In the final week of the regular season, Reidsville won by an exceptionally wide margin against McMichael, the wheels fell off for Morehead in the second half against Walkertown, and Rockingham County took their bye week.
The McMichael Fighting Phoenix, who have been struggling since early September, suffered another defeat, this time by the tune of a 69-12 blowout at Reidsville. Dalton L. McMichael has never scored a victory over the ‘Ville. This caps off their regular season at 2-8 overall and 0-6 in conference play; this is their second season in a row of zero conference wins. However, McMichael had pretty much locked up a playoff spot heading into this game and this loss will probably have no significant bearing on where they end up in the 3A.
The Morehead Panthers lost to Walkertown 34-0 in a game that started off better than expected for Morehead. However, when Walkertown got control of the penalties that plagued them in the first half, they were able to pull away. Morehead finishes up this year with the same regular season record as they did last year: 2-8 overall, and 2-4 in the conference. Much like McMichael, this sour loss will probably not harm them too much in the playoff standings.
The Reidsville Rams gave up points for the first time since September, but they also scored the most points they had in a game all season. Ultimately, they bagged a 69-12 win over their cross-county rivals and they have continued their decade-and-a-half long streak of not losing a conference game. Reidsville walked into this one already crowned conference champions and in prime position for a potential number one seed, but it is impossible to know until the final rankings come out. They wrap up the regular season at 8-2 overall, 6-0 in the conference, and on a 7 game win streak.
The Rockingham County Cougars enjoyed a bye week as they finished the season 5-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference, good enough to tie for second with Walkertown. Their game earlier this season with Walkertown was canceled due to weather. The Cougars entered this week without any control over what happens next playoff-wise, and simply had to look and see what their opponents would do to determine where they landed playoff-wise. No matter what, though, it appears that they will end up with a home playoff game.
The following are the final conference standings for the Mid-State Conference following Bartlett Yancey’s upset, 34-30 win over Carver. There is no conference championship game or tiebreakers and Reidsville officially clinched the title last week.
1. Reidsville — 6-0 conference, 8-2 overall
T2. Rockingham County — 4-1 conference, 5-4 overall
T2. Walkertown — 4-1 conference, 8-1 overall
T4. Bartlett Yancey — 2-4 conference, 3-7 overall
T4. Carver — 2-4 conference, 6-4 overall
T4. Morehead — 2-4 conference, 2-8 overall
7. McMichael — 0-6 conference, 2-8 overall
This Sunday, the final standings for the playoffs will be revealed by the NCHSAA. On Sunday, there will be an edition published covering the upcoming postseason. As of right now, it appears that every team in Rockingham County, and even in the Mid-State Conference, will be a part of the playoffs, so there will be plenty of ground to cover in that edition. These teams have had an interesting ride so far, and it only gets more intriguing from here.