Tomorrow evening in Rockingham County, the McMichael Fighting Phoenix, Morehead Panthers, Reidsville Rams, and Rockingham County Cougars take the field for week six action in the Mid-State Conference. This Rockingham County Preview details what matchups will be taking place tomorrow and where the teams stand in regards to the postseason as we are midway through the year.
The postseason for the NCHSAA is undergoing the first iteration of its new format this year. In the 3A, 4A, and 5A conferences, the ones represented in Rockingham County, the top 48 teams make the playoffs. There are 57 teams in the 3A, where McMichael competes, 57 teams in the 4A, the classification of Morehead and Reidsville, and 58 teams in the 5A that Rockingham County plays in.
The top 48 teams are calculated through the RPI. The RPI is calculated by the team’s winning percentage times 0.4 plus their opponents’ winning percentage times 0.4 plus their opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage times 0.2. This formula, (0.4 x WP + 0.4 x OWP + 0.2 x OOWP), is weighted to reward teams who played difficult schedules, albeit slightly less rewarding in that aspect and more rewarding of a team’s winning percentage than it was in the previous iteration of the RPI.
The top 48 teams who make the postseason are then split from east to west based on longitude and split down the middle into two groups of 24 to make the East-West brackets. The teams are seeded, 1-24, on each side, with the top 8 seeds receiving byes into round two. There are six rounds of the postseason. The first, second, third, and fourth rounds take place throughout November, while the regional championship is played on December 5th and the state championships will be played from December 11th, 12th, and 13th, depending on the classification.
In the only non-conference game of a Mid-State team this week, the McMichael Fighting Phoenix travel an hour south to take on the Southwestern Randolph Cougars. McMichael sits at 2-2 after a disheartening loss to Rockingham County last Friday night, but they will try to pick some momentum back up when they take on Southwestern Randolph. The Asheboro high school had lost two games in a row before picking up a 40-6 win against the winless Wheatmore Warriors on September 19th.
This is a pivotal matchup for McMichael, a school that sits on the bubble of a first round home game in the NCHSAA. However, there is a lot of season left to be played. On that same note, while they can improve their RPI, where they are currently ranked 33rd, they have to rely on the losses of other teams to improve their ranking in the Mid-State Conference since this is a non-conference game. They sit at 0-1 in the conference and tied for fifth.
The Morehead Panthers are taking on the Bartlett Yancey Buccaneers in Eden on Friday evening. This is a homecoming game for the Panthers, and potentially the easiest game left on their schedule. Their 0-5 record has been disheartening, but the homecoming crowd could propel them to win number one on the year. Their opponent from Caswell County has also faced a difficult road, even after starting out with a 44-0 Northern Durham victory. In their second game of the season, they lost their lead and fell in triple overtime to American Leadership Academy Johnston, and entered their bye week last week on a three-game skid.
Morehead is ranked 52nd in the RPI for the 4A, and they need to jump up four spots to compete in the postseason. The Panthers need a sense of urgency in this game, as their remaining schedule consists of McMichael, Reidsville, Rockingham County, and Walkertown, none of whom are slouches by any stretch of the imagination. They are tied for fifth in the Mid-State with McMichael and Walkertown at 0-1 after their loss to Carver last week.
The Reidsville Rams, riding high following wins over Eastern Guilford and Walkertown, walk into Carver with questions surrounding quarterback after the transfer of former Southern Durham quarterback Tyson Broadway. Carver has some serious momentum of their own, as they enter this game with a 5-0 record, one of three undefeated teams remaining in the 4A and one of thirty-two teams left in the NCHSAA without a blemish on their résumé.
Due to their ridiculously difficult strength of schedule, the Rams are ranked number six in the 4A and would easily have access to a first round bye. The first half of their season was astronomically more difficult than their second half is projected to be. All five teams ahead of them are further to the west than Reidsville, which means that either Reidsville could get a one seed on the east side or get a six seed on the west. There is a lot of season to be played and it will all shake itself out. Or it may not. In the Mid-State Conference, Coach Erik Teague regarded last week’s game vs. Walkertown as the unofficial Mid-State Conference Championship, and Reidsville was able to pull off a 44-28 victory. They are tied for first in the Mid-State 3A/4A/5A at 1-0 with Carver and Rockingham County, adding to the stakes of this game, as they could eliminate another team in their path to cementing themselves as conference champions.
Rockingham County and Walkertown is another Mid-State clash that fans should have their eyes on. The RCHS Cougars are 2-3 and recently brought their three-game losing streak to a screeching halt when they took down their cross-county rival, the McMichael Phoenix, 50-18 to win their ninth game in a row in that series. On the other hand, the 4-1 Walkertown Wolfpack will try to regroup after taking their first loss of 2025 to Reidsville in game one of conference action. This game would be a vital win for either of them, and both teams will want it badly when they go head-to-head in Forsyth County tomorrow night.
Rockingham County, the only 5A team represented in the Mid-State Conference, is ranked 25th in the 5A RPI, which puts them in position to get a bye in the Round of 48. This win would help their RPI thanks to Walkertown’s 4-1 record, and it is also vital in their hopes to remain in the mix for the Mid-State crown. They are one of three 1-0 schools in the Mid-State, and a win would keep their hopes alive. A loss would put their backs against the wall in Mid-State Conference play against the 23-time state championship-winning Reidsville Rams next week.
The following are the conference standings for the Mid-State conference and their positions in their playoff races.
T1. Carver (1-0 conference, 5-0 overall) | 20th in the 4A
T1. Reidsville (1-0 conference, 3-2 overall) | 6th in the 4A
T1. Rockingham County (1-0 conference, 2-3 overall) | 25th in the 5A
4. Bartlett Yancey (0-0 conference, 1-3 overall) | 49th in the 3A
T5. Walkertown (0-1 conference, 4-1 overall) | 19th in the 3A
T5. McMichael (0-1 conference, 2-2 overall) | 33rd in the 3A
T5. Morehead (0-1 conference, 0-5 overall) | 52nd in the 4A