BILL KISER

sports@newstopic.net

Before the start of the season, one of Hibriten head football coach Chuck Cannon's big worries was having to go on the road during the playoffs.

Well, Cannon won't have to worry about that for a while.

The undefeated Panthers earned the No. 1 seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association's 3A West regional playoffs, which begin next week.

Hibriten -- which finished the regular season at 11-0 for the first time in school history, and claimed the Northwestern 3A-4A title -- will host Charlotte's Harding University (4-7) at Jeff Storie Memorial Stadium on Friday night in a first-round matchup.

"It's one of the rewards of winning," Cannon said in a telephone interview Saturday after the playoff brackets were released by NCHSAA officials.

"I'm pretty excited about that, but you've always got to prepare for everything. It's time for the playoffs."

The Panthers were one of two teams -- the other being defending state 3A champ West Rowan, which also finished 11-0 -- in the hunt for the top seed in the West regional.

In the end, it came down to a simple draw ... and Hibriten won it, guaranteeing the Panthers home-field advantage throughout the playoffs until the 3A state championship game, to be played Dec.12 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Hibriten has been in this position before -- the Panthers were the No. 1 seed in the 2A West regional bracket in 2003 -- and the experience from that is still in the back of Cannon's mind.

"We've been here before," Cannon said. "And we about got beat in the first round. ... We'll remind our guys that (Harding) will come ready to play."

Hibriten was one of 10 teams from the Unifour area to make this year's playoffs, and the only one to earn a No. 1 seed.

Bandys (10-1), which won the Catawba Valley 2A title, got the No. 2 seed in the 2AA West regional, and will host No. 15 seed and fellow CV2A school South Iredell (4-7).

Shelby (11-0) got the top seed in the 2AA West bracket, and will host No. 16 seed and Catawba Valley 2A school Bunker Hill (4-7).

Also qualifying for the playoffs from the CV2A were defending 2A champ Newton-Conover, East Burke and Maiden.

In the 2AA West bracket, Newton-Conover (10-1) got the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Piedmont (7-4), while East Burke (8-3) is seeded ninth and travel to No. 8 Salisbury (7-4).

Maiden (6-5) is seeded 11th in the 2A West bracket, and will face No. 6 seed Lincolnton (8-3).

In addition to the Panthers, three other schools from the Northwestern 3A-4A earned playoff berths.

Hickory (6-5) got the No. 11 seed in the 3A West bracket, and will travel to No. 4 Waynesville Tuscola (9-1-1).

Alexander Central (10-1) -- which lost its shot at an undefeated season and the NW3A-4A title with a 48-7 loss to Hibriten on Friday -- earned the No. 5 seed in the 4A West regional, and will host No. 12 Porter Ridge (7-4).

Watauga (6-5) got the No. 14 seed in the 4A West bracket, and will travel to Jamestown to play undefeated No. 3 seed Ragsdale (11-0).