A chat with Clayton head coach Scott Chadwick tonight, which you’ll hear on the JoCo Sports Football Podcast later this week, sparked a bit of curiosity. Just how much history is there for Johnston County football programs reaching state championship games?

The answer? Not a ton.

Of course, if you’ve been paying attention this week, you know that Clayton won a 2A (imagine that) title in 1989 with a 16-0 win over Monroe. But did you know that Johnston County’s only other title came back in 1959, when then-Smithfield High defeated Boone, 20-0, to win a 2A crown?

That’s the entire list of NCHSAA football champions from Johnston County.

A few schools have reached the finals, however.

Cleveland made the most recent appearance, falling to Mount Tabor in 2021. South Johnston reached the title game in 2009, falling to South Point. Clayton has the most title game appearances, finishing as runners-up in 1966, 1977 and 1979, and Princeton also made final appearances in 1976 and 1979.

Fun fact: I once covered two title games in a day for The Shelby Star. In 2004, I covered SouthWest Onslow’s win over Shelby in Chapel Hill at noon, then made it to Winston-Salem in time to write a column for Crest’s win over Dudley. I left my house at about 7 that morning and didn’t stop until well after midnight. Oh to be young and working at an honest-to-goodness newspaper covering preps again.