New League, Same Mindset: North Lenoir Ready for Challenge in All-4A Three Rivers Conference
New League, Same Mindset: North Lenoir Ready for Challenge in All-4A Three Rivers Conference
The 2025 high school football season brings a new era to North Carolina prep athletics, and for North Lenoir, it comes with fresh opponents and familiar motivation.
At this year’s Three Rivers Conference media day — the first under the NCHSAA’s new 1A–8A alignment — coaches voted North Lenoir to finish seventh in the league. The Hawks were last in the preseason poll a year ago too. That didn’t stop them from staying in the hunt for second place until the final week.
“We are picked seventh, which is the last place in the conference,” said head coach Larry Dale, now in his third season leading the Hawks. “We were picked that last year too, and up until the last game of the season we were fighting for second place. If we would have beat Kinston we would have finished second, but that loss dropped us to fifth — which was a very tough conference. That’s OK with us. We just got to worry about what’s internal and what we do every day and let the chips fall where they are going to fall.”
The newly-formed Three Rivers Conference is the only league in the state that is made up entirely of 4A schools. Its members include West Craven, Eastern Wayne, SouthWest Edgecombe, Washington, North Pitt, North Johnston, and North Lenoir.
West Craven and Eastern Wayne tied for the top spot in the preseason vote with 12 points each — West Craven securing three first-place votes and Eastern Wayne two. Southwest Edgecombe followed closely at 14 points.
North Lenoir, coming off a 4-7 (3-3 conference) season, will lean on experience and internal development after graduating two large senior classes the past two years.
“Summer has been good,” Dale said. “There are some guys you just can’t replace and you just try to rebuild and go through there. Those last two classes were together for a long time, they were two really big classes. Our juniors are a smaller class, but the kids have been great. They are willing to work or do whatever. They now know what I expect going into my third year. We lost some talent, but there is still a lot of talent here.”
While the Hawks now compete in a league without familiar local rivals Kinston and South Lenoir, Dale confirmed the schools have a scheduling agreement to keep the rivalries alive.
“Well, it’s different,” he said. “We have an agreement with the three schools — we are all going to play each other — but when you start thinking about the county trophies that we have, you are fighting for those trophies in Week 3 this season, instead of it coming down to the end like last year.”
The new conference brings some logistical changes as well, but Dale is embracing the travel and new environments.
“I think we’re pretty lucky because we are in the middle of everything — it’s about an hour to all schools no matter what direction, besides Eastern Wayne,” he said. “It’s really exciting. I like going to new schools I’ve never been to. It’s nice to have a little change and go somewhere a little different.”
North Lenoir opens the 2025 season against Greene Central in Week 1, followed by back-to-back rivalry games: Week 2 vs. South Lenoir and Week 3 vs. Kinston.
COACHES VOTING
1. West Craven 12 points (3 first place votes)
2. Eastern Wayne 12 points (2 first place votes)
3. Southwest Edgecombe 14 points
4. Washington 21 points
5. North Pitt 25 points
6. North Johnston 30 points
7. North Lenoir 33 points
