Good Friday to you, Sampson County Football fans! This week’s Gridiron Preview is going to be a good deal shorter than other editions as what was originally going to be a week off for most area teams has taken on the name of “make-up” game for a couple of schools.
Hobbton, Lakewood, and Union are all off this week as they get some extra time to focus on the start of action within the Carolina 1A Conference. Harrells was always scheduled to play this week, though they hit the road for a long trip over to Charlotte, while Midway and Clinton postponed games from earlier in the season to tonight.
For the Dark Horses, they hit the road for a tangle with Northside-Jacksonville while the Raiders will stay in-county for our Nissan of Clinton Game of the Week with a matchup against Harnett Central.
Let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s matchups.
Harrells at Carolina Bearcats
Carolina who? What? You’ve never heard of them? Join the club – neither have I. And, after reading some info about exactly who they are, I still have questions. In a piece taken from the Charlotte Football Insiders, the Bearcats (former the Carolina Pride) is described as a team that “provides opportunities for kids to play football at the high school level that are in a couple of different situations – kids that go to home school or charter schools that do not offer football as an option, kids that do not qualify academically at their assigned high school, or kids that prefer an alternative to their high school team.” Anyway, with that out of the way, the Beacats will host the Crusaders tonight in a non-conference matchup. They enter the game with a 2-4 overall record with wins over Statesville Christian and Lewisville (out of Richburg, SC). To be completely honest, the Bearcats could be quite a formidable foe for the Crusaders. They are a team like to pass the ball for sure with senior quarterback Wanyae Freeman compiling some impressive stats. In six games, he’s completed 73-of-136 passes for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns. They do, however, run the ball well, also, totaling 143 carries for 657 yards. Putting some staggering numbers, the Carolina Bearcats could make themselves known in a big way tonight with a win over Harrells. The Crusaders are 4-2 entering tonight’s game and will look to break out of a recent slump in which they have lost two games and just did grind out a win in another one. Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
Clinton at Northside-Jacksonville
Both teams enter this game coming off losses in Week 6. For the Monarchs, they are actually on a three-game losing streak having loss contests to Wallace-Rose Hill, Southern Nash, and New Hanover. Prior to that, they started the season with wins over Laney and Ashley. Clinton’s stats are incomplete but for Northside-Jacksonville, they like to mix things up. On the ground, the Monarchs have 166 rushes for 767 yards and through the air they are 29-of-54 in passing for 623 yards. This game should prove to be quite an intriguing matchup. With Northside-Jacksonville having already competed against conference-foe Wallace Rose Hill, Clinton could see how well they stack up against a league opponent – theoretically, anyway. The Dark Horses absorbed their first loss week at Central Cabarrus – a game that very easily could have gone in their favor if not for some late-game turnovers. Clinton is going to be hungry for a win so the question is, can they get it? Or, can Northside snap their losing streak? Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
Nissan of Clinton Game of the Week: Midway vs Harnett Central
Undefeated Midway (5-0) will look to wrap up their non-conference schedule unblemished and remain the only unbeaten team left in the county when they welcome Harnett Central into Spivey’s Corner this evening. The Trojans enter the contest with a 4-1 record. Their lone loss was to Overhills back in Week 2, 41-14. Team stats are unavailable for Harnett Central, but they come in with wins over West Johnson, Southeast Raleigh, East Wake, and Smithfield-Selma. Collectively, these opponents are 7-23 overall with Overhills sporting the only winning record at 4-2. For Midway, they’ve already knocked off one 3A school in South Brunswick and have also tallied decent wins over Hobbton and Lakewood. The Raiders are another team that are a dual-threat, compiling 832 passing yards and nine touchdowns on the season through the air, and 944 rushing yards for 17 touchdowns. To make Midway an even more complete team is the improvement of their defense as they are outscoring teams 202-72 through five games. No doubt about it that Harnett Central will provide an intriguing matchup for the Raiders. Particularly, it’ll be interesting to see how the Trojans defense can handle the high-powered Raiders. Midway is scoring an average of 40.4 points per game while Harnett Central only surrenders an average of 12 points per game. Interestingly, the Trojans don’t seem to score a lot of points themselves, save for 42 points against Smithfield-Selma. Could be an interesting battle tonight in Spivey’s Corner. Game time is 7 p.m.
Be sure to see this weekend’s edition for a full rundown!
