North Carolina Football Association (NCFA)

Salisbury:
After Brit Brett's 2006 8-4 campaign with the Popes ended in a 40-3 loss to Burlington a lot of NCFA fans thought the Popes run atop the Mountain Division was over, but how wrong those fans were.  The Popes went undefeated last year and badly beat Burlington in the championship game.  

So where does Brett go from here?  

The big concern of Popes fans lies at quarterback.  Despite the fact that Vince Lande looked better than Van Egger when he played last season fans know that it was Egger who brought them a championship and with him starting his 12th year there is some concern on how much longer the Popes can ride his back.  Of course he gets solid support from the best defensive unit in the league and the league's best running attack.  

Don't be surprised though to see the Popes looking at a quarterback like Walter Chance or trying to help their aging defensive line.  Like the Bees the Popes will not be looking to make any eye popping moves in the draft just help to build their base for the future and balance any areas where they feel they need support.

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Burlington:
As always the Burlington talent level is incredible.  Coach Rob McCracken has been able to keep a steady flow of high quality players coming up over the years and so look for Burlington to continue hand picking one or two players they feel can be a starter 4 or 5 years down the road.  Burlington may make some moves to pick up a defensive lineman, the one area they seem to be a bit weak.  

The big question the Bees have to answer this season is why they lost the championship.  Their level of talent was as good as ever so what changed?  The obvious finger pointing goes to quarterback Thaddeus Schlotter and running back Greg Caufield, but it is hard to blame two men who lead the league at their positions.  Coach McCracken is not likely to panic or make any major changes to his roster so look for this draft to be the same business routine as usual for the
Bees.  It should be noted that only 1 of Burlington's rookie picks from last season are still on their roster and they will be hoping to find a little better talent this year.   

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Raleigh:
After six straight seasons of last place in the Coastal Division Tom Smythe came to Raleigh and within two years helped them win the division and make their first trip to the playoffs.  In Wilson Smythe was known for his high powered offense, but in Raleigh it's the defense that is making the difference ranked 4th best against the run and the pass. 

With three other talented teams in the Coastal, Smythe knows he'll need to get the offense in gear if he hopes to stay atop the division and he'll be looking first and foremost at helping his veteran quarterback Marcus Musson.  There are a few things that can help Musson.  One is better protection the other is a stronger running game.  Smythe has never been known for a strong running game, but he likes to use it to balance off the run and in Wilson could consistenly get big plays out of the running game.  So far Raleigh has struggled to run the ball effectively.  
With these two things in mind look for Raleigh to try and shore up their offensive line and maybe look at a rookie running back like Philip Simpson or Joseph Dodge.  The defense is fairly young and solid so look for Smythe to just be building for the future there.      

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Rocky Mount:
In his first season as Rocky Mount's head coach Romeo Caldwell led them to a 7-5 record and their first trip to the playoffs in 6 seasons.  The Leafs made their way into the playoffs not on big numbers or any one player's back, but on consistent play winning the games they should win and showing that they may be a team to reckon with.  Quarterback Jon Query and running back Bernie
Hall are both starting their 8th year in the league and are at the peak of their abilities.  They will be looking for a division title this year.  Looking closely at their roster one would tend to think that if they are going to do it this is the year for it.  One more season and age will start to creep in on some of their starters like linebacker Wildon Clark.

With this in mind don't be surprised to see Caldwell drafting for the future.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them go after one of the better thought of rookie quarterbacks or the best wide receiver or offensive lineman when they make their first pick.

The team has no real holes and so don't expect to see Rocky Mount making any surprising moves during the draft, it should be a pretty conservative affair.

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Kinston:
After six seasons the Eagles finally let Al Woodall go.  He was 33-39 with Kinston winning the division in 2007.  But every year Kinston seemed to be on the verge of being a great team only to falter and lose a game they should have won.  Now Brian Target comes in with a very experienced coaching staff looking to take Kinston past this invisible barrier.

Statistically Kinston was an excellent team last year ranking 2nd in passing and 3rd in running offense and 5th in both passing and running defense.  The hard part here for Target will be to figure out what is missing.  It does not seem to be talent and so don't look for Kinston to make any big moves during the draft.  They will be building for the future probably working on their defensive and offensive lines.  

