Realignment has brought eight new schools into the three conferences in the Post’s coverage area. They will be profiled each Friday. Today: North Iredell.
OLIN— When North Iredell athletic director Bill Howell looked at the schools in his new conference, the 3A North Piedmont, he had an immediate reaction.
“Potentially, there’s a state champion in every sport,” he said.
He pointed to Statesville tennis, West Rowan basketball, Kannapolis football, Northwest Cabarrus wrestling, East Rowan baseball, North Iredell rodeo ...
Hold on a minute, hoss.
Rodeo?
Howell grinned. You could tell he loves mentioning that the students at his school have different hobbies from other kids in the league.
In fact, when North Iredell football players come to practice on Monday bruised and battered, it’s not because they’re still recuperating from a tough Friday night on the gridiron — and head coach Bobby Morrison knows it.
“Several of them ride bulls on the weekend,” laughed Howell, who attended Catawba College. “It drives Coach Morrison crazy.”
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If you haven’t guessed, North Iredell is rural — as rural as any school in the newly-realigned league. No big cities, No traffic. And no putting on airs for visitors. Everyone has the attitude, “This is who we are.”
Kent Blackwelder, who coaches the school’s most successful sport — girls basketball — is a 1974 graduate of North.
“This is home,” he said. “It’s a laid-back situation and there’s not quite as much pressure. Everybody knows everybody else.
“And that’s a big deal.”
You wonder how they know each other. Principal Jim Edmiston takes you into an office and shows you a map of the school district. Many kids drive as many as 20 miles to school, which he says can hurt the athletic program because freshmen who can’t drive sometimes don’t play.
But the ones who do play sports make the most of it. There haven’t been many state titles in Olin but when one does occur, the rural area suddenly gets a lot of attention.
Blackwelder was on the bench in 1984 when the Raider girls beat heavily-favored Southwest Edgecombe.
“It was one of those Hoosier-type deals,” Blackwelder said. “We were the little rural school that wasn’t supposed to have much of a chance.”
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Blackwelder, who coached North to the state finals before losing in 1987, is the perfect example of someone who loves the quiet setting, the rolling hills and the good people of northern Iredell.
Believe it or not, this homeboy actually left North to become an assistant principal and then girls coach at Statesville. But when an opening occurred a few years ago, he scurried back to familiar territory.
“It’s more relaxed,” he smiled. “I’ve either coached a girl’s mom or cousin, or whoever. But I’ve known the families for years.”
And Blackwelder is ready for North to make some noise in the new NPC.
“We’ve had a thin spell for the last 4-5 years,” he said, “and that’s unusual for our girls. But I think we’re ready to go back other way.”
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North has had its moments in other sports. Most of the girls sports are good. The boys basketball team went deep into the state playoffs last year.
And then, there is the money sport, football. For years, East Spencer’s Charles Love led the Raiders. When he retired, Morrison, a former player at Wake Forest, and a long-time Love assistant, took over.
“I wanted to cut my teeth on a small, rural school,” the Wilmington native said. “My wife is from Milwaukee and she was living in Winston-Salem when I met her. But she fell in love with this area.It’s not crowded like the big cities.”
When Love retired, Morrison took over. Unfortunately, last year’s team was just 1-10.
But the Raiders are 1-1 so far this season. Like Blackwelder, Morrison thinks his team is on the verge of a comeback, considering he plays a lot of sophomores.
Howell still shakes his head. “We’ve got our hands full,” he said.“If we were in the old conference, we’d be a playoff team. But with only two playoff spots, it will be real tough.”
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Howell and Blackwelder have different views of going from a dominant Catawba County flavor to going the other way.
“I like it very much,” Blackwelder said. “We were outsiders in the other conference. It was a Catawba County conference and they sort of ruled the roost. We didn’t expect to get everything but we wanted a fair shake and I don’t feel we got that a lot of times.”
Howell looks at the travel.
“That will be harder,” he said. “Before, we were all interstate. I don’t think East Rowan is a good tradeoff with South Caldwell. The distance isn’t any greater but now, we have two-lane roads going to most of the schools.”
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Howell said his athletes don’t know much about Rowan County schools, “because none of these kids have played them. But they have heard of Kannapolis.”
Wonder fans, in particular, are curious about North Iredell. Will there be enough seating for the horde of fans that follow the team everywhere? What kind of fan base does North Iredell have?
“Our folks support us if we’re winning,” Howell said.
But will the Raiders win in what is considered one of the top 3A leagues in the state? Howell thinks so, whether it’s football or basketball or tennis. And don’t even think about beating them in barrel racing.
You can bet on one thing, though. News of big wins will spread to the county lines of Alexander, Catawba, Rowan, Davie, Yadkin.
Because, remember, everybody knows everybody else at North Iredell.
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Next week: The Statesville Greyhounds.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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