COLUMN: 10 things to watch in the upcoming 2026-27 seasons

The summers just keep getting shorter.

Before we know it, high school fall sports practices will be underway (July 29). Scrimmages then start 10 days or so after that, and regular-season contests aren’t far behind, with all local middle school athletics cranking it up for the season by early September.

So here’s my annual overview of the 10 biggest things (roughly in order by calendar date) to watch in the realm of 2026-27 Burke County high school and middle school sports …

New-look Patton fall programs

When Patton opens the boys soccer season across town off Independence Boulevard against rival Freedom on Aug. 10, a new chapter in local sports history will begin.

Patton High School begins its 20th year of existence and has never played a soccer game with Keith Scott not serving as head coach. The 400-plus game winner Scott retired in the spring, and Kevin Vasquez will take over as coach.

The Panthers’ 2025 conference championship was their second in three years, and the program has reached at least the third round of the NCHSAA state playoffs in an all-time Burke County record four consecutive seasons.

That’s not the only successful PHS fall program that sees a change at the top, however, as Liberty Middle coach Chris Wiseman steps in for Hayden Huffman to coach a Lady Panther volleyball squad that returns some key pieces after sharing a league regular-season crown last year.

Opening kickoff under the lights

The freshly painted logos and lines. The sound of the marching band. The excitement of the building crowd. The sun setting in pink and orange streaky hues over the foothills as the stadium lights slowly take over.

And if we are really lucky, a slight chill in the air by the third or fourth quarter.

Of course, I am talking about the first Friday night of the high school football regular season. This year, that date falls on Aug. 21, and the local scene includes the following contests: Freedom at Patton, Bunker Hill at Draughn, and East Burke at West Iredell.

What do coaches want from the season opener? Execution. No injuries. And a working headset.

What do players want from the season opener? A win and/or to make a big play.

What do reporters want from the season opener? Some good (preferably free) food, a good show, and some good quotes.

How many teams in new sports?

For the first time ever, girls teams will compete for NCHSAA state football championships.

Flag football makes its debut in 2026 as a fall sport, with practices opening statewide on Aug. 31. What remains to be seen is how many schools will field teams in the sport. Locally, Draughn attempted to put out feelers via social media to gauge interest over the summer, but thus far no Burke County school has confirmed its participation in the sport or released a schedule.

Later in the school year, on Feb. 15, 2027, boys volleyball practice begins as the sport moves away from the club level and also becomes sanctioned by the NCHSAA.

Freedom seeks to replace studs

As we move into the meat of the football season in September and October, each county team figures to face its own unique set of challenges.

We’ll start here with the Patriots since they won 10 games and tasted some playoff success in 2025. Freedom graduated plenty of key players, most notably, county co-players of the year Kaden Davis at quarterback and Kobe Johnson, a two-way starter.

The Patriots must reload quickly minus those two, but it appears they have the talent to do so. Ryder Huffman spot-started at quarterback in Davis’ absence as a freshman and led the team to a win in the 2024 regular-season finale at Hibriten to get FHS a playoff appearance and first-round home game in coach JK Adkins’ first season back in Morganton.

And though it’s unlikely that any one player can replace Johnson, Freedom’s projected returning skill-position weapons include some speedy athletes such as Julius Dominguez, Noah Francis, and Jusian Perkins.

When will Patton come of age?

Liberty Middle has enjoyed the kind of recent football success (more on that further down) that makes you wonder when it will result in varsity victories at Patton. The answer to that question should be: Starting this season.

The Panthers looked ahead of schedule as they were certainly sharp at times last preseason and appeared poised to compete for close to a handful of wins in a new conference before an injury to their starting quarterback early in the regular season forced player position and playcalling adjustments in addition to handicapping the team’s overall depth.

Entering this fall, Patton lost just four players to graduation and has seven seniors, a group that includes both of last year’s QBs plus leaders among both skill-position players and linemen. And everyone else on the roster — Patton has double-digit juniors and sophomores out — won at least one undefeated conference title at LMS.

Draughn-EB feud gets new twist

When “Wild” rivals Draughn (the “-cats”) and East Burke (the “Bunch”) have met on the football field, it’s always been intense. Folks from both communities were teammates for 35 years, and this feud now pits them as well as their neighbors, friends, and even family members against each other.

