DUBLIN — With two weeks of full practices under their belts, the West Bladen varsity gridders will get their first taste of facing someone other than themselves when they travel to Harrells on Saturday to scrimmage Harrells Christian Academy.

The Knights and Crusaders will kick things off at 9:30 a.m.

It’s the first time West Bladen and Harrells have come together for football, and first-year Knights head coach Kris Williams said there was a very simple reason it’s happening.

“We didn’t have anything else — we used to go to Green Sea (S.C.) Floyds but they had a coaching change and it never came together this time,” he said. “We had to look for something, and a lot of the jamborees were already gone, so this was about our best bet.”

The Knights and Crusaders now have a two-year agreement for a scrimmage, and Harrells will visit West Bladen prior to the 2018 season.

Williams has been dealing with low turnout numbers during his first two weeks at the helm, but he still has some clear-cut expectations during the lone scrimmage of the preseason.

“I just want to look at personnel and evaluate everyone we can,” he said. “We’ll be working on our playbook, but seeing what the kids can do in more of a game setting will be important.”

That game setting is something Williams said the players are looking forward to.

“They want to line up against someone other than their teammates,” he said. “That’s something every team looks forward to.”

Harrells Christian Academy is located at 360 Tomahawk Hwy. in Harrells.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163 or by email at cvincent@s24515.p831.sites.pressdns.com.

W. Curt Vincent

Bladen Journal