East Bladen defense waits for the snap.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
ELIZABETHTOWN — The 13th-seeded East Bladen Eagles travel away to the number-one seeded Tarboro Vikings for their fourth round match-up in the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs this Friday.
The Eagles have been playing their best football since the postseason started a couple weeks ago and they’ve navigated their way through a gauntlet of different challenges to get them here.
East Bladen will make their first Regional Semi-final appearance since the 2017 NCHSAA 2A State Playoffs.
The Eagles offense has averaged 43 ppg and the defense has held their opponents to an average of 15.3 ppg over the last three games.
East Bladen displayed they were serious title contenders against a solid Rosewood team in last week’s away victory in the third round.
The defense held their opponents high-powered offense to two touchdowns and forced three turnovers on the night. East Bladen’s run game was potent as ever with 371 yards on the ground and senior running-back Masion Brooks scampered into the endzone four times in the 47-14 victory.
Brooks has pushed his touchdown total to 39 and counting after scoring 12 touchdowns alone since the postseason began.
The road will only get harder from here as they are on a collision course with one of the top teams in the NCHSAA 1A classification.
Tarboro is a perfect 11-0 this season and they haven’t allowed a touchdown in their last four games, beating their last four opponents by a combined score of 181-0.
The Vikings have played one less postseason game due to having a bye in the first round but that hasn’t stopped them from steamrolling their first two playoff opponents.
They fell short in last year’s state championship game and they’ve been itching to redeem themselves since the season started back in August.
The Vikings offense is led by sophomore running-back Kemerin McDowell-Moore but they have plenty of depth at the running-back position to grab huge yardage on the ground. Tarboro likes to run the ball by committee and they’ve averaged 372.5 rush yards in their last two postseason games.
The Eagles have been battle-tested against some of the best teams in the state and Friday’s game should be no different for them. The team that can establish their run game and control the clock will have the edge in this game. Friday’s victor will book their trip to the Eastern Regional Final where they’ll take on the winner of the Wilson Prep-West Columbus match-up.