By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Football and boys’ soccer teams learned their seedings and bracket positions Sunday for the upcoming state playoffs.
Here’s a look:
Football
Only one Alamance County team will leave home for the first round of the state playoffs.
Three of the teams won’t play at all this week.
Mid-Carolina Conference champion Williams and runner-up Southern Alamance received first-round byes in Class 6-A, while winless Graham didn’t qualify for the Class 4-A field.
The new format that includes eight classifications means that at least 16 teams in each class – eight in the East Region and eight in the West Region – receive first-round byes.
First-round games are Friday, with second-round matchups November 14.
Cummings (3-7) is seeded No. 21 in the Class 4-A East Region, meaning a trip to 12th-seeded North Pitt in the opening round. The winner visits fifth-seeded Randleman in the second round.
Three county teams are in the East Region in Class 5-A, all with home games.
No. 9 seed Southeast Alamance (7-3) meets No. 24 seed Orange (3-7), which is riding a three-game winning streak, in a rematch of the season opener won 55-22 by Southeast. It will be the 36th game in the Southeast program’s history and the fourth time the Stallions take on Orange.
No. 10 seed Western Alamance (7-3), which defeated Southeast and finished a game in front of the Stallions in the Mid-Carolina Conference, will be home against No. 23 seed South Granville, with the winner going to No. 7 seed Rocky Mount.
No. 16 seed Eastern Alamance (4-6) will be home against No. 17 seed Wilson Fike. The winner travels to top-seeded Wilson Hunt.
In Class 6-A, Williams (9-1) and Southern Alamance (7-3) are in the East Region.
Williams is seeded fifth, awaiting a visit from either No. 12 seed Franklinton or No. 21 seed Gray’s Creek in the second round.
Sixth-seeded Southern will be home in the second round against either No. 11 seed Greenville Rose or No. 22 seed Erwin Triton.
Also in the Class 6-A East Region bracket is No. 15 seed Eastern Guilford (4-6), which handed Williams its lone loss. The Wildcats meet No. 18 seed White Oak, with the winner going to second-seeded Northern Nash.
Boys’ soccer
The playoffs begin with first-round games Monday or Tuesday and second-round matchups Thursday.
Western Alamance will start its bid for a second consecutive state championship as the No. 2 seed in the East Region behind top-seeded Pikeville Aycock.
After a first-round bye, Western (24-0) will face either No. 15 seed Southern Wayne or No. 18 seed Cedar Ridge.
Also in the Class 5-A East Region is seventh-seeded Southeast Alamance (15-6-2), which will meet the winner between No. 11 seed Wilson Fike and No. 22 seed Eastern Alamance (6-16-2).
In Class 4-A, No. 13 seed Graham (11-9-2) begins East Region play against No. 20 seed Southwest Onslow, with the winner traveling to fourths-seeded Washington. Cummings (5-9-1) is the No. 17 seed in the bracket, going to No. 16 seed Reidsville. The winner takes on top-seeded Southwestern Randolph.
In the Class 6-A East Region, Williams (16-5-3) received the final bye as the eighth seed, meaning a second-round encounter with No. 16 seed Southern Lee or No. 17 seed West Johnston.
Southern Alamance (4-18) didn’t make the field.
In Class 1-A, Clover Garden is the West Region, holding the No. 2 seed with a second-round game against No. 15 North Stokes or No. 18 seed Tri-County.
River Mill is seeded No. 12 in the Class 1-A East Region with a bye before facing fifth-seeded Woods Charter in the second round.