The games have generally been close, and both teams have beaten each other about the same number of times. It’s simply become the county’s best gridiron rivalry over the last decade.

Add in the fact that Draughn coach Chris Powell grew up hating East Burke as he attended Freedom in the Fat Friday era, and you have another layer of drama.

And when the teams square off this fall to end the regular season in Icard on Oct. 30, there’s a new twist as former Draughn defensive coordinator Jonathan Winkler, an EBHS alum, this summer took over as Cavaliers head coach. The familiarity between the coaches should make for an interesting chess match.

Three-peats to be put to the test

Five Burke County teams enter this year having won three consecutive conference championships and are aiming to make that number four.

In the fall, the Liberty football team’s effort to do so will be led by a new coach as Dustin Jones hopes to follow up the success of John Suttles and Jason Black. Moving to the prep level, NCSSM-Morganton’s girls tennis team has claimed three straight league titles, as has the Dragons’ boys team, which plays in the spring.

East Burke also has a boys tennis three-peat streak of sorts going, with the Cavaliers having claimed league tournament crowns in 2024 and 2025 before winning the regular-season championship in unbeaten fashion in 2026.

And back to middle schools, where Table Rock’s boys basketball team has claimed three straight regular-season titles plus the only two postseason league tournaments that were held in that span.

State championship encore efforts

The NCSSM-Morganton girls tennis team wasn’t simply conference champion last fall. It also claimed the county’s first-ever dual-team state championship in the sport (boys or girls) on Nov. 1, 2025, in Burlington with an emphatic 5-0 triumph over East champ Bear Grass Charter.

That came on a special weekend in which the Lady Dragons cross country team also easily won the state championship in Kernersville, winning by one of the widest margins in state meet history.

The NCSSM-M tennis squad figures to bring back three rising seniors from last year’s ladder: Shrika Chatta, MVP of the state title match; Leah Gibson, whose singles win gave the team the clinching point; and Anjana Ramanujam, NCSSM-M’s sportsmanship award winner at state.

The Lady Dragons’ XC squad figures to feature the return of rising seniors Amelia Fleury, Alexandra Hexemer, Gracie Toplitz, and Lilah Johnson, each of whom ran in the top 20 at state last fall.

Individually, Patton rising junior Elise Sawdy seeks a follow-up to a sensational season in which she claimed the triple crown of distance running, winning gold medals in cross country in the fall, indoor track (1600, 3200 meters) in the winter, and outdoor track (1600 meters) in the spring.

Who emerges in high school hoops?

Burke County is known for its high school basketball. Both Freedom teams have built dynasties over the years, and the East Burke girls’ success of the last 20 years — which basically lacks only a state championship to its credit — has come to nearly rival both impressive Patriot programs.

The Patton and Draughn programs have also enjoyed nice runs in the sport at times in their comparatively still brief existence.

So last year was a total one-off. Only the EB girls were still standing in a third round of the playoffs which, due to added classifications in realignment and expanded fields, felt more like the second round to be honest.

Which team or teams locally pick the mantle back up this coming winter? The EB girls is still a good guess to start, as despite graduating some key pieces, county co-player of the year Sarabeth Bradley returns along with solid young talent around her.

And led by their backcourts, the Patton and Freedom boys could also keep things trending the right direction despite some key losses due to graduation as well.

Draughn diamond dreams follow-up

The spring of 2027 may feature a similar team dominating headlines as did last spring, as fresh off an all-time county-best state semifinal appearance, the Draughn softball team looks to remain in the hunt for big trophies.

The Lady Wildcats must replace pitcher Avie Helton as well as their entire starting outfield, but much of the team’s infield — catcher Lindsey Hensley, third baseman Braylen Clontz, shortstop Makenzie Powell, and second baseman Bailey Winkler — remains intact.

Adding to that mix is returner Maddy Hudson, who can play infield, and Piper Ellis, a rising sophomore who did big things with the bat at Liberty Middle.

A few months before that, don’t sleep on the Draughn volleyball team, which played in the state quarterfinals a year ago and brings back six or seven rotation pieces from last year’s school-record 23-win club. Those Lady Wildcats have some pretty high hopes too.