their own or with help from an adviser – go with that theme to remember those innocent lives lost.

3-point stance: top defenses

Cardinal Gibbons: Forced five turnovers, including three interceptions, during 35-13 win against Broughton.

Middle Creek: The Mustangs shut out West Johnston 56-0 with a defensive touchdown and allowed just 106 yards of total offense.

Wake Forest: Ki’Mon Small and John Jiles had interception returns for touchdown in a 48-0 romp against Rolesville, allowing just 133 yards.

Quick hits

▪ Hats off to these teams who have already surpassed last year’s win totals: Rolesville (2-2), J.F. Webb (3-1), North Johnston (3-1), Cary (1-3), Triton (1-2) and East Chapel Hill (1-3).

▪ South Johnston opened in 1969, Corinth Holders in 2010. What do the cross-county foes have in common? Each is 4-0 for the first time in their respective school histories.

▪ Cleveland will play its first 3A team of the year, state-ranked Fayetteville Sanford, Friday after going 2-2 against 4A squads.

▪ Leesville Road (1-3) was giving up 57 points per game prior to a 24-7 loss at Garner. The Pride’s only TD was an interception return.

Postcard

Honoring troops at South Granville: South Granville coach Don Colgan had hoped that his players would soak in what Military Appreciation night was all about by going to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fayetteville last weekend. Instead, heightened security at the VA forced a cancellation. “It’s not quite worked out the way I had hoped,” said Colgan, but Military Appreciation night will go on this Friday when the Vikings host Wilson Fike at 7:30 p.m. A collection will be taken up for the Wounded Warrior Project and The National Guard will be in attendance. Tickets are $6, but Colgan said there may be a military discount.

D. Clay Best, Tim Candon, Jeff Hamlin, Mike Potter and Christian Worstell contributed.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 2:47 PM with the headline "PrepsNow Playbook: Is the SWAC the area’s strongest conference?."