Two high schools in the Catawba Valley area of the state will be looking for new head football coaches, according to various media reports including the Hickory Daily Record and the Observer-News-Enterprise.

        Brint Russell has announced that he is stepping down as the head football coach at Newton-Conover, and Jim Ruark has resigned as head football coach at East Burke.

        Ruark plans to stay at East Burke as an assistant principal, according to the Hickory Daily Record.  He guided the Cavalier program for four years, and East Burke completed a 2-9 campaign this season. He had previously coached at East Lincoln and Myers Park and was an assistant at Burns.

        Russell coached at Newton-Conover for two seasons, with his team winning nine games in 2012 and going 2-9 in 2013. Russell had coached in Tennessee as well as serving as an assistant at McDowell and Crest.

        In addition, St. Stephens High School in Catawba County will be looking for a new men’s soccer coach, as Cory Morgan has resigned as the head of the Indian program.

        Morgan coached at St. Stephens for two years and will become the head men’s soccer coach at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, GA. He is a former soccer standout at Hickory High School and Lenoir-Rhyne University.