Friday night forecast -- It's a scary day for some area teams

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on October 13, 2006 2:21 PM

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Beware, Friday the 13th is here.

The superstitious cringe when the dreaded day nears -- perhaps moreso this time since Halloween is looming. They don't take trips, don't go anywhere they don't have to go, or maybe even go the distance and call off "sick," pull the covers over their heads and sleep the day away.

It's a scary time for those folks.

It is also a potentially scary day for some area football teams. If you lost last week, another setback tonight puts you at 0-2 in conference play, kills any dreams for a league title and perhaps even sends you down the path that ends with no playoffs.

For Southern Wayne, North Duplin and Rosewood, this is a must-win night to keep dreams of a conference title alive. The Saints (4-3, 0-1 Eastern Carolina Conference), with an explosive thunder-and-lightning offensive attack of returning 2,000-yard back Anthony Council bruising fullback Kelvin Flow, were ambushed 34-12 at Little Big Horn last week by archrival Eastern Wayne. Rosewood (5-2, 0-1 Carolina Conference) took one on the chin 43-21 on homecoming against Ayden-Grifton the same evening, and the Rebels (4-2, 0-1 Carolina) also saw their hopes of a championship take a big hit with a lopsided 52-12 loss at North Johnston.

For Goldsboro (0-7, 0-1 Eastern Plains Conference) and Princeton (2-5, 0-1 Carolina), another loss will probably mean no postseason. Unfortunately for those two, getting conference win No. 1 on this day will be tough as the Cougars visit No. 8 state-ranked Greene Central (6-1, 1-0 EPC), while the 'Dawgs prepare to be invaded by a pack of angry Rebels.

Elsewhere, Charles B. Aycock (6-1, 1-0 ECC), Eastern Wayne (5-2, 1-0 ECC) and Spring Creek (3-4, 1-0 Carolina) take their perfect conference records on the road, state-ranked James Kenan (7-0, 1-0 Super Six) will be gunning for win No. 8 at home against Midway, and North Lenoir (1-6, 0-1 EPC) will try to salvage a frustrating season at Wheat Swamp against visiting Tarboro (4-3, 1-0 EPC).

The picks:

Goldsboro at Greene Central -- The Cougars have the weapons on offense, but the Rams are too strong.

RAMS

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Southern Wayne at Wilson Beddingfield -- The Bruins are still angry after watching Aycock score 20 straight points in the fourth quarter last week and pull out a 27-24 victory, but the Saints aren't too happy either. If Council (hip) is healthy...

SAINTS

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C.B. Aycock at Kinston -- The Viking (2-5, 0-1 ECC) are much more athletic than last year. This one could be closer than looks on paper.

GOLDEN FALCONS

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Eastern Wayne at Wilson Hunt -- Hunt has a losing record at 3-4, but is tough at home and rolled EW 40-6 at Little Big Horn last year.

HUNT

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North Duplin at Princeton -- The Rebels will be fired up after last week's trouncing.

REBELS

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Rosewood at North Johnston -- The team's top two running backs (Devon Bennett and Chris Holmes) are ailing, and Rosewood is coming off a six-turnover game. The Eagles D, however, is playing pretty well and if Rosewood's one-two punch in the backfield comes back, look out.

PANTHERS

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Midway at James Kenan -- The Raiders (2-4, 0-1 Super Six) didn't score a point against the Tigers last year. And the scary thing is, Kenan is even better this year.

TIGERS

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Spring Creek at Ayden-Grifton -- The Gators were holding Princeton to negative yards of total offense last week until a late 88-yard run. The Chargers allowed just a pair of first-half first downs at Rosewood. For the year, however, Spring Creek is giving up 298.4 yards a contest.

CHARGERS

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Tarboro at North Lenoir -- If the Hawks can put four solid quarters together, North Lenoir can win this game. Trouble is, the Hawks' biggest problem all year has been putting together four solid quarters.

VIKES

Last week -- 5-4 (.556)

Overall -- 40-17 (.702)