Target and his staff will be under a lot of pressure to succeed.  Anything less than a 7-5 record will be thought of as a failure and so I wouldn't be surprised to see Target looking for some good performers from NCFA2 to fill in if he thinks the high talent starters are not giving 100%.  This is a reputation that the players have whether it be true or not and something that Target and his coaches will have to handle delicately if they want to bring this team over their invisible hurdle.    

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Charlotte:
David Gibson seems to be turning things around at Charlotte which has their faithful fans very happy.  He's also doing it the Charlotte way with a tough defense, ranked 3rd in the league against the pass, but Charlotte is struggling on offense.  Their passing game ranked 11th and their running game ranked 10th.  The obvious key for their future progress is going to involve some kind of change in their offense.

Their running game seems to have no lack of talent with Tony Sessions and Kevin Ingram in the backfield, so the obvious problem there is the offensive line.  There seems to be enough talent on the line, but something is lacking and Gibson may have to look to some of the standouts from NCFA2 looking for help.  

If the line is to blame for the running woes perhaps they can also be blamed for the woes of the passing game.  At one time Royce Scott was thought to be a future star in this league, but he has struggled the past two seasons, last year ending with a miserable 68.4 quarterback rating.  He is saddled with a pretty mediocre group of receivers.  It wouldn't be surprising to see Charlotte go
after a receiver of defensive back that looks like they could be a threat with their first pick in the draft.  

Charlotte should be content with their defense so look for most of their moves to come on offense.  It will be interesting to see if they try to deal Scott, Sessions, or Ingram to try and fix their offensive woes.

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Wilson:
The Tobs improved from their league worst performance in 2007, but fans and management alike weren't happy with the final result.  Machu will need to make some big changes this year to keep his job and probably won't be looking very hard at the rookie draft for any immediate help.  His focus will more likely be on the supplemental draft and taking a close look at standouts from NCFA2.  

Under Machu Derrick Smith (51.1% for 1,882yds 9TDs and 9Ints) and the passing game have struggled.  This is partly due to a struggling offensive line and so it wouldn't be surprising to see the Tobs taking a hard look at the solid offensive linemen from NCFA2 or looking around the league for a trade.  

They also feel the need for some help at the middle linebacker spot.  They have a good bunch at linebacker, but they miss Anthony Mitkiff's ability to shut down a play up the middle.

It's hard to know what direction they will be leaning in their first round pick.  Like most teams they will be looking for some potential future stars.  If any of the big talent players like Reginald Oneill, Joe Wirth, and Matthew Bates are left they will probably be snatched up.

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They saw the league-high 14 seeds from the NCFA parent team. They
watched a convincing Week One victory. And observers identified the Vance County
Leafs as the NCFA2 favorite. And, indeed, the Leafs are headed into the
playoffs as the 7-5 Coastal2 Division champions.

But some things not so funny happened on the way to NCFA2 dominance.
For one, there were a bunch of injuries. Four Leafs ended the season on
injured reserve, including HB1 Juan Elswick and FB1 Ronald Contreras,
both seeded from Rocky Mount and both hurt in the same NCFA2 game. Elswick
rated as one of the league's best runners (366 yards, three touchdowns and
one fumble on 366 carries until the injury in Week 8).

For another, Vance County might eventually come to be regarded by Rocky
Mount fans as the rock on which their quarterbacking hopes of the
future were dashed. Rocky Mount seeded two quarterbacks to Vance County, and
both are now question marks, at best, heading into their fourth NCFA
seasons. Pierre Taylor stunk in his six starts (61.6 passer rating), and James
Peters tore knee cartilage in the first quarter of his one start.

Through seven weeks of the NCFA2 season, Coach Tiger Pickett had a 3-4
squad with no quarterback.

In came Dave Piel. No spring chicken, the seven-year semipro journeyman
goosed the Leafs, completing 26 of his 37 passes for 365 yards, two
scores and one interception in a Week 8, 23-13 win over the Warren County
Eagles. Vance County rolled on to three more consecutive victories to clinch
the Coastal2 crown, as Piel amassed one of only two 100-plus passer ratings
in NCFA2 (101.7, behind only Chatham County Popes star Timothy Farris).

