BB&T Jamboree luncheon brings old and new faces together

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Many consider the BB&T Jamboree the official kickoff to the high school football season in our area. Which would make the jamboree luncheon the kickoff to the kickoff and the coaches in attendance are excited to be a part of it.

“It feels great,” Laney Head Coach Ashaad Yeoman said. “Getting up here with these guys and introducing ourselves again, meeting new coaches and getting the opportunity to just hang out outside of football even though the challenge is coming up this Friday night to face eachother.”

The jamboree Friday night will feature all four New Hanover County schools, two schools from Columbus County, the trio from Brunswick County and of course Wallace-Rose Hill. Hoggard will be playing Whiteville in the scrimmage and Coach Craig Underwood says the jamboree is the perfect way to kick off the season.

“I think the BB&T Jamboree gives us as close to a real Friday night atmosphere as you can ask for from a scrimmage,” Underwood said. “Everything is game situation, it’s great crowd buzz. It’s all those things and we’re excited about it and the kids are excited about it.”

Another Wilmington-Columbus County matchup will be Ashley vs. South Columbus, a game you won’t see in the regular season. Which is what makes the jamboree so great for these coaches.

“It’s a good chance for our kids to play some good competition,” South Columbus Head Coach Russell Dove said. “Sometimes you hear 3A and 4A and teams get spooked by it, but we embrace this competition and look forward to it. We want to see what our kids will do.”

One of those coaches at the jamboree was Kevin Motsinger. You may remember Coach Mots when he appeared on set for the 5th Quarter last season. This year, it’s out of the studio and back to the sidelines as the coach of the Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs.

He is very familiar to the BB&T Jamboree from his days coaching with the New Hanover Wildcats. But Motsinger says things are very different this time around.

“It’s kind of mixed feelings coming down here and a lot of memories,” Motsinger said. “Coach Miller not being here and being at New Hanover for 9 years so it’s a lot of mixed emotions. There’s excitement and also a little sadness for the folks that are no longer here.”

Coach Motsinger and the Bulldogs will be taking on former New Hanover County opponent Laney in the final game of the BB&T Jamboree Friday.

BB&T Football Jamboree Matchups (Games starting at 5:30 at Legion Stadium):
-New Hanover vs. West Brunswick
-Ashley vs. South Columbus
-North Brunswick vs. South Brunswick
-Hoggard vs. Whiteville
-Laney vs. Wallace-Rose Hill