Chapel Hill, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) has secured UNC’s Kenan Stadium and NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium as host sites for the 2020-2021 NCHSAA Football State Playoffs. Games will be held Thursday, May 6, 2021 through Saturday, May 8, 2021. Each venue will host four games. Classifications will be assigned to a venue following the completion of the regional finals.
On Thursday, the 2AA and 3AA Championship Games will be held at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the 3A and 4A Championship Games will be held at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the 1A, 1AA, 2A and 4AA Championship Games will be played at either 12 noon or 5 p.m.
REGIONAL FINALS ROUND NOTES
By the Numbers
Ten defending Regional Champions return to the Regional Finals this year. 2019 Regional Champions included: Cardinal Gibbons (4A East), Charlotte Catholic (3A West), East Surry (1AA West), Northampton County (1A East), Northeastern (2A East), Reidsville (2A West), Robbinsville (1A West), Salisbury (2AA East), Tarboro (1AA East), Z.B. Vance (4AA West).Two teams return to the Regional Final looking to advance to the State Championship Game. Wake Forest and Grimsley each advanced to the Regional Final a year ago before bowing out of the playoffs.Reidsville has the most playoff wins (since 1972) of any team remaining in the field. The Rams have a total of 81 victories in the playoffs since 1972, against just 25 losses. Charlotte Catholic and Murphy are both right behind Reidsville among 2020-2021 Regional Finalists, trailing the Rams by just one victory since 1972. The Cougars and Bulldogs each have 80 wins in appearances since record keeping began.Five teams still alive in the 2020-21 Regional Finals failed to advance out of the first round a season ago. Butler, Clayton, Hendersonville, Monroe, and St. Pauls all qualified but did not advance in 2019.Only one team still playing this week did not qualify for the playoffs in 2019. Louisburg is in the Regional Finals after missing the field in 2019 with a 4-7 record. The Warriors were 1-5 a year ago in Northern Carolina 1A/2A Conference play.
In The Spotlight
Cleveland Jr. QB Skyler Locklear leads all remaining passers this season with 1828 yards through the air and 17 TDs. He dazzled in round two, completing 74.2% of his 31 pass attempts for 306 yards and a TD as the Rams avenged a 2019 Third Round loss to Lee County, knocking the Jackets out of this year’s playoffs 38-16.Hendersonville’s Jr. QB Gavin Gosnell passed for 254 yards and 3 TD versus defending 2AA State Champion, Shelby, in the Bearcats 33-31 round two win.Northeastern’s Deandre Proctor ripped off 134 rushing yards on just 12 attempts as the Eagles soared past Eastern Randolph 41-0. The Senior QB scored a pair of TD on the ground and passed for 308 yards and a pair of 2 TD through the air to lead his team back to the Regional Finals.Myers Park survived a stiff challenge from Panther Creek in Round 2 of the Playoffs. After the Mustangs jumped out to an early 20-0 lead, the Catamounts responded with the next 21 points, taking the lead in the fourth quarter. Myers Park capped off a 45 yard drive with a 1-yard K’daron Redfern TD run with just 16 seconds remaining to take the lead and the game, 27-21. Myers Park’s Camarion Thornton caught a pair of TD passes in the game.Western Alamance managed to hold off cross-county rival Eastern Alamance 14-7 to advance to the Regional Finals. The Warriors got a defensive stop late in the 4Q, stopping the Eagles after they had mounted a drive inside the Warrior 10-yard line.