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| Along with their teammates, seniors Brad Brower (no. 11) and John Stamper (no. 33) are looking to guide West to its first playoff victory in three years. |
When West Forsyth football coach Chip Petree watches game film on Charlotte Vance, he is understandably impressed. The Cougars, who will open up the NSHSAA 4-AA state playoffs at West this Friday night, seem to have it all.
“Honestly, they are strong in every phase of the game,” Petree noted after studying his first round opponent on film this weekend. “They are extremely talented and their team speed is better than any we’ve seen all season.”
To further enhance his point, Petree says a win over Vance could be the catalyst for a West state championship — an admittedly bold statement considering that the winner of this game will most likely meet six-time state champion Charlotte Independence. Independence owns the nation’s longest prep football winning streak — currently at 103 games — and would host a round two game against the West-Vance winner.
“I know Independence is great. But if we get by Vance, we can win the entire tournament,” he said. “Vance is that good. They took Independence to the limit (losing by a point on a failed two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game) and they beat Butler (which lost to Independence in double overtime last Friday).
“From what I’ve seen, they are as fast as any team in the state and they love to be physical. From top to bottom, we have not played a team with this much talent all year long.”
Both teams will enter the matchup with eight wins. Vance, seeded ninth in the West bracket, closed out the regular season with a win over West Charlotte. Aside from the loss to Independence, their only other defeat this fall was to Charlotte Providence.
West, seeded eighth, fell to Davie County 30-6 early last week. The loss was their first in Central Piedmont Conference play and cost them the top CPC seed in the playoffs. Davie, which tied West and Mount Tabor for the conference corwn, won the top spot in a drawing that was held prior to last week’s regular season games.
“The loss to Davie was obviously a big disappointment,” admitted Petree. “But you have to shrug it off and move on. You play all year to get into the playoffs and now we’re here.
“It’s time to step up and play our best.”
Senior running back Brad Brower agrees. Brower, West’s leading rusher and scorer, was injured in the second quarter of the matchup against Davie. He suffered rib and ankle injuries and was sidelined for the rest of the game. Jeff Gonza, another key cog in West’s running game, was also injured against Davie. His status for this Friday night remains uncertain.
“It was a tough night,” explained Brower. “But the loss actually helped us in one way. It was a wakeup call that taught everybody on the team how easily we can be beat if we’re not focused and ready to play.”
Asked how his recovery is progressing, Brower said he should be ready to go on Friday night.
“I’m doing everything I can to be ready and I definitely plan to be out there,” he added. “This is what we’ve been waiting for all season.
“Everybody is anxious to get back on the field and play in front of our home crowd.”
Game time is 7:30.