2017-2021 Southern Carolina Conference

Charlotte Catholic High School

Cuthbertson High School

Marvin Ridge High School

Monroe High School

Parkwood High School

Piedmont High School

Sun Valley High School

Weddington High School

When the high school football season kicks off in three months, the Southern Carolina Conference will have three football teams seeking another undefeated conference season.

Yes, you read that right.

Thanks to realignment, the Class 3A Southern Carolina Conference will have a totally new look in all sports for 2017-2021.

The new SCC welcomes Charlotte Catholic, Parkwood High School and Monroe to returning league members Cuthbertson, Marvin Ridge, Piedmont, Sun Valley and Weddington. Gone is Anson High.

That means the SCC will have seven schools from Union County and one (Catholic) from Mecklenburg County.

The three new additions to the SCC will make an already competitive top-to-bottom conference even more difficult in all boys and girls sports.

Football is a case in point.

Weddington will start the season as the defending Class 3A state champion after winning the SCC with a 5-0 record. Weddington won its last 12 games, including a 33-20 win against East Guilford in the title game.

Weddington’s last loss last season was a 21-7 setback to incoming SCC member Monroe, which was playing in the Class 2A Rocky River Conference last season. Monroe also defeated Marvin Ridge (23-21) and Cuthbertson (9-6) last season.

Monroe, which won the 2AA State Football Championship in 2015, was 5-0 in the RRC last season before falling in the state semifinals.

Charlotte Catholic is taking a step down as the Cougars played in the Class 4A SoMeck8 Conference in the last cycle. Catholic was 7-0 in conference play in 2016 after the Cougars won the 2015 Class 4A State Championship.

Parkwood is also a familiar foe for the returning SCC members. Last football season, the Rebels defeated Cuthbertson (27-21 OT) and Piedmont (27-17) while losing to Weddington (45-3) and Anson (20-14 OT). Parkwood also played Monroe during RRC play last season.

New Parkwood football coach Tim Speakman was hired in March after becoming the girls softball coach last fall and the veteran coach saw firsthand during the softball season the quality of competition in the SCC.

The Parkwood softball team entered the Class 2A Softball Championships with an 18-2 record after going 10-0 in the RRC. Parkwood defeated Weddington, Cuthbertson and Piedmont during softball season while falling to Marvin Ridge.

“We are excited about the challenge and we expect to compete at a high level,” Speakman said. “(In softball), we have a lot of girls coming back next year. We are going to miss our seniors, but we are excited about the girls we have coming back.”

The new statewide breakdown by enrollment has 20 percent of schools statewide in 4A, 30 percent in 3A, 30 percent in 2A and 20 percent in 1A. The reclassification went through several drafts before being approved.