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The recent success in terms of seasons above the .500 mark continued last season for North Stanly and first-year head coach Chad Little.

North finished 8-4 last season and earned the 2A bid from the 1A/2A Yadkin Valley Conference with a 33-16 win versus the other 2A squad in the conference, Mount Pleasant.

The Comets finished tied with West Stanly for the Stanly Cup with matching 2-1 records, but won the Cup with their win over the Colts.

North also posted the school’s fourth overall playoff win and first win in the 2A state playoffs last season.

However, North did not win the outright conference title, losing to Albemarle in the last week of the regular season.

1) Your debut season as the Comets’ head coach was very successful, including eight wins and a playoff victory as well. What does a season like that do for you, your staff and your players in terms of expectations as this season unfolds?

Little: “When you have a season as successful as our season was last year, then everybody’s going to expect that year in and year out. So with football, especially at the high school level, I don’t think people understand how hard it is to win a ball game. I think the expectations are still high here. Anytime you play at North Stanly High School, the expectations are high. So that’s not a problem. We come to play and our guys are expecting to win.”

2) North lost several key players from last season, including the starting QB, RB and two WR/DBs who were captains. Who is returning to the team this season whom you would consider standouts, and how are those missing roles going to be filled?

Little: Quarterbacks: Charlie Shaver (QB) has several D-I offers in baseball and is a good athlete to run our quarterback position, is replacing Chance Blake, who was one of the best quarterbacks to come through North Stanly.

Running Backs: Jaden Little (Soph.), Juice Lilly (Jr.), Nathan Helms (Soph.), Elijah Bryant (Sr.)

Receivers: Jalen McCoy (Sr.), Cam Brown (Soph), Nathan Helms, Gavin Helms (TE, Sr.), Noah Carter (TE).

Offensive line: Seshaun Swindell (Sr.), Jermon Collins (Sr.), Zack Hatley (Sr.) and Sosa Murphy (Sr.); the line will also have Spencer Jones (Soph.) at center.

On defense, we return all 11 starters from last season, which does not happen often.

Returning are Elijah Bryant (DL, Sr.), Gavin Helms (DL, Sr.), Sosa Murphy (DL, Sr.), Juice Lilly (LB, Jr.), Aiden Alsbrook (LB, Sr.), Jarrett Martin (LB, Sr.), Solomon Hudson (DB, Jr.), Grayson Smith (DB, Sr.), Nathan Helms (DB, Soph.), Cam Brown (DB, Jr.), Justice Gramling (DB, Sr.).

3) Who are some of the team’s promising newcomers?

Ra’cere Bruton (RB/DB, Fresh.) and Tyler Daughtry (WR/DB, Fresh.)

4) What would you consider to be a successful season for the Comets?

“Dean Smith once said this for the Carolina Tar Heels: a successful season is .500 or better, and that’s what I’m sticking to. If we can win half our game or more, that is a successful season for the Comets, especially in this day and age when you don’t know what kids are going to be like. That’s what I’m sticking with. That’s what I put on my paper.”