Corinth Holders hopes to grow up fast in new conference

By Randy Capps

WENDELL — The reaction is always mixed every four years when the NCHSAA has its realignment. Some schools are angry to be shuffled into a new league while others are eager to embrace a new conference setup.

Put Corinth Holders in the latter category.

The Pirates, after spending the last cycle sharing a league with perennial powers Rolesville and Wake Forest, will get to play their trade with more familiar schools this fall.

“We’re moving to the Greater Neuse conference,” head coach Adam Khavari said. “We’re excited about having teams closer to home in our conference.”

Cleveland and Clayton are the still formidable, but far more familiar faces in the new conference, while Willow Spring, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, South Garner and Southeast Raleigh round out the Greater Neuse 4A. Willow Spring, a new school in Fuquay-Varina, will not field a varsity team this season.

The changes don’t stop there for Corinth Holders, either.

“We have a new defensive coordinator, Thomas Oothoudt, who coached with us last year and is moving into that role,” Khavari said. “We’ve also added Mike Loutzeheiser from West Brunswick to coach our running backs. We’re excited to have Mike and what he brings to the staff.”

Loutzehiser will get to work with Fred Foreman (403 yards, 2 TD) and Jaheim Fields (223 yards, 2 TD) in the Pirate backfield.

“We’re excited to have that tandem back,” Khavari said. “They don’t say a whole lot, but they work hard and they’re explosive with the ball in their hands.”

In total, four starters return on the offensive side of the ball, so there will be some new faces this fall. Senior Isaiah Faulkner was the backup quarterback last season, and he’ll be under center this fall.

Austin White and Justin Horta will anchor the offensive line, and both will be key components for the Pirates’ success.

“We expect a lot of production and leadership out of both of those young men,” Khavari said. “They’re both going into their third varsity season and we need their veteran presence there as we break in some of our young guys.”

There’s a little more experience returning on defense, as five starters from last year’s 1-5 squad are back on campus.

It starts up front for Corinth Holders with a pair of all-conference defensive lineman in Xzavier Fields and Donte Whitehead and hybrid defensive end/linebacker Josh Ryals.

“They’re both athletic, strong and very energetic,” Khavari said of Fields and Whitehead. “(Ryals) brings experience and grit to our defense.”

Despite the new faces and sharing a league with Cleveland and Clayton, the Pirates are still thinking big in 2021.

“Our goals are always the same every year,” Khavari said. “Win the conference and compete for a state championship. We have to stay healthy and our young players have to grow up in a hurry for us to be able to do those things.”

Schedule

Aug. 20 at Franklinton

Aug. 27 at Southern Nash

Sept. 2 (Thursday) Northern Nash

Sept. 10 BYE

Sept. 17 at Cleveland

Sept. 24 at Southern Alamance

Oct. 1 South Garner

Oct. 8 at Fuquay-Varina

Oct. 15 Clayton

Oct. 22 SE Raleigh

Oct. 29 at Garner