It seems that most of the conversations I have about North Carolina’s “elite” high school football conference inevitably steer toward Charlotte, Raleigh and other big areas.
And deservedly so. There’s plenty of strong high school programs in major metropolitan areas, just as there’s plenty of talent in small towns. There’s also plenty of talent that often gets overlooked in the Sandhills Athletic Conference.
There’s no reason to underestimate the SAC. Two perennial powers on the state level, Richmond and Scotland, routinely sit at the top of the league’s standings. Below them are several playoff-caliber teams. Sure, there are programs that struggle; it’s not easy for any team, much less a rebuilding program or an inexperienced squad, to compete against SAC teams every week. Overall, the talent level in the Sandhills is remarkable. The proof is in this year’s playoff brackets.
Scotland and Richmond made regional championship game appearances in the 4A and 4AA brackets, respectively. Those deep playoff runs were expected, as they are pretty much every year. But most of the four other SAC teams that earned playoff bids showed out as well, including one team that experienced a massive turnaround this year.
I’m talking about Hoke. The program that logged a combined seven wins over the previous five seasons made it all the way to the second round of the 4AA state playoffs this year, finishing with an 8-5 record. Hoke has had good athleticism for a while now. Everything came together this year, and head coach George Small’s team proved that it can be a playoff contender.
Jack Britt also advanced to the second round in the 4A playoffs. The Buccaneers defeated Knightdale 21-20 in the first round, and they fell to South View 23-15 in the second round. South View fell to Scotland the following week.
Seventy-First made a splash in the playoffs as well. The Falcons defeated Riverside-Durham in the first round before falling to top-seeded New Bern in the second round. The Falcons were often shorthanded because of injuries this season, but the fact that the team still made a short playoff run says a lot about the levels of talent and resiliency at Seventy-First.
Pinecrest was the only SAC playoff qualifier to not make it past the first round. But the Patriots still had an impressive 9-3 season that included a 4-0 mark in non-conference play.
The SAC, a more powerful version of the former Southeastern Conference, is still relatively young. But several of the teams in the conference have histories of success, and they’re only getting better. The Sandhills teams will undoubtedly continue to prove that they belong among the state’s best programs in the years to come.
