Raleigh, N.C. — "You can't be satisfied." That is how Millbrook head coach Clarence Inscore closed out practice on Tuesday evening, three days before the Wildcats will make the trip to New Bern in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association football state playoffs.

"If you're satisfied, you will lose."

The Wildcats are preparing for their toughest team yet this season. The New Bern Bears took  care of another Raleigh team last week, beating Athens Drive 49-7, one week after they knocked of Sanderson 48-20.

Athens Drive quarterback Nick DeMuro injured his ankle early in the ball game, and the offense never could get anything going.

Millbrook is healthy, though, and they are looking forward to playing the Bears.

School will not be in session until next Monday for Millbrook - and the rest of Wake County - but Coach Inscore is confident his players will be ready. "Everybody's out of school right now, so everyone is on the same field there."

What about the long ride from Raleigh to New Bern?

"As far as the long trip, we're going to try and break it up so it's not that bad," said Inscore. "You can't use those things as excuses... The game is played on the field. It's not played on a bus."

Millbrook likes the position they are in, and Inscore likes his kid's chances."We've been working hard. Our kids have been working all season for the opportunity to play."

Millbrook, like Leesville Road who is playing South View on Friday, comes from a very tough Cap Seven Conference. Wake Forest-Rolesville and Leesville Road were both undefeated in the last week of the regular season, and Millbrook came very close to beating them both during the regular season.

"We played four playoff teams within our conference," said Inscore, "You look at Leesville and Wake Forest-Rolesville, and I have no doubt that if they hadn't been playing each other last week, that maybe both of them would still be alive this week."

Millbrook is alive, and so is Leesville Road, and if they both win, two Wake County teams would be playing next Friday night for the right to play in the State Championship game. Coach Inscore is not using the possible revenge game as motivation for his team though.

"No, not at all. If you're looking ahead at this point in the playoffs, you're probably going to be done."

Over the years, Raleigh and Wake County teams have been overlooked in the high school football playoffs because they are seen as inferior to the rest.

New Bern has been guilty of that themselves. In fact, it was just three seasons ago that New Bern lost to a Wake County team in the third round. The Bears came to Green Hope High School, and after pulling ahead 19-0 at halftime, the Falcons soared to a 21-19 victory.

Ironically, Green Hope went on to face South View in the Eastern Regional final, where their season ended.

What is Inscore's take on the issue?

"I hope we can change the image of Raleigh football," he said. "We'll see."

We will see.