By Junious Smith III

SNOW HILL — Allen Wooten is going from one group of Rams to another.

Wooten will be the new coach of Havelock High School; he coached Greene Central for six years, compiling a 39-34 record. His GC teams never missed the postseason.

Wooten inherited a Greene Central team that ended 2012 on a nine-game skid and then got his first win, a 48-8 decision over North Lenoir on Oct. 18, 2013, after starting the campaign 0-7. In 2015, the Rams started 8-0 for the first time in school history on the way to a 10-2 season, another record.

Greene Central broke a 12-year drought between playoff victories on Nov. 10, 2017 when the Rams defeated Kinston 28-6 on the road.

“I love Greene Central and they’ve given me so much,” Wooten said. “I have a lot of family in the area and it hurts knowing I have to speak to 70-something individuals who busted their tails for the school. Sometimes, opportunities come to your door that you can’t pass up.”

Wooten said he’s been appreciative of the trust he garnered at Greene Central and said this was far from an easy choice, as he looks to get Havelock its first state championship since 2013.

“This is why I got into the game, being able to change lives,” Wooten said. “It’s going to be bittersweet starting fresh, and while I’ve got the opportunity to go to a football-dominant school and follow in the path of my brothers, it’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make.”

Wooten becomes the second Greene Central coach to move directly from Snow Hill to Havelock; Jim Bob Bryant made the same move in 2007 after compiling a 42-21 mark in five years at GC. Bryant won back-to-back-to-back titles from 2011-13 at Havelock.