When Elswick and Contreras went down, Pickett turned to another
journeyman, Walter Bellini, and another seed, Charles Hoyt. Both excelled. HB1
"BeBe" averaged 3.9 yards per carry through Week 11 and totaled four
touchdowns and two fumbles on his 69 carries. FB1 Hoyt averaged 5.0 yards over his 13
carries and 9.0 yards across his 33 receptions.

Pickett also tapped solid production from his wide receivers. Seeded
WR1 James Christensen picked up 15.5 yards per on his 31 receptions through
Week 11 (but missed several key, late reception opportunities in a Week 12,
20-10 loss to the Granville County Patriots in rainy Oxford). WR2 Chris Omlid
averaged 14.9 yards on his 45 receptions and 9.6 yards as a punt
returner (including a long of 81 yards for a touchdown). WR3 Eugene Mack
contributed 29 receptions for 17.6 yards per and a team-best five touchdowns.

Seeded Brian Robichaud lost his job as Vance County's top center, but
seeded T1 Benjamin Kelly was one of NCFA2's best blockers.

The defensive seeds were all solid performers: DE1 Christopher Dahl (21
tackles, five sacks through Week 11), DT1 Glenn Mockus (21 tackles, 14
sacks), LB1 Charles Sparks (56 tackles, three interceptions, one sack),
LB2 Gregory Steadman (56 tackles, one interception), S2 Steven Hayes (34
tackles, one interception) and CB1 Douglas Cardona (31 tackles). The
studs among the free agents were LB3 Bogard Zorich (70 tackles, three sacks,
one interception), CB2 Mark Emtman (27 tackles, one interception) and S1
Robert Reed (57 tackles, one fumble recovery).

John Coffman (13 of 13 extra points, six of seven field goals) was an
improvement as a mid-season replacement for Earl Balzer (64.2 percent
on field goals, two extra-point misses) at kicker. And the full-season
starter at punter, Darren Smelt, was among the most strategically valuable in
the league; his gross (43.9) and net (40.2) averages ranked fourth and
fifth, respectively, in NCFA2. 

Gavin Rucker will more than likely be facing a pink slip if he's unable to improve Durham's record in 2009.  Two straight seasons of 4-8 ball doesn't win many friends, and especially when the team doesn't seem to really have a direction.  Nate Mustoe would seem to be the quarterback Rucker plans to use, but his numbers were anything but impressive last season only completing around 49% of his passes.  If Durham hopes to see some improvement this year they will have to figure out what it is going to take to make Mustoe a better quarterback.  

Of course it would help Mustoe if Durham could run the ball, but they had the worst running game in the league last season.  It also didn't help that they had the worst run defense and third worst pass defense.  In other words Rucker has a large task it would seem to make this team better.  

To the average fan it seems that Durham has been developing players for a long time now.  In fact it has been a long time, Brett Baker was part of that original cleansing of age and he's now starting his fifth season, and the only standout player from the bunch.  It is still a young team, but these potential stars need to start coming out of the shadows to have some influence on the games.  

Look for Rucker to focus on finding a star.  Durham has built a solid base of young mediocre players, but they need someone on offense who can become a star.  There is no one in the pool of rookies who screams start talent, so it will be up to Rucker and his staff to figure out who in the crowd has the ability to stand out.

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Winston-Salem:
Statistically Winston-Salem was the worst team in the league sporting the worst passing offense and defense, and the second worst running game.  But they managed to improve in the second half of the season winning three of their last six with two of the three losses coming against Burlington.  

Last year was a good draft for the Twins where they landed running back Brandon Brown with their first pick.  He went on to be their leading rusher, 259yds on 109 carries, and shows real promise.  But coach Larry Hefner has not been so lucky with his pick for quarterback.  Impressed with James Martin a few years back in NCFA2, Hefner snatched him up and last year turned him lose to be the season long starter.  To say he struggled is an understatement and he'll need to show great improvement this season or Hefner will have to rethink his choice.  

