Three Burke prep football teams tweak schedules

Three of the four Burke County high school football teams were forced to add a new regular-season opponent each after West Caldwell on July 16 announced that it would not field a varsity team in 2026, citing low participation numbers for the sport among its rising junior and senior classes.

West Caldwell, which has won only two games on the gridiron since 2021, is a member of the Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference alongside Draughn, East Burke, and Patton, among others.

West Caldwell is the third member of its current eight-team league to elect not to field a varsity team this decade, joining East Rutherford (2021) and Patton (2024).

The Warriors had been scheduled to visit East Burke on Oct. 2, host Patton on Oct. 9, and play at Draughn on Oct. 16. Instead, the Cavaliers, Panthers, and Wildcats are now idle those three consecutive weeks late in the season after recently re-finalizing their 10-game schedules by finding nonconference opponents for their previously-scheduled bye weeks.

Patton will now host Avery County in Week 2 on Aug. 28, with East Burke hosting Winston-Salem Prep and Draughn visiting Mountain Island Charter, both in Week 4 on Sept. 11. Each of the newly-scheduled contests will mark those Burke County teams’ first meetings versus those opponents. Avery won just one game last fall, W-S Prep won three games and reached the second round of the NCHSAA 1A state playoffs, and Mountain Island Charter won seven games and advanced to the third round of the 2A state playoffs.

Freedom did not have to rework its regular-season schedule but did recently announce two changes to its preseason schedule.

The Patriots will open with a three-team scrimmage against both Crest and host Chase on Aug. 11 (not Aug. 12) and have found an opponent for the 16th annual Burke County Jamboree at Patton on Aug. 14 as they will now open the action at 6:30 p.m. against Wilkes Central.

Two former EB coaches set for 2027 ASGs

The North Carolina Coaches Association (NCCA) on Monday announced its full roster of head and assistant coaches for 2027 all-star games, and two former East Burke coaches were among those who were selected.

Brian Jillings of Hickory will serve as the West squad’s head coach in the NCCA’s East-West All-Star girls soccer game on July 21, 2027, at Truist Point Stadium in High Point.

Jillings, a Valdese resident who guided the Cavaliers to multiple conference championships in the sport in the 2000s, this past spring led Hickory to its first state title in the sport.

He may get the opportunity to select his daughter, Piper, to the team after the rising senior and University of South Florida signee was named the state title match MVP in an all-state campaign last season.

Ex-EBHS coach Jon Hancock was also selected as a N.C. boys assistant coach for the Carolinas Classic All-Star Basketball Games, which are set for Dorman High School in Spartanburg, S.C., on March 20, 2027.

Hancock, a 116-game winner from the Cavs’ sidelines from 2007-13 who helped EB to a pair of league titles on the hardwood, will serve as an assistant coach under Henry Drake of Northern Nash. Hancock was previously the West head coach in the 2023 East-West Game.

Also notably, McDowell’s Zack McCartha was named the N.C. girls assistant coach in the Carolinas Classic.

Inaugural Patriot 5K coming next month

The inaugural Patriot 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run is coming to Freedom Park the evening of Sept. 19. The event will begin at 5 p.m. and be staged on the same day as the annual Freedom Invitational high school cross country meet and use the Freedom XC same course, which is a combination of road and trail running.

Online registration is available now through Sept. 13 at shorturl.at/hO7xA. Entry cost is $30 for the 5K or $10 for the fun run.

Tarheel baseball state tourneys on hold

The Tarheel Leagues, Inc., announced recently that its youth state baseball tournaments have been rescheduled for Aug. 15-16 in Williamston.

The event, which spans the 8U, 10U, 12U, and 15U baseball tourneys, had been scheduled for July 23-26 before being postponed due to ongoing inclement weather.

Both the district champion Hildebran 12U all-stars and district runner-up Hildebran 8U all-stars qualified for state, though it’s now unclear if either team will attend the postponed event.