SILER CITY — With two new coaches in the mix, Jordan-Matthews coach Ryan Johnson has the most tenure of his peers in Chatham County as he enters his third year as the head man for the Jets.
Seaforth enters its second season on the gridiron with coach Terrance Gary hoping to improve on his school’s inaugural 2-8 season.
After a 2022 season that saw all four county high schools finish with losing records, each team has reasons to believe this season will be better. They will get their first taste of game action Friday night, a week after summer workouts culminated last week with scrimmages.
Northwood hosted the Jack Shaner Jamboree last week as a tune-up for the football season. The event also featured Jordan-Matthews. Out-of-county teams included Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Southwestern Randolph, Trinity Christian, Southern Lee and Providence Grove.
This season will be head coach Mitch Johnson's first with Northwood. Johnson's team is also making a move from the 3A classification to 2A.
All of the county teams will play in the new Mid-Carolina 1A/2A Conference, which will include Southeast Alamance, North Moore, Graham and Cummings, along with the four Chatham County teams.
The Chargers will open their season with a home stand against Riverside (Durham) Friday night at 7 p.m. The Pirates were 6-5 in 2022 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs to Southern Alamance.
Chatham Central and new head coach Derrin Little open their 2023 season on the road at North Stokes Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Bears haven’t finished a season above .500 this millennium, and they went 12-59 over seven seasons with previous head coach Sherman Howze.
"I think that's the biggest thing I can emphasize with the kids, is focusing on the now," Little said in a preseason interview. "I told them I wasn't even born the last time Chatham Central had at least a .500 season. We're not going to be focused on anything that happened back then because none of us can control it. We're going to focus on the day-by-day and will build this thing as the day goes on."
Jordan-Matthews hosts South Davidson Friday night at 7:30. The Jets, who were winless last season, open against a Wildcats team that went 4-7 overall last year and 1-5 in a 1A/2A split conference.
Seaforth also opens at home with a rematch of last year's opener against Purnell Swett at 7 p.m. on Friday. Last season, the Hawks dropped their opener in Pembroke against the Rams 32-0. Seaforth finished with a 2-8 record, and Purnell Swett ended the season at 3-7.