Of course it is not all Martin's fault.  He has a weak offensive line and a sorry group of receivers to work with, so look for Hefner to try and build up that line and those receivers with picks in the draft.  He'll be looking at guys like Matthew
Bates and Joseph Irizarry for their first pick.  He'll also be taking a close look at standouts in NCFA2 looking for any help he can get.  Last year he picked up Garfield Soft who ended up being their number two wide out and Martin's favorite target in red zone and 3rd down situations.    

The defense seems functional though they could use some impact players.  But the Twins will have to be focusing on their struggling offense and making whatever changes they can to give James Martin another shot at proving his worth.     

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The quarterback ranks in NCFA2's bottom third in passer rating, and the
top running back is only mediocre. The defense is the worst in the league.
So how is it that Coach Cale Martin's Caswell County Bulls entered the
season's final week with a shot to steal the Piedmont2 Division crown?

James Dave is how. The NCFA vagabond, hoping to attract the attention
of a team for a 10th season in the parent league, made all 19 of his
extra-point attempts and 14 of his 15 field-goal tries. That's 93.3 percent--best
in NCFA2. His only miss through 11 games was between 40 and 49 yards, and
his long make of the season was a notable 49 yards. The importance of
Dave's dependability cannot be overstated for a team whose six wins included
three by three or fewer points--and all six by eight or fewer.

Beyond Dave, however, there's not much of a statistical note to glean from among
the Bulls. QB1 Rod Singleton's passer rating is 73.4, and he fumbled seven times
in the season's first 11 weeks. His wide receivers -- Brian Rooks, Russell Maddocks
and Gary Finch -- have been busy (55, 46 and 41 receptions, respectively), but not
spectacular (12.7, 12.8 and 11.3 average yards per catch). Daniel White, a seeded
linebacker, has recorded 63 tackles and seven sacks. NCFA journeyman Bo Vanhorse has
started at safety and cornerback and totaled 65 tackles, two interceptions and a
fumble recovery.

Martin seemed to make all the right moves after an 0-2 start. A former
Durham offensive lineman himself, Martin sacked the entire starting
Caswell County offensive front, including seeded guard Jose Robertson. That
move preceded a four-game winning streak. For one thing, it got George
"Ninth Number" Jackson into the starting unit at G2, and longtime NCFA and
NCFA2 observers agree that few interior lineman in either league have so
regularly grabbed their attention. In addition to showing himself to be a
quality blocker especially late in games, Jackson has proven
extraordinarily opportunistic. He has two fumble recoveries on the season, and one was
critical, along with a Jackson blocked field goal, in a 20-18 Week 6
win over Vance County.

At that point in the season, though, Martin seemed to make all of the
wrong moves. He shuffled the entire starting defense, to no discernible
improvement. At the same time, Martin changed halfbacks. Seeded James
Clark (463 yards, 4.2 yards per carry, one fumble in 108 attempts) was benched in favor
of Patrick Robinson, whose play at HB3 had been flashier that it would be
as the main man. Before being injured in Week 11, Robinson totaled 328
yards on 3.5 yards per carry and had three fumbles in 92 attempts.

And as for the Bulls' playoff hopes? They died with a 17-3, Week 12
loss to the Person County Bees. In that game, Singleton hit 19 of his 36
passing attempts for 250 yards and an interception, new HB1 Leroy Hoverstein
carded 47 yards on 13 carries, the Caswell County defense yielded 294 total
yards to the Bees' offense--and Dave converted his lone kick of the evening,
a 38-yard field-goal attempt.

Gastonia:
One of the big questions in the league last year was what happened to Gastonia.  They went from being the 3rd best team in the league to the 3rd worst team in the league and it seemed to happen for no reason.  They opened at Salisbury, then at Burlington and found themselves at 0-2, but that wasn't unexpected.  What wasn't expected was their complete collapse the second half of the season.  Sitting 3-3 at the mid point they would only win one more game. Jaques Black started to feel some pressure about his team, especially his offense after losing 3-2 at home against Charlotte in week 8, but he stuck with his lineup right up to the end of the season.  Over the offseason he has hinted at potential changes in the works, but he still feels the team is as good or better then they were in the 07 season.  

