North Carolina Football Association (NCFA)

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.