
East Bladen’s Cole Butler and Jaylen Suggs make a tackle in the backfield.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
ELIZABETHTOWN — The 13th-seeded East Bladen Eagles will be on when they take on the number-four seeded Northside-Pinetown Panthers in the second round of the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs.
The Eagles made quick work of their opponents in the first half of last Friday’s first round game and they will hope for similar results this week against a much different type of opponent.
Northside-Pinetown was on a bye last week as one of the top seeds in the East region and they’ll have plenty of gas in the tank come Friday.
The Panthers finished their regular-season with an overall record of 8-2 and they went a perfect 5-0 in the Coastal Plain 1A/2A Conference. Their only two losses of the season came to North Duplin(9-2) in a 14-13 loss and their other loss came to Rosewood(6-5) in a 13-0 loss. Both the teams that handed them losses in the regular-season have made it to the 1A playoffs and will be playing in the second round this Friday as well.
East Bladen aren’t anywhere near slouches and they’ve gone through a gauntlet of tough tests throughout their season by playing eight playoff teams in a competitive schedule. They may have come into the postseason at 5-5 but records are irrelevant come postseason time and it’s about what team wants to win more. The Eagles showed they wanted it more against North-Edgecombe with their second highest scoring performance of the year after dropping 57 points for the game. Senior running-back Masion Brooks rushed for 128 yards on four carries and he scored every time he touched the ball to help put the Eagles ahead 51-6 in the first half of last Friday’s game.
He also played snaps on the other side of the ball as a linebacker to help an energized defense hold their opponents in check at home. The Eagles linebacking core of Brooks, Jaylon Suggs and Cole Butler were quick to get in the backfield to stuff their opponents run game for losses. The pressure applied upfront from the Eagles defensive-line and linebackers nullified their opponents run game in the early stages of the first half.
Northside-Pinetown will certainly test the fortitude of East Bladen’s frontline as their offensive game plan is tailored around senior running-back Jamie Corprew. Corprew averaged 157 yards per game in the regular season and he’s the leading scorer on the Panthers with 23 total touchdowns. Junior running-back Max Vansant is the Panthers second-option and he’s capable of busting open big runs when the ball is in his hands.
Northside-Pinetown averaged 35 points per game in the regular-season but their defense has been even more impressive over their last 10 games. The Panthers defense has held their opponents to an average of 7.7 points per game and they’ve given some of the highest scoring teams in the state a struggle to score. They held the eventual fifth-seeded Bear Grass Charter Bears to a touchdown as they demolished them 49-6 in week four of the season. Their senior defensive-tackle Deshawn Smith and their cornerback Zaneak McCloud have been a major part of the Panther defense success on the field.
Smith comes into Friday’s game with 4.5 sacks to his name and McCloud will enter the game with six picks. The Eagles threw in sophomore quarterback Matthew Kemp in the second quarter of last week’s game and he proved to his coaches that he’s capable of taking the reins of the offense when needed. Kemp finished with 109 yards through the air on 4-for-4 passing and threw for two touchdowns; his longest touchdown pass of the night came on a 35-yard bomb to wideout Malaki Moore in one-on-one coverage.
Friday’s second round game will kickoff at 7 pm at Northside-Pinetown High School and the victor will meet the winner of the Rosewood-Bear Grass Charter game.