Fall football returns; Eagles host Wallace-Rose Hill on Friday night

ELIZABETHTOWN — Fall football is back.

The high school season kicks off this week and Friday night’s lone game scheduled for the county has East Bladen hosting Wallace-Rose Hill in a matchup of perennial playoff teams. The game for West Bladen at South Columbus has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols for the Knights.

Kickoff in Lenon Fisher Stadium is 7 p.m.

For the Eagles and Knights, they hope the new beginning ends in the fun zone known as the state playoffs. West Bladen is trying to return for the first time since 2015, while East Bladen is seeking to restart a streak that had existed since the building opened in 2001 but was interrupted last year.

Worth noting is that last year, the postseason field was reduced in size — same as the regular season. This year, it’s a 10-game slate that ends on the final Friday of October.

And also new this year, there’ll be no subdivision of each classification. In 2-A, the largest and smallest of schools in the division will compete for one single title rather than two.

The change coincides with both Bladen County schools joining some familiar programs for a new league. The seven-team Southeastern Athletic Conference also has Clinton and Midway from Sampson County, and Robeson County entries Fairmont, Red Springs and St. Pauls.

Competition figures to be competitive. In addition to the Eagles’ long playoff history, St. Pauls last year played for the 2-AA state championship and Clinton was in the 2-A Eastern finals.

The Knights stopped workouts in the football program, for varsity and junior varsity, last Friday due to a positive COVID-19 test for three individuals associated with the team. Forty-five others were identified as close contact.

Ironically enough, it was prior to the season opener of the “2020 season” being played this past winter and spring that West Bladen’s football program had to stop workouts for the coronavirus. That happened the week before the first official date of workouts, on Feb. 8.

In that pause, there were 30 individuals identified as close contacts.

According to a release from Bladen County Schools, the varsity can return to workouts and competitive play on Sunday and the JV team can resume on Monday. State association rules do not permit Sunday practices.

Those identified as close contacts will remain off campus for 10 calendar days, the release says. The Bladen County Health Department, or “local health authorities,” make the final decision on how long quarantine lasts.

The Eagles’ foe is familiar to deep advances in the state playoffs. Wallace-Rose Hill won state championships for 2-A in 2017 and 1994, and 1-AA in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Bulldogs also have a 1-AA runner-up in 2001.