ELIZABETHTOWN – The East Bladen Eagles have been projected to be the 15th-seed in the 1A NCHSAA East Region in the postseason preliminary bracket this Sunday. East Bladen finished their regular-season with a 4-6 overall record and they finished 4th in the Waccamaw 4A/3A standings with a 3-3 record. East Bladen have been slated to host the 18th-seeded Southeast Halifax Trojans(4-6, 4-4) in Friday’s first round match-up.
The Trojans compete in the Tar Roanoke 1A Conference and they finished fifth in their conference at the end of the regular-season. The four teams ahead of them in the standings all are projected to be playoff bound and Tar Roanoke champ Wilson Prep(9-1, 8-0) have been predicted to claim a first-round bye as the number-three seed.
South Halifax is averaging 22.8 points on offense and they’ve held their opponents to 25.1 points in their 10 regular-season games. They’ll enter Friday’s game with a 3-2 record in their last five. East Bladen also went 3-2 in their last five but will enter this Friday’s game off a two week break since their final regular-season game.
Pender(7-3, 4-2) will also represent the Waccamaw in the 1A NCHSAA East Region as the number-four seed and they will host the 29th-seeded Chatham Central Bears(1-9, 0-9). The Patriots went on a 4-1 tear in their final five and they earned the top-seed for 1A teams in the conference. Pender were handed a straight-forward match-up and should be considered a safe favorite come kickoff on Friday night.
Tarboro(9-1, 5-0) earned the number-one seed for the 1A NCHSAA East Region and the Vikings will have a first round-bye. The North Duplin Rebels(9-0, 4-0) are the number-two seed in the 1A East Region and they’ll also have a first round bye. East Bladen would play North Duplin in the second round if they were to win against Southeast Halifax this Friday. The Whiteville Wolfpack(9-1, 6-0) earned the number-two seed in the 2A NCHSAA East Region after being crowned Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference Champs a couple of weeks ago.
The Wolfpack will host the 31st-seeded Pasquotank County Panthers(5-5, 4-3) in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers will enter Whiteville on Friday night averaging 20.4 ppg on offense and they’ve held their opponents to 20.8 ppg through the regular-season.
The Wolfpack defense has been equally impressive as they’ve held their opponents to 10.2 ppg during the season. Whiteville’s offense has also been potent with an average of 43.5 ppg and the run game has been a factor in their success. The South Columbus Stallions(8-2, 5-1) finished second in the Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference and they earned the 14th-seed in the 2A NCHSAA East Region.
The Stallions will host the 19th-seeded Kinston Vikings(6-4, 4-2) in the first round this Friday. South Columbus’ great regular-season concluded with a 21-8 defeat to Whiteville so they’ll be looking to bounce back against a quality team. The Vikings will enter Tabor City this Friday still rolling from a 46-0 victory over North Lenoir a few weeks prior. Kinston’s defense doesn’t give up a lot of points and their opponents this season were lucky to get two touchdowns against them.
East Bladen Schedule:
North Brunswick 48, East Bladen 0
East Bladen 42, West Bladen 8
Wilmington Ashley 54, East Bladen 27
James Kenan 34, East Bladen 14
South Columbus 25, East Bladen 22
East Bladen 50, East Columbus 7
Pender 44, East Bladen 12
East Bladen 12, Heide Trask 6
East Bladen 43, West Columbus 0
Whiteville 55, East Bladen 7
#18 Southeast Halifax at #15 East Bladen (KO TBA)