WAKE FOREST -- John Conyers knew he had done his job. With the entire fourth quarter still to be played, he stood at the sideline and tried to control his excitement. Conyers, the quarterback for Wake Forest-Rolesville, knew he wasn’t going to throw the ball again.

That’s because he didn’t need to. The Cougars’ celebrating had begun after Conyers’ 31-yard touchdown throw. And after a 28-7 victory over Panther Creek on Friday in the 4-AA east regional, Conyers and the rest of the Cougars had made school history: they advanced to their first state championship game in football.

WAKE FOREST -- John Conyers knew he had done his job. With the entire fourth quarter still to be played, he stood at the sideline and tried to control his excitement. Conyers, the quarterback for Wake Forest-Rolesville, knew he wasn’t going to throw the ball again.

That’s because he didn’t need to. The Cougars’ celebrating had begun after Conyers’ 31-yard touchdown throw. And after a 28-7 victory over Panther Creek on Friday in the 4-AA east regional, Conyers and the rest of the Cougars had made school history: they advanced to their first state championship game in football.

I’ve really enjoyed watching the high school football in the area, and the Wake Forest-Rolesville Cougars are the most discipline team in the Triangle. I’ve talked a lot with J. Mike Blake this week about Panther Creek for tonight’s Panther Creek/Wake Forest-Rolesville game (Friday, 7:30 p.m.) that will decide who represents the East in the 4-AA state championship game. Last week D.Clay Best saw how balanced the Cougars are both side of the balls. Earlier this week, J. Mike and I had a good discussion on our most recent Outer Loop Sports Show about the game. If you would like to read J. Mike’s prediction, you can do it here.

FAYETTEVILLE - Panther Creek quarterback Kameron Bryant rallied the Catamounts again on Friday with the stakes at the highest to claim a 35-32 victory over Fayetteville Seventy-First in the third round of the state 4-AA football playoffs.

Bryant drove Panther Creek 80 yards in 28 seconds, throwing the 18-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Daniel Beilinson with 55 seconds left.

Panther Creek (13-1) will play at Wake Forest-Rolesville (13-1) in the 4-AA Eastern championship on Friday. The winner will advance to the championship game.

CARY - Panther Creek and Fuquay-Varina started off as if they were engaging in another shootout. Instead, a second-half shutout was the difference.

The Catamounts defeated their Tri-Nine Conference foe for the second time this year, holding Fuquay to zero second-half points to come from behind to win 35-28 in the second round of the 4-AA football playoffs.

CARY – Panther Creek cruised into the second round of the NCHSAA 4-AA state football playoffs Friday night. The Catamounts, the No. 2 seed in the Mideast Region, forced four turnovers and piled up 404 yards of total offense en route to a 44-21 win over No. 7 South View.

CARY -- For the second straight year, Panther Creek met Cary in the final week of the season for what P.C. fans were calling the "biggest game in school history."

Last year, the Catamounts needed a win to secure a berth in the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs. This year, a conference championship was on the line, and for the second straight year the Cats edged their cross-town rivals in the "biggest game in school history" as Panther Creek won 10-7.

CARY – Panther Creek celebrated its senior night Friday with a 28-0 rout of Lee County. The Catamounts’ defense stifled the Yellow Jackets offense all evening – holding them to a mere 136 yards of total offense.

“This win is huge,” Panther Creek coach Wayne Bragg said. “Lee County is a good football team. They’re big, physical and have some really good skill guys. It seems like we keep playing playoff caliber teams every week now. We know we have to win these, and our guys really played well.”

APEX – Middle Creek tradition calls for the the Mustangs to emerge from a grandstand tunnel amid smoke and music while the players make their way to the field.

The anticipated shootout between Panther Creek and Middle Creek appeared to going up in smoke with the plume until Middle Creek quarterback Garrett Leatham connected on three fourth-quarter touchdown passes en route to a 42-21 upset win Friday on the Mustangs' field.

CARY – Panther Creek sets a school record for most football wins in a season with each victory, and the Catamounts put this one in the books early.

Panther Creek scored touchdowns on three of its first four snaps from center to take a 21-0 first-quarter lead en route to a 41-6 win Friday night over Green Hope on the Falcons' field.