Foard RB Corey Siemer gets the nod as
preseason’s top player in the conference
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
Hibriten High is heavily favored to repeat as varsity football champion in the Northwestern Foothills 2A based on a preseason poll of media that covers the conference.
The poll was coordinated by Justin Epley of the Morganton News Herald, and he and nine others from seven other media outlets voted the Panthers as the pick to repeat as conference champion.
Hibriten got nine first-place votes and 79 points with Fred T. Foard (62 points, one first-place vote) tabbed to finish second and West Iredell (60 points) picked to finish third.
Patton was picked to finish in fourth, followed by Bunker Hill, Draughn, East Burke and West Caldwell.
The media members voted Fred T. Foard running back Corey Siemer the preseason conference player of the year with six votes.
The Northwestern Foothills 2A became an eight-team conference with the addition of West Caldwell. The Warriors previously played in the Northwestern 3A-4A and moved after their request to become 2A – because of dwindling enrollment – was approved by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA).
Hibriten went 13-1 last season and won the league title (6-0, one game up on Foard), falling in the West 2AA title game to Shelby.
Foard and Patton each went 6-6 last season, West Iredell went 5-6, Bunker Hill was 2-9, Draughn and East Burke each went 1-10 and West Caldwell was 0-11.
Siemer led the Northwestern Foothills 2A in rushing last season with unofficial totals of 228 carries for 2,501 yards with 28 touchdowns, averaging 208.4 yards per game.
Braxton Cox of Draughn (177-of-357 for 2,140 yards, 8 TDs) is the top returning passer in the league while the top returning receiver is Marcus Jones of Hibirten (4-159, 2 TDs in three games).
The top underclassman receiver in the league with more than three games played was Kalin Ramseur of Bunker Hill (16-230, 2 TDs).
There are three new head coaches in the Northwestern Foothills 2A this season: Ryan Gettys returns for a second tenure as the boss at Fred T. Foard, Sam Mackey is the new leader at Hibriten and West Caldwell is guided by Mike Biggerstaff, who came out of retirement to coach again at West Caldwell (he is the school’s all-time win leader in varsity football).
NORTHWESTERN FOOTHILLS 2A PRESASON MEDIA POLL
School Points/First place votes
Hibriten 79 (9)
Fred T. Foard 62 (1)
W. Iredell 60
Patton 51
Bunker Hill 41
Draughn 31
E. Burke 25
W. Caldwell 11
PLAYER OF THE YEAR VOTING: Corey Siemer, RB, Fred T. Foard 6; Daren Perry, QB, Hibriten 2; Emmauel Long, RB, W. Iredell 1; Josh Moore, RB, E. Burke 1.
MEDIA VOTING: Jason Baker, Valdese Sports Network; Justin Epley, Morganton News Herald; Chris Hobbs, HobbsDailyReport.com; Davids Jones, KICKS 103.3; Jeff Link, KICKS 103.3; Josh McKinney, Hickory Daily Record; Brian Meadows, Stateville Record and Landmark; Jason Savage, WHKY; Paul Schenkel, Morganton News Herald; Marcus Smith, Newton Observer News Enterprise.
