Vance High heading back to NC 4AA finals Saturday, hoping for redemption
Vance High senior linebacker Stefon Thompson said he felt like he and his team let the 2018 N.C. 4AA state championship slip away.
The Cougars lost 9-7 to Wake Forest, but had a few chances to win and a few more, late in the game, to at least force overtime.
Tied 7-7, Vance was trying to punt from its 15. Instead, a bad snap gave Wake Forest the ball at Vance’s 13. After a defensive stand, Thompson blocked what would’ve been a game-winning field goal with 42 seconds left. Only a Vance player dove on the ball at the 1 instead of letting it roll into the end zone.
That mean Vance got the ball at the 1 instead of at the 20. And on the very next play, a poor handoff led to a fumble. Vance recovered it in the end zone with 32 seconds left to play.
That gave Wake Forest a safety and the two points it needed to win.
It gave Thompson a cause for his senior season.
“All year, man,” he said. “We just wanted to get back. I was on the field for that last play. I just wanted to get a chance to fix it.”
Thompson, committed to Syracuse, and his Cougars teammates are back in the finals Saturday.
The Cougars (12-2) will play Raleigh’s Leesville Road High (13-0) at 3 p.m. at UNC-Chapel Hill. Vance has gotten back to the finals with a new coach, Glenwood Ferebee, and a new quarterback, Austin Grier.
And Vance will be trying to win its first state championship and become the first 4AA state champion from Mecklenburg County since 2015, when Mallard Creek beat Greensboro Page 49-6.
No county team reached the finals in 2016. Mallard Creek lost 21-0 to Wake Forest in 2017 and Vance lost to Wake Forest last season.
Thompson and the Cougars have returned to the finals after winning four straight playoff games on the road. Vance beat three-time N.C. 4AA state champion Butler 21-0, then beat another three-time state champion, Mallard Creek, 13-7. That was followed by wins over West Forsyth (35-7) and seven-time state champ Richmond Senior (38-7).
In that run, Vance beat the top three seeds in the western half of the playoff bracket and two nationally ranked teams. Mallard Creek was a top 15 team in some polls and Richmond was top 50.
Now there’s one game left.
“All we want,” Thompson said, “is a chance.”
And now the Cougars get it.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Vance High heading back to NC 4AA finals Saturday, hoping for redemption."
