North Carolina
Gardner-Webb ready for Saturday’s Big South Championship showdown with North Carolina A&T
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (WBTV) – Saturday down in Boiling Springs, Gardner-Webb will play one in every of their largest soccer video games in program historical past.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs will host North Carolina A&T with the winner claiming the Huge South Convention title and beginning into the FCS playoffs.
“That is what we dreamed of at Gardner-Webb once I took this job again in 2020,” mentioned Gardner-Webb head coach Tre Lamb. “You don’t get a number of these sort of alternatives as a coach or a participant in your lifetime so we need to ensure we take pleasure in each single second, absorb all of the noise, and all the great things that’s going to occur on Saturday.”
GW’s final convention title got here again in 2003, however they weren’t capable of get the convention’s automated bid to the NCAA match as a result of the league didn’t have sufficient groups to qualify for an automated bid. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had been additionally denied an at giant bid by the choice committee.
So a win on Saturday means GW will qualify for the FCS playoff for the very first time.
“It’s not simply one other recreation,” mentioned coach. “I feel our guys perceive that. There’s rather a lot on the road.”
However to reduce a few of that stress, coach hasn’t actually targeted on the previous struggles of this program or mirrored again on the success of again to again titles in 2002 and 2003.
“It’s actually extra about our crew,” mentioned coach. “We received the prospect to do one thing particular. Nothing else sooner or later issues, nothing else previously matter, the one factor that matter is 12 o’clock on Saturday.
One other key to success Saturday for GW is enjoying this recreation similar to some other this season.
“We don’t need to go on the market and run 10 trick performs, 3 pretend punts, and a pretend subject purpose to win the sport. I feel our expertise, our tradition, and our greatest gamers are those that can win this soccer recreation.”
Offensively, GW can get it achieved with quarterback Bailey Fisher main the best way.
The senior has thrown for over 2 thousand yards with 16 passing TD and seven speeding TD. However he has some nice weapons to assist him out.
On the skin, TJ Luther and Cutrell Haywood have been a dynamic one-two punch at broad receiver. Luther has over a thousand yards receiving with 51 catches and Haywood leads the Huge South in receptions with 64. When the main target turns to the passing recreation, GW can hit opponents with the working recreation as effectively with Narii Gaither.
The truth that GW is on this spot is really outstanding. The Runnin’ Bulldogs began the season 1-4 because of one of many hardest schedules within the nation. That powerful schedule clearly received them prepared for the convention slate as they’re at the moment 4-0.
One more reason for the powerful begin was the very fact they they didn’t play many house video games. Saturday will probably be solely their 4th recreation in Boiling Springs this season and what a time to lastly be again in Spangler Stadium.
“It will most likely be the very best crowd in perhaps Gardner-Webb historical past,” mentioned coach. “I anticipate them (A&T) to journey effectively. I anticipate us to have lots of people within the stands. We received some excessive precedence recruits and transfers coming. It’s simply going to be a fantastic day and I need to ensure we relish each second.
Kickoff Saturday is at midday at Spangler Stadium in Boiling Springs.
Copyright 2022 WBTV. All rights reserved.
North Carolina
Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning Compliments ‘Brilliant’ North Carolina Coach Bill Belichick
The No. 1 Oregon Ducks are the only undefeated team left in college football. At 13-0 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Oregon earned a first-round bye. The Ducks are Big Ten Champions in their inaugural season in the conference. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
…. In short, the 2024-25 college football season has been Duck domination by coach Dan Lanning.
However, another coach is grabbing headlines while the Ducks prepare to face either theOhio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick will coach at the collegiate level for the first time as he takes over the University of North Carolina football program. Belichick takes over for Mack Brown in a stunning move.
Lanning and Belichick are familiar with each other and Lanning complimented the new Tar Heels coach.
“I got an opportunity to go visit OTAs (NFL organized team activities) before and visit with him on the phone a few times,” Lanning said. “Obviously, a brilliant football coach and there’s a reason he’s had all the success he’s had. Extremely organized, deep thinker, and certainly he can coach football. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him have success there at UNC.”
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Belichick holds the NFL record for most Super Bowls with six as the New England Patriots head coach. Widely regarded as one of the best NFL coaches of all time, Belichick is 72-years-old and a descendant of the Bill Parcells coaching tree.
How Belichick transitions to college and the new transfer portal, Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) era will be under much scrutiny. In 2024, North Carolina finished 6-6 and in 10th place in the ACC conference.
In his introductory press conference in Chapel Hill, Belichick said he “always wanted to coach in college football and it just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really kind of a dream come true.”
His dad, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955. Belichick doesn’t have vivid memories of his family’s time at UNC but said he was always told, “Billy’s first words were ‘Beat Duke.’ … So, full circle.”
Belichick and Lanning won’t meet in the regular season as members of difference conferences. The two could meet on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, as many prospects are excited about the idea of playing with the legendary Belichick.
Also, with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12-team, the ACC could have a larger presence in the postseason, moving forward. Meaning, Oregon and UNC could meet in the playoffs.
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North Carolina
North Carolina joins mystery drone conversation – Washington Examiner
(The Center Square) – White House dismissal notwithstanding, mysterious drones are the talk of the nation. And North Carolina has entered the chat.
“We are actively communicating with federal and local agencies about residents’ reports of drones spotted in eastern North Carolina and are working to find answers,” said U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.
The federal government, said national security spokesman John Kirby, hasn’t identified public safety or national security risks. Sightings started in the northeast last month, speculation has intensified, and there’s been little to no explanation.
Reaction has ranged from marvel and wonder to the paraphrase of a number of both Democratic and Republican politicians to “shoot first, ask questions later.”
“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”
That said, federal probes have been started. There have been more than 5,000 reports to the FBI, with roughly 100 drawing investigations, says a joint statement put out by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Published reports of similar sightings exist to the west in California, the Midwest in Minnesota, and even across the Atlantic in England.
North Carolina
North Carolina parent arrested for strangling student inside school in caught-on-video attack: police
A North Carolina father was arrested Monday after allegedly storming into a high school and strangling a teenage student in a caught-on-video attack.
Quinton Lofton, 43, was charged with felony assault by strangulation and disorderly conduct for allegedly jumping a 17-year-old inside the halls of Fike High School in Wilson the same morning, CBS 17 reported.
Lofton, who has a child at the school, was supposed to report to the high school’s office but instead targeted the student — allegedly over a prior dispute outside its halls.
“The parent did not report to the office and instead assaulted a student in the hallway,” Fike Principal Ross Renfrow said in the statement to families obtained by the local station.
The attack was an escalation of a “situation that happened outside of school,” Renfrow added without providing further details on the said situation.
The Wilson County Sheriff also said the assault was over “an isolated incident that occurred outside of school.”
Disturbing footage of the beat-down obtained by WRAL News shows Lofton allegedly grabbing the student by the neck and tossing him down onto a staircase.
The teen appears to seize as his body lies on the stairs but is able to slowly get up and walk away shortly after, according to the clip.
Staffers then separated the grown man from the student, “diffused the situation and escorted the parent out of the building,” Renfrow said.
The student’s family questioned how Lofton was allowed inside the school and able to attack the teenage boy without any intervention.
His older sister said he was “traumatized” by the assault.
“He’s very shaken up by the whole event that took place this morning,” his sister Shaniqua told WRAL. “He’s pushing through. He’s trying to, you know, remain positive through the whole situation.”
School officials called authorities and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lofton. He is no longer permitted at the high school.
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