Burning questions

With the first day of football practice inching closer -- three days, for those keeping count -- now is probably a good time to examine some of the biggest questions facing Iredell County teams entering the season.

Lake Norman
Who will take charge of the offense?
With what seems to be an improved, slightly bigger offensive line, the Wildcats need a few more athletes. Do-everything Tyler McRorie is gone, as is long-time quarterback Zach Connell. McRorie was an all-county wide receiver who could catch, run the jet sweep and throw -- he played QB at times. Lake Norman may rely a bit more on Eric Manser, a solid running back who hardly ever gets negative yardage. Jaquez Vanderburg can really run and should see an increased role.

Mooresville
Is this the year?
Expectations are always sky-high at Mooresville, and this season will be no different. After a few good-not-great years, the Blue Devils return a ton of players and a special senior class. The offense will miss the big-play threat of Jamel Allison and the underrated Tequilis Knox, but Jjshaun Pinkston should run the show. The Devils have enough on defense, despite losing some really good linebackers, to improve on last year's performance. After a loss in the first round of the playoffs to a tough T.C. Roberson team, Mooresville's fans (and players) are hoping for a deep playoff run.

North Iredell
How will the Raiders adjust to a new scheme?
North Iredell has run through a variety of schemes in recent years. Former coach Lee Linville brought in an I-Formation based offense three years ago. That slowly evolved into a shotgun, spread offense over two years and was whittled back down to the I-Form late last season. New coach Shannon Ashley will implement an option-based attack, which should be led by bulked up fullback Chris Knox. Both the offense and defense return some pieces, but moving the ball on the ground will determine whether or not North has a shot at the playoffs.

South Iredell
Who will lead the offense?
It's been a while since the Vikings didn't have Anthony Thwaites' blazing speed at their disposal. With offensive star Thwaites off to Lenoir-Rhyne College, South needs to find somebody to run the ball -- and a quarterback to get the ball to the outside. T.C. Rollings really stepped in and did a nice job last season after being converted from wide receiver to quarterback. I think everyone knows Rollings was a senior last year. But not everyone knows his backup, Bert Travis, was also a senior, and that's equally important. South will look at a pair of sophomores to take over at quarterback. Markevis Dalton and Tevin Ikard will be the best pair of wide receivers in the county, and Ikard may also take some carries as a running back.

Statesville
What's next?
Pretty simple here. The Greyhounds, in the midst of a big rebuilding project, surprised most of the county and finished 9-4 last season, a mark that included a trip to the second round of the playoffs. Statesville returns plenty of guys, although there's no question some of the big-time leaders are gone -- like William Marion, Trevor Greer, Adrian Sloan, Greg Samuels and Jarris Knox. I think how the Greyhounds handle these increased expectations will dictate how successful their season is.

West Iredell
How can the Warriors replace 25 seniors?
Losing 25 seniors is a blow to any program, especially when they include guys like Bobby Morrison, Patrick Moss and Jared Thompson. Head coach Mark Weycker said last year's group was the best senior class in school history, but there's still some talent left in the cupboard. No, Morrison won't be there to bail the Warriors out like he did so many times last year, but he might not have to. Wake Forest signee Quan Rucker will move from receiver to quarterback, which I think is a great move. With the best player on the team touching the ball every play, the Warriors still have playoff hopes.

Good start for Iredell football

It couldn't have gone any better for Iredell County on opening night.

South and North Iredell played a close-until-the-end game, and three other county schools picked up victories.

South handed North a 21-10 loss after scoring a touchdown in the final few minutes to pull away, which was a good start to the Ed Masterton era.

Mooresville went on the road and beat a very good - albeit understaffed - Bandys squad. The Blue Devils' 22-0 win was a bit of payback from last year's 35-7 loss, and it was an important win. I think they still would have won even if Bandys' stud running back Lequan McCorkle was playing (he sat with an injury).

West Iredell running back Bobby Morrison ran for a school-record 274 yards on only 16 carries and the Warriors pasted Forbush 51-0.

And Lake Norman, a 1-10 team last season, picked up a 28-13 win over a decent North Lincoln squad.

Only three county teams play this week when Lake Norman visits South Iredell and Statesville travels to 3A power Hickory.

Finally - an update

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. I took a week-long trip to the beach with my family as sort of a last-gasp vacation before the sports season started again, and now I'm back in the swing of things.

A couple of things to espect from us at the R&L this fall.

We've tweaked our coverage a little bit as it relates to high school. I'll handle stories from Mooresville, North Iredell and South Iredell while Brian Meadows writes about Lake Norman, Statesville and West Iredell.

The 2007 high school football tab comes out this Friday - hard to believe it's already game time. Each team is profiled, and we'll have a video preview of each team on the Web site as well. I'll make sure to post that link once it becomes available.

We'll have a sports portal that will keep track of all football stats for the six county teams. So now fans and players can compare statistics as the season progresses.

A weekly video show will air on the Web. We don't have it completely ironed out, but the show will include me, Brian and our sports editor Jason Bullard. We'll discuss the happenings in Iredell County sports, and will also make predictions for Friday's football games. This may be your one and only chance to ever see me on video.

I'll blog about more specific national and local topics later this week as well, but here's a very good read from ESPN's ombudsman.

South makes hire

It's pretty easy to see why the South Iredell administration felt so strongly that Anson County offensive coordinator Ed Masterton was the right fit for the head coaching job.

He's energetic, young, has some good coaching experience and is anxious to take football in Barium Springs up a notch. Sound familiar? It should - that exact description also fits former coach J.K. Adkins, who left the Vikings after two successful seasons.

I talked to Masterton on Monday afternoon, and he certainly sounded like a coach more than ready to begin his first head coaching job. He is going to begin installing his offense soon. He wants to help promote his kids to different colleges. He quipped he did not know what level of math he would teach at South, but wanted "the numbers to add up on Friday night's."

In short, Masterton seems like a good man with bad puns.

The hardest thing for the new coach will probably be assembling his staff. If Masterton really is as hard-working as former Anson County head Jody Grooms says, there will probably be several current Anson coaches wanting to come work for him.

Masterton must carefully balance bringing in fresh faces and keeping some of the top assistants. The returning South Iredell players weren't expecting Adkins - who was immensely popular - to leave. They need some sort of continuity as new coaches and old players begin to mesh.