A lot of the blame for the team fell on quarterback Darrell Sparks.  But when you look at his numbers from last season it is hard to see how the blame can fall on his shoulders.  He completed over 58% of his passes, threw for over 2,600yds and had 13 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions.  Second year running back James Carter also seemed to perform well gaining over 500yds with 5TDs and averaging 3.2yds a carry.  Not great numbers but for such a young player on a squad that so emphasizes the pass they are pretty good.  

The real problems seem to fall on the Gastonia defense.  They ranked 11th against the pass and 9th against the run in 07.  When you look at their roster there certainly aren't any players that jump out at you and you realize that this defense is very average.  There are no impact players on this defense and perhaps this give us some clue as to the direction Black will be taking at the draft.  

This makes it likely that Gastonia will be looking at Reginald Oneill, Joe Wirth, or David Balentine the top defensive prospects in the draft.  But it is hard to get a sense of what kind of changes Black is thinking of for Gastonia and he could be thinking of trades and the supplemental draft for fixing the problems he sees, while looking to the rookie draft as a way to build a base for the future.  If that's the case then he may go after a linebacker or an all arounder like Matthew Bates
who could someday star on either side of the ball.  

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Asheville:
Jack Deloplaine comes into a program on the slide.  After two straight trips to the playoffs Asheville started to slide and Joe Maryland seemed unable to stop it.  He was moved out so that Deloplaine could come in and get a fresh start.  

With what looks like the weakest offensive line in the league Asheville will be looking for more depth, but what Asheville really needs are playmakers.  Playmakers are lacking on both sides of the ball and Asheville will definitely be looking for the kind of players that can have a big impact on games.  "Even
if it is someone who can be a threat on punt returns we need to look," Deloplaine said in a phone interview.  "In Erik Waters I believe we have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but it doesn't matter if there is no one around him to help."  

Deloplaine's talk has been pretty blunt with the returning players as he's been meeting with each unit since getting hired as the new Asheville head coach.  "I've told the guys that I'm coming into this with fresh eyes.  I'm not going to look at what they've done in the past and this is a chance for guys to show me that they want to have an impact on the field."  Deloplaine has also been actively recruiting NCFA2 games looking for any standouts.  "We have seen that players who shine in 2 do well in this league as well.  Heart is a lot of what we look for in players."

Joe Maryland didn't hide his disappointment with being let go and spoke well of the players on the Tourist squad when leaving.  "We stretched our talent as far as it could go to get two trips to the playoffs, and I feel that we were just starting to regroup," he said in a phone interview when his departure was announced.  "I understand that management didn't like coming in last place in the division, but I'm not sure they gave me a chance to see what I could do with this new group of guys."

Deloplaine will luckily inherit the number 2 pick in the draft and will probably be looking for an offensive lineman like Joseph Irizarry or a potential impact player like Reginald Oneill.  But no matter who he picks Asheville seems to have a long road to recovery. 

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Greensboro:
In his third season as Greensboro's head coach, Robert Walker, saw his team go from being a potential playoff team to the worst team in the league.  

Greensboro comes into the 2009 draft a bit frustrated about what went wrong last year, but hoping to take advantage of the number one pick to make something happen for the future.  None of their rookie picks had an impact last season, but they are all still on the roster.  This year they will be looking for some help on the defensive line and some real speed to add to their defensive backfield.  Reginald Oneill or Joe Wirth are considered to be the most likely first round picks by Greensboro, but coach Robert Walker says it comes down to who he thinks can have an impact.  "We could use help at any position, so anyone that we think can come in and have an impact this season will get our attention," Walker said recently in a sit down interview.  "We were shut out three weeks running last year, twice at home.  Everyone knows that we want to play a tight game built around ball control and defense.  We can't afford to give up points, but more than that we have to be able to control the tempo of the game, and last year we just couldn't do it.  Teams were able to run on us and we were unable to keep any offensive momentum going."  

