East Bladen coming out for the second half against East Columbus.
ELIZABETHTOWN — The East Bladen Eagles take on the Pender Patriots on Friday in a Waccamaw Conference clash away from home.
The Eagles are coming off a short week after a victory against East Columbus at the top of the week but the team will have the momentum of two straight wins. Pender will come into Friday’s game on an extra day of rest but will be looking to bounce back from a 37-30 loss against South Columbus last week.
The Patriots were outscored 24-16 in the second half against South Columbus to fall short for their first loss in conference play. East Bladen holds onto first place in the Waccamaw as things stand right now with a 2-0 start. Pender currently sit in fifth spot of the standings after a 1-1 start but they have an overall record of 3-2. The Eagles have shown what they’re capable of doing on the offensive side of the ball these past couple weeks with 735 yards on the ground in their first two conference games.
Pender has a good running-back core as well with junior Jeremiah Johnson and junior Jassiah Hill carrying the load for their team’s offense. The Patriots is one of the top scoring teams in the conference with an average of 33.6 points per game but they’ve had a light schedule so far. Pender has only played two teams over .500 in the win column these past 5 games and they lost both of them.
The Patriots offense was held to 14 points and they had 198 yards rushing in their first loss of the season against Wallace-Rose Hill in a blowout defeat. They lost a hard fought match-up with South Columbus after falling behind in the third quarter to watch a one-point halftime lead evaporate. East Bladen’s defense held that same South Columbus offense to 15 points when they hosted the Stallions in week five of the season.
The Eagles defense had multiple takeaways in their win against East Columbus and they held their opponent scoreless through three quarters. East Bladen isn’t short of talent on the offensive side of the ball and their average of 33.3 points per game ranks them as the fifth highest scoring team in the Waccamaw. Senior running-back Masion Brooks has accounted for seven touchdowns on the ground in the Eagles last two games.
Junior quarterback Kewone Maynor’s connection with junior wideout Malaki Moore adds another dimension to the Eagles offense as they’ve combined for a touchdown pass in almost every game this season. Pender’s offense will be run heavy and they’ll look to get the ball in several different players’ hands throughout the game. This week seven match-up will kickoff on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pender High School in Burgaw.