Knights in season finale, at the Castle; Eagles home for last time too

BLADENBORO — The seasons of the two high school football teams in Bladen County have trended in opposite directions from most recent norms.

At West Bladen, there’s been a bit of a resurgence. At East Bladen, it’s a battle to finish .500 for the regular season.

Each could use a number of quirks in order to find their way into the state 2-A playoffs, though the records of opponents remaining — specifically Clinton for each — sends the odds into longshot territory.

Seniors at each school play their final home games Friday evening. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. when West Bladen welcomes the Dark Horses and East Bladen entertains Midway. The Knights are in their regular-season finale.

The seven-team Southeastern Athletic Conference is jammed behind unbeaten St. Pauls. Clinton has one league loss, there’s two each for East Bladen, Fairmont and Midway, and three for West Bladen. Red Springs is winless.

Knights

Seniors Keshawn Ballard, Javonta Matthews, Devon Strange, Jonathan Lee, Marcus Lee, Damarius Robinson, Craig Williams, Kaiden Stanley and Andrew Sessoms — per the roster available Thursday morning on MaxPreps — are in their final appearances for the purple of first-year head coach Stanley Williams.

They and a nucleus of underclassmen have reversed fortunes. Earlier this year, West Bladen snapped a 10-game skid overall and nine-game losing streak against league foes.

The Knights (2-3 SAC-7, 3-4 overall) have surpassed their league win totals from three of the last five years, and equaled it for 2017 and 2019. The three wins overall eclipses each of the last three seasons, and matches those three years combined. West Bladen last went to the postseason in 2015.

Eagles

Seniors Corey Ballard, Tim McLean, Nazire Smith, Kenneth Armstrong Jr., Javius Brooks, Ahmad Powell, Connor Britt, Nathan Lacewell, Kory Smith, Donnie Ezzell, Willie Battle, Robert McKoy, Jaylan Britt, Jeremiah Jones, Zavarion Palmer and Sherman Monroe take to the turf of Lenon Fisher Stadium a final time this evening.

Tenth-year head coach Robby Priest’s gridders are seeking to return to the playoffs after the first absence — albeit in a coronavirus-reduced structure — since the school opened in 2001. The Eagles (2-2 SAC-7, 3-5 overall) need to beat Midway and Clinton to do it.

East Bladen last finished a season below .500 in 2019, when the Eagles went 5-5 in the regular season and dropped their playoff opener at SouthWest Edgecombe. They’ve lost five or more for the third time in six years after a decade-plus of several 10-plus win seasons. They are 20-for-20 finishing with a winning record in league play.