Welcome back to Football Friday, Sampson County fans! After a bye week for several area teams last Friday, we’re back to full strength this week with six games spread across the region. We’ve reached week eight which brings about the start of conference play. With that, things are about to get crazy as the start of conference games signifies the final push toward playoffs qualification. This week we only have one in-county game, which is our Nissan of Clinton Game of the Week featuring East Central Conference foes Clinton and East Duplin. Elsewhere, Hobbton will travel to Rosewood, Union will travel to Princeton, Lakewood hits the road to North Duplin, Midway heads southeast to James Kenan, and Harrells heads back to Raleigh for a showdown with North Wake Christian. With conference play heating up, let’s dive in and break down this week’s matchups!
Union at Princeton
Not going to lie, this is probably going to be a tough one for the Spartans. The Bulldogs are undefeated on the season at 5-0 and are outscoring their opponents on average of 44.8 to 15. Union can expect to face an option-based running attack and very little attempts through the air from the Princeton offense. The Bulldogs may be a one-dimentional team but they do it the well, totalling 2,124 rushing yards on 235 carries this season. That’s an average of nine yards per carry and 425 yards per game. Their leading rusher is Jaydon Brooks, who leads the team by a wide margin with 826 yards and 12 touchdowns on 78 carries. The remaining yards are scattered across 11 more ball carriers. Needless to say, the Spartans defense are going to be spending the evening defending a ton of running plays. Union certainly has athletes, but their defense has had it’s struggles as of late, giving up 49 and 47 points their last two games. Princeton is believed by many to be the front-runner of the Carolina 1A Conference so this is sure to be a big test for the Spartans right out of the gate. Game time at Princeton is 7 p.m.
Lakewood at North Duplin
This game sets up to be a pretty entertaining one and one that the Leopards certainly can win. Across the board, these two teams seem pretty even. For the Rebels, they enter the game at 4-2 with losses to Northside-Pinetown (21-7) and Southside (41-32). Their wins are against Lejuene, South Lenoir, Jones Senior, and Spring Creek. Statistically, North Duplin relies heavily on the run. The Rebels are just 6-for-22 in passing with 141 yards, but on the ground they have ran the ball 271 times for 1,560 yards. Their leading rusher is Luis Olivos, a sophomore, with 104 rushes for 793 yards and 12 touchdowns. Saul Mendoza, a junior, is next inline with 388 yards and seven touchdowns on 82 carries. In total, the Rebels have utilized seven different ball carriers so Lakewood should prepare for just about anyone to carry the rock, but, those two will likely see the bulk of the action. The Leopards mirror the Rebels in terms of they, too, are a run-heavy team. They are led by Tillyon Williams, who has already eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season, but Williams has supporting cast in Travis Crawford and Jerquawin Rich, among others. I believe this game will be a close one that really could go either way. Game time tonight is 7 p.m.
Hobbton at Rosewood
After the Wildcats’ sizzling start to the season, they’ve endured losses in back-to-back home games against Midway and North Stokes. Now, they are set to take to the road against the Eagles in their conference opener. Rosewood finished second in the Carolina 1A Conference a year ago and so far their season has started out pretty nicely as they stand at 5-1 overall. Their lone loss was at C.B. Aycock (41-26) but the 3A Golden Falcons are 6-1 themselves, so the Eagles certainly present as a formidable opponent. Stats for Rosewood are incomplete but through six games they average 53.5 points while only surrendering 18.2. Hobbton, though, should exceed that mark and this game will likely transition into a high scoring affair. The question remains, though, can the Wildcats defense tame the Eagles? Can they end their recent losing streak and jolt back into the win column or will Rosewood make it 3-straight? Game time tonight at Rosewood is 7 p.m.
Harrells at North Wake
Once again the Crusaders head up I-40 bound for Wake County in a game against the Saints of North Wake Christian Academy. The Saints enter the contest at 3-3 overall with losses to Hickory Hawks (16-14), Ravenscroft (47-21), and High Point Christian Academy (51-0). Harrells and NWCA share a common foe in Ravensroft who both teams lost to with the Crusaders playing them closer than the Saints did. North Wake’s stats are incomplete but the presentable information suggests that Harrells would be favored here by a couple scores. Led by Jack Laslo, who enters the game with 921 yards of rushing and 15 touchdowns on 137 carries, I tend to think that the Crusaders will return to Sampson County as victors. I also suspect that Laslo will hit the 1,000-yard mark tonight. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Midway at James Kenan
The 6-0 Midway Raiders kick off their conference slate with a trip to the Tigers Den at James Kenan High School. These two teams look to be nearly identical in that both aren’t afraid to mix up their offensive schemes. The Tigers lean on both pass and run and have done both fairly well. Quarterback Andrew Pender has completed 78-of-137 passes for 886 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, Carlton Peterson has rushed 47 times for 576 yards. Collectively, the Tigers have 835 total rushing yards on the season. Over on Midway’s side, their numbers are nearly identical. Wyatt Holland has completed 48-of-73 passes for 797 yards. Midway has 877 total yards in passing with Cal Tyndall contributing 3-for-3 for 80 yards. On the ground, Midway has rushed 158 times for 1,192 yards with Deantae Byrd leading the fray with 694 yards and 11 touchdowns on 77 attempts. James Kenan enters the game 5-1, their lone loss to Southern Wayne in Week 2, 31-23. Their wins are Pender (16-12), North Johnston (17-0), Richlands (36-15), Union (49-12), and most recently Lakewood, (32-13). For Midway, their closest game this season was South Brunswick, 28-24. Other than that, Lakewood gave the Raiders quite a fight before succumbing to a pair of turnovers that did the Leopards in late in the game. With all this in mind, in my opinion, this game is going to come down to defense. For Midway, their defense is above and beyond better than it was last year. The Raiders are flourishing on defense while their offense has also enjoyed success. This game is going to be interesting, though, because on paper James Kenan doesn’t look to have that bad of a defense themselves. Outside of Southern Wayne, teams aren’t putting up a ton of points on them. Midway is averaging 38.8 points per game. James Kenan only gives up 13.8. This should be a great game. It’s also noteworthy that it’s Homecoming at James Kenan, so, the Tigers will probably have a little extra edge. Game time is at 7 p.m.
Nissan of Clinton Game of the Week: Clinton vs East Duplin
Dark Horse Stadium is the only football field in Sampson County that will be lit up on Friday night and with a big-time game against East Duplin on the docket, I’d expect the crowd to pour in. After a two-game road stint, the 4-1 Dark Horses return home for a matchup with the 3-3 Panthers. Both teams lined their non-conference schedule with historically top tier teams, attempting to get themselves ready for the tough lineup of the East Central Conference. For East Duplin, they have wins against Richlands (26-7), Ashley (48-0), and Warren County (52-7). Their losses are to Jacksonville (27-17), Southwest Onslow (21-14), and Hertford County (43-21). Stats for both teams are incomplete so a head-to-head matchup will have to be settled on the field. This should be a good one! Game time at Clinton is 7 p.m.
