ELIZABETHTOWN — The past two Friday’s for the Eagles of East Bladen have turned into last-minute nail-biters — each finishing with an Eagles win by six points or less with a touchdown in the final 75 seconds.

This week should be a lot different.

Lenon Fisher Stadium will welcome winless East Columbus, now 0-8 overall and 0-6 in the Three Rivers Conference, for a conference matchup with East Bladen, 7-1 and 5-1.

The cellar-dwelling Gators have scored a conference-low 42 points this season with its Wing-T offense — or about five points per game — while allowing 307 points, or nearly 49 points per game, with a 52 defense.

The Eagles, meanwhile, have been cruising along with the conference’s best defense, giving up just 108 points this far — but 66 have come over the last two games, a 42-38 win over Fairmont and 34-28 win over St. Pauls. The East Bladen offense has scored 253 points this season, or almost 42 points per game.

East Bladen’s senior running back Xavier Wooten, one of the conference’s top three ball-carriers, went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark last week in the win over St. Pauls with 239 yards. He has gained 1,093 yards this season with 16 touchdowns.

The Eagles are 5-1 all-time against East Columbus, including a 45-0 non-conference win their last meeting in September 2014.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163 or cvincent@bladenjournal.com.

W. Curt Vincent

Bladen Journal