Two Rivers 1-A Conference starts second year

The newly-assembled Two-Rivers 1-A Conference is now in its second year, and the Tarboro Viking football program will be trying to continue its stretch as one of the most notoriously dominant teams in the state.

The Vikings have won at least 11 games each year since 2008, and won three state championships along the way. Rebuilding the team each year has never seemed to be a problem for head coach Jeff Craddock, who loses six offensive starters and eight defensive starters from last season’s team.

Still, the Viking’s return their entire offensive line and All-Conference running back Deshan Farmer, who had more than 300 yards and four touchdowns last year while seeing significant time at defensive back as well. The 2013 Tarboro JV team was undefeated, so this year’s Vikings will have a new group of talented young players.

The Riverside-Martin Knights were a young team last year when they finished as the conference runner-up, and the experience given to sophomore players on varsity should pay off now. That young team averaged 36 points per game, and with all-conference selections back at quarterback and wide receiver, the Knight offense should be just as productive.

Northampton County won nine games in 2013 but will have to break in a new quarterback and new offensive line to compete with the top talent in the conference.

North Edgecombe has a shot at cracking the top three teams in the conference with a returning all-conference running back in Antwan Pittman, who had 1,684 yards and 18 touchdowns during his sophomore season.

South Creek and Rocky Mount Prep struggled in the Two-Rivers Conference last season but are hoping to climb the ladder and make noise against the tough competition.