West Bladen quarterback Hunter Hester receiving instructions from his coach.
Alex Brooks| Bladen Journal
West Bladen quarterback Hunter Hester receiving instructions from his coach.
Alex Brooks| Bladen Journal
BLADENBORO — The Knights prepare for the upcoming season with tune-up games against Purnell Swett and Hobtton this week in two different Jamborees. The first tune-up game for the Knights will be against the Purnell Swett Rams in Lumberton on Wednesday evening. West Bladen’s JV will also be competing with Lumberton’s JV at 5 p.m. in order to get some extra reps before the season. The Rams finished last season with an overall record of 3-7 and they finished in seventh in their conference. The Knights can expect a run-heavy offense from their opponents as they averaged 95.1 yds a game last season.
Senior running back Alex Dial was a huge component of the Rams’ offense last season and he’ll feature again this campaign as one of the senior leaders on the team. They use senior running-back Darius Bethea in the red zone when it’s time to punch the ball in from short distances. The Rams defensive-end Zachary Harris led his team with seven sacks last season and he returns for his senior year on the gridiron. West Bladen head coach Stanley Williams has liked what he’s seen from his team over the summer and can’t wait to see what his team is made of on Wednesday. “The energy at practice has been good and we’ve gotten good numbers so far,” said Williams.
The Knights have been working out in the evening to avoid the summer heat and they’ve been mixing reps from the weight room to the field. “We do what we have to do, but the heat is going to be there so we’ll adjust and get acclimated with it,” said Williams. The Knights are still sorting out their depth chart and will use these next two scrimmages to establish starting places. Sophomore quarterback Hunter Hester is slated to start for the Knights this season after making some appearances as a freshman last season. “He’s [Hunter] grown a lot since his freshman year and over the summer so going into the scrimmages this week he’ll be our QB1,” said Williams.
The main focus for the Knights coaching staff going into this week’s scrimmages is to work on their defensive and offensive line play. “I want to see how they are when they get hit in the mouth and how they will respond to it,” said Williams. The Rams have an athletic defensive line so it’ll be the perfect first test for the Knights on Wednesday. “They have a very big offensive line so I expect them to try and pound the ball on us,” said Williams.
The goal for West Bladen is to prepare for the season the best they can by simulating in-game intensity during these tune-up games. “I expect my guys to be on full-go and I want to see how they react when the lights get bright,” said Williams. The Knights will get a taste of two contrasting styles when they take on Hobbton in their second scrimmage of the week in Clinton. The Hobbton Wildcats finished last season with an overall record of 10-3 and made it to the third round of the NCHSAA 1A state playoffs.
The Wildcats have an air-raid style offense and they averaged 184.3 passing yds a game last season. Cole Weeks returns for his senior season as the quarterback for the Wildcats and his experience will help bolster his team’s offense. “We’ll have to be mindful of their screen game but we’ll be ready for it,” said Williams. West Bladen will take on Hobbton at 7 p.m. in the third featured game of the Sampson County Jamboree this Friday.
“The kids have been doing a great job at stepping up and wanting to get in the game to play,” said Williams. “Once I see what I need to see from my starters, I’ll look to load-mange some guys and get some backups in.” The Knights’ first game of the regular season will be against the South Columbus Stallions on August 18th.