A lot of fans looked to the troubles Greensboro had at QB.  Bradford Kokotan and Jason Fisher both struggled throwing 11 interceptions to only 5 TDs, but Walker doesn't think it is that simple.  "Fisher and Kokotan can't help guys get open.  I'm
not excusing their poor play, but it was really a full collapse on the part of the offensive players not just on the part of our quarterbacks."  Walker points to the fact that he was forced to play Butch Calloway last year at FB simply because Giles Dixon showed an inconsistency to block on either run or pass plays.  "I respect the hell out of Butch, but he and I both know that with him in there we are limiting our chances to produce big offensive plays.  He just doesn't have the explosiveness of Giles, and Giles either needs to step up this year or we are going to have to reexamine his place on this team."  

Walker also pointed to the disappointing play of his defensive line and especially Whitney Gadson.  "We brought Whitney in to have an impact on other teams and to be honest he got picked on last year.  The defense as a whole needs some real work, but I expect these linemen to do better this year."  There doesn't seem to be a lot of line help in the rookie draft this year, but Walker says he's been watching NCFA2 closely, and hoping to find someone who can come in and help spark something.

If Walker is unable to turn Greensboro around it could be the end of his job, his third team in the NCFA and very likely his last as a head coach.  

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Why haven't Neil Walker's Warren County Eagles fared any better than
4-7 this NCFA2 season?

The quarterback has been solid. Seeded from NCFA Kinston, Robert Ramos
accumulated the third-best quarterback rating in the league (85.0)
through 10 weeks. He has been Warren County's starter from the start but threw
only his second interception of the season in a 24-10 Week 11 loss to the
Vance County Leafs. Ramos, preparing for only his second NCFA season, appears
to have solidified his standing as Kinston's signal-caller of the future.

Michael Dixon, another seed, has put together another fine NCFA2
campaign. Through 10 weeks, his 235 carries and 852 rushing yards both ranked as
league highs. He fumbled only once in those 10 starts and also
contributed an average of 7.3 yards on his 28 receptions. Dixon, entering his sixth
NCFA season, desperately seeks a shot at getting into the groove as a
primary ball-carrier at that level.

Seeded WR1 Taylor Delpaggio, a former first-round draft pick of
Kinston's, has not been especially impressive in NCFA2, catching only 23 balls for
two touchdowns and an average of 15.0 yards per reception through 10 weeks.
But those lackluster numbers might be the inevitable product of the Warren
County system. TE1 Ray Ruzek has been the club's leading receiver (43
receptions, 10.3 yards), and WR2 George Williams, a former NCFA
starter, essentially matched Delpaggio's production (21 catches, 15.8 yards per,
two touchdowns).

That's a fair amount of skill-position talent to have added up to only
the 10th-ranked NCFA2 offense through 11 weeks. Certainly, the offensive
line has been a problem. Walker, himself a former lineman, has finally
settled on a combination of Johnny Willow at center, seeds Eric Harris and Robert
Smith at guard and William Berrera and Tyrone McCoy at tackle. But none has
shone.

On defense, Kinston seeded defensive linemen William Erwin and Thomas
Walter; linebackers Scott Brackenbury, Clifford Morton and Forrest
Kreider, and defensive backs Robert Boyd and John Tierce. S1 Tierce, a former
Salisbury Popes second-round draft pick, has been a star-69 tackles,
two sacks and two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns) through 10
weeks. Morton (54 tackles, one interception and one sack), Kreider (39 tackles
and four sacks) and Boyd (42 tackles and two interceptions) also each have
held starting jobs all NCFA2 season. The other standout on defense for
Warren County has been a free agent, DT2 John Irvin, who made 13 sacks
(third-most in the league) among his 22 tackles. Despite the considerable
individual accomplishments, Warren County's defense ranks eighth in NCFA2.

Of course, the Eagles' biggest problem might be the special teams. Todd
Banks, at 60 percent accuracy, is the worst field-goal kicker in NCFA2.
He's zero-for-three from 50 yards or longer, and he has missed two of 17
extra-point attempts. The punter, Richard Watson, has the second-worst
gross (41.7) and worst net average (34.1) in the league. The returners, WR5
Harlan Callahan (an average of 20.0 yards on 22 kickoff returns) and Williams
(6.8 yards on seven punt returns), have been forgettable.