Head football coach Blair Hardin, who led Porter Ridge High School in Union County to two consecutive North Carolina High School Athletic Association state football championship games, is making a move.

The 30-year-old Hardin announced that he was leaving Porter Ridge to become head football coach at Freedom High School in Burke County, according to several media reports.

The Pirates won or shared the Southern Carolina Conference title in each of the past four seasons. After reaching the state semifinals in 2010, Porter Ridge made back-to-back trips to the 4-A title game and lost a thrilling 39-38 game to New Bern in the 2012 championship contest.

Hardin replaces Mike Helms, who resigned after four seasons at Freedom with a mark of 37-14 as head coach of the Patriots, and is the ninth head coach in the history of the Burke County school.