East Bladen’s Darius Williamson carrying the ball on a big run.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
Teams around the Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference begin to gear up for the upcoming football season that will kick off on Friday, August 18th. The Whiteville Wolfpack are the defending conference champions after finishing last season with an overall record of 12-2. The landscape of the conference will look different this year with the addition of East Bladen in the mix. Heide Trask finished last season with an overall record of 8-4 and they’ll have a bulk of last season’s team returning this year. Four teams from the Waccamaw conference made appearances in the ‘22 NCHSAA State Playoffs in both the 1A and 2A classifications.
ELIZABETHTOWN — The East Bladen Eagles bump down to the 1A classification this season and they’ll be taking on teams in the Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference. The Eagles posted an overall record of 5-6 and made it to the first round of the NCHSAA 2A Playoffs. They kick the new year off on the road against North Brunswick on Aug. 18 for a non-conference matchup.
North Brunswick was a game away from the 3A Eastern Regional final last season but fell short against Seventy-First. The Eagles will be tested on week one before they host their clash with the West Bladen Knights on Aug. 25. The two rivals will meet in a non-conference matchup and the Eagles holding onto bragging rights after winning last year’s game 42-0. The Eagles will face Wilmington-Ashley and James Kennan in their last two non-conference games of the season.
The South Columbus Stallions will visit the Eagles for the first conference game of the season on Sept. 15. East Bladen traveled to Tabor City last season for a 35-14 trouncing of the Stallions; the Eagles had 392 yds on the ground and five rushing touchdowns in last season’s victory over their opponents. East Bladen will host the East Columbus Gators on September 22nd for their second conference matchup of the season and it’ll be the Eagles Homecoming as well. Then they will be hitting the road to clash with Pender on Sept. 29 for their first real test in Waccamaw Conference play.
The Eagles will take to the road once more when they take on Heide Trask on Oct. 6 and then they’ll host West Columbus the following week for their final home game of the regular season on Oct. 13. East Bladen will close their regular season against the Whiteville Wolfpack on Oct. 20.
East Bladen will take on five teams that participated in last season’s postseason and they’ll clash with some familiar opponents to round off a tough slate of games.
BURGAW — The Pender Patriots finished last season with an overall record of 6-6 and they made it to the second round of the 1A NCHSAA State Playoffs. They will kick their season off against Lejune in a non-conference matchup away from home on Aug. 18. Then the Patriots will clash with Union after a bye week on Sept. 1. Their first two opponents went winless in their 2022 Fall campaigns but the Patriots will clash with traditional powerhouse Wallace-Rose Hill for their third game of the season.
Pender’s clash with Wallace-Rose Hill will be a non-conference matchup before they meet with East Columbus on Sept. 15 in Lake Waccamaw for their first game in conference. The Patriots will head out on the road once more against South Columbus before playing host to East Bladen on Sept. 29 in a couple of conference matchups. Their final non-conference matchup of the regular season will be against Hobbton on their home ground.
They’ll host a pivotal conference showdown with Whiteville on Oct. 13 in hopes to avenge last season’s 28-6 loss. Then the Patriots will go away to West Columbus before their season finale at home against Heide Trask on Oct. 27.
CERO GORDO — The West Columbus Vikings finished last season with an overall record of 9-4 and they made it to the third round of the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs. Their first game of the new season will be against Union at home and then the Vikings will have a bye in week two before they clash with West Bladen away from home on Sept. 1. West Columbus will take on St. Pauls away from home before taking to the road once more against Heide Trask in their first conference matchup of the season.
The Vikings will host Whiteville on Sept. 29 for their second conference matchup of the season. Then they’ll host South Columbus before taking a road trip to Elizabethtown to clash with East Bladen on Oct. 13. West Columbus will host their final home game of the regular season against Pender and then they’ll clash with East Columbus for the final regular season game of the year.
LAKE WACCAMAW — The East Columbus Gators finished last season with an overall record of 3-6 and they’ll hope to turn things around at the start of the new year. They open up their season on the road against Jones on August 18th and they’ll hit the road again on week two against Wilson Prep on Aug. 25. The Gators will host their home opener against Roanoke Rapids and then they’ll host West Bladen the following week in a couple of non-conference matchups.
East Columbus will play Pender in their first game of conference play on Sept. 15 and then they’ll be back on the road against East Bladen. The Gator will clash with South Columbus on Sept. 29 and then they’ll travel away to Whiteville the next week. Heide Trask will be their final away game of the season, and they close the year out against West Columbus for the season’s final game.
TABOR CITY — The South Columbus Stallions finished last season with an overall record of 2-8 and finished fifth in the conference standings. The Stallions will open up the new year against West Bladen at home on Aug. 18. Their next two games will be away to South Brunswick and against Loris for a clash across state lines. South Columbus will host Union for their final non-conference matchup of the season on Sept. 8.
The Stallions will take on East Bladen for their first conference matchup of the new season on September 15th. They’ll host Pender the following week and then they’ll take on East Columbus away from home on September 29th. South Columbus will take the road once more against West Columbus before they close their season out with two straight home games.
They take on Heide Trask before their season finale with Whiteville on Oct. 27 to close out the regular season.
ROCKY POINT — The Heide Trask Titans finished last season with an overall record of 8-4 and they made it to the second round of the NCHSAA 2A State Playoffs. The Titans will come into the season with plenty of experience on the roster with the majority of last season’s team returning. Their first game of the season will be at home against Rocky Mount Prep on August 18th and then they’ll play host to Hobbton on Aug. 25. Hobbton finished last season on a good run and were bounced out of the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs in the third round.
The Titans will hit the road against Sandhills before finishing their non-conference schedule against Dixon on Sept. 8. West Columbus will be the Titans’ first matchup in conference play and they’ll have their home crowd behind them. Then the Titans will have a pivotal conference clash against Whiteville away from home the following week. Whiteville has won the last two meetings over the Titans for a combined score of 112-12.
Heide Trask will have a bye week before they play host to East Bladen for yet another tough conference matchup on October 6th. They’ll hit the road against the South Columbus Stallions and then they’ll host East Columbus for their final home game of the year on Oct. 20. The Titans’ final regular season game of the year will be against the Pender Patriots to close out the regular season.
WHITEVILLE — The Whiteville Wolfpack finished last season with an overall record of 12-2 and they made it to the fourth round of the NCHSAA 2A State Playoffs. The Wolfpack will open their season against Bunn on Aug. 18 in a non-conference matchup away from home. Then they’ll take on West Brunswick and North Kenan for some tough games to start the season. Whiteville will clash with Clinton on Sept. 8 to finish out a tough non-conference schedule before their first conference matchup.
Heide Trask will travel to the Wolfpack for a pivotal conference clash on Sept. 22 and then Whiteville will take on West Columbus away from home the following week. They’ll play host to the East Columbus Gators on Oct. 6 before being faced with another test in the form of the Pender Patriots. The Wolfpack will host the East Bladen Eagles in a conference matchup and it’ll be a rematch between the two teams after last season’s 28-6 matchup.
The Wolfpack’s last regular season game will be against South Columbus on Oct. 27 to close out the year. Whiteville will have the toughest schedule in the conference with 7 of their 10 opponents making postseason appearances last season.