East Duplin's Battle Holley focuses on what's ahead after 100th win with Panthers
East Duplin football coach Battle Holley said it seems just like yesterday when he left Kinston to become the Panthers’ head coach.
“It’s gone by real fast. Real fast,” Holley said. “But things have been good.”
Just how good?
After more than 10 years as their coach, Holley is now a milestone man for the Panthers. He earned win No. 100 with the program Friday with a 52-14 East Central 2-A Conference victory over North Lenoir.
WEEK 9 BOLD PICKS:Five bold predictions for Week 9 of Jacksonville-area high school football
WEEK 8 STANDOUTS:These players performed well Friday night
Holley is 100-44 at East Duplin and 131-54 overall. He coached one season at Wallace-Rose Hill before his stay at Kinston. He arrived in Beulaville in 2010 as an assistant coach before taking over the following season.
Holley is the area’s winningest active coach. Jacksonville’s Beau Williams is second at 89-60 since he took over the Cardinals in 2010. Holley and Williams are the area’s only coaches to lead their teams to a state final in the past 10 years.
“It ain't about me,” Holley said. “We have a lot of good people, some good assistant coaches and good, hard-working players here at East Duplin.”
Holley has guided this year’s Panthers (6-1, 3-0) to another strong start as they look to win a second consecutive ECC title. Their only blemish was a 58-57 loss at Princeton, a defeat in August during which East Duplin led by 14 in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers visit South Lenoir (1-7, 0-4) on Friday before they host Wallace-Rose Hill (6-1, 3-0) next week.
BEST COACHING JOBS:These coaches get the most from their teams
GOOD DAY TO BE ALIVE:East Duplin's Henderson misses football but happy to alive after wreck
Holley’s focus isn’t on individual accolades but rather wanting to see his team improve before the start of the NCHSAA playoffs next month. Thanks to an offense that still runs efficiently but can now throw well, the Panthers average 47.8 points per game.
“We expected to be where we are with the number of seniors we had coming back, but I think our offensive line and our defensive line have gotten better,” Holley said. “We have a lot of kids who have played well, like Rodrigo Sanchez and Chris Martin, who are playing on both sides of the ball. Statistically, we have thrown the ball better than we have before. But we always need to clean up our penalties and we have to keep getting better on special teams.”
The Panthers look to do all that against South Lenoir, which has lost seven consecutive games.
“We just have to try to stay away from the injury bug,” Holley said. “This is the time of the year when the grass starts turning brown and it is getting darker earlier, which means one or two things: the season is getting ready to come to an end or it is survive and advance time.”
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at chris.miller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: East Duplin's Battle Holley earns milestone football win with Panthers
