West Bladen’s Bryant Ortiz-Aguilar fighting for a 50/50 ball.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
BLADENBORO — The West Bladen Knights prepare for the ‘23 Fall season with practice getting underway last week. The Knights football team will open their season against South Columbus on Friday, Aug. 18 to get the season started officially on the gridiron. They will face some familiar opponents from last season and will take on a team of brand-new faces in Havelock on Sept. 22. The Knights’ first home game of the year will be on Sept. 1 against West Columbus. They will clash with six teams that made the postseason last year for a competitive schedule ahead. West Bladen’s first game in conference will be a home game against the Clinton Darkhorses on Sept. 29. The final home game and senior night for the Knights will be on Oct. 20 against Fairmount.
The Lady Knights will hope to make noise on the volleyball court with their first non-conference matchup coming against South Columbus on Aug. 14 away from home. They will have a busy first week as they host West Columbus and then travel to East Bladen after their first game. The Lady Knights will host their second meeting with East Bladen on Aug. 23 in a non-conference matchup.
West Bladen’s first conference match in volleyball will be against the Clinton Darkhorses on Sept. 14 before traveling to their final non-conference match against Lakewood on Sept. 18. The Lady Knight’s final home game of the regular season will be against the Red Springs Lady Red Devils on Oct. 17.
The Knights soccer team will travel to Pender on Aug. 14 and they will kick off against Heide Trask at home on Aug. 18 to start their new campaign. West Bladen will travel down the road for their clash with rivals East Bladen on Aug. 31 and then they’ll host their cross-county rivals on Sept. 21. West Bladen’s first conference match on the soccer pitch will be against Clinton on Sept. 25. Clinton is the defending conference champions in the Southeastern Conference and they made a deep run in the NCHSAA 2A State Playoff’s last season.
West Bladen will play their last non-conference games in soccer against South Columbus on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 for a home-and-away meeting. The Knights’ senior night will be against Red Springs on Oct. 25 to end the regular season. West Bladen’s cross country team began practicing this week and their first meet will be at the Creek Run Invitational on Aug. 26 in Hope Mills.