Warriors continue to set new program standards

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 30, 2013 11:03 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne took one step closer to turning its fantasy of a state football championship into reality at Little Big Horn on Friday evening.

The Warriors' "dream season" continued with a 12-7 triumph over perennial power Eastern Alamance during eastern semifinal-round action of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoffs.

Next stop, Havelock.

The top-seeded Rams, the two-time defending 3-A state champions, punched their ticket to the regional final for the fifth consecutive year with a 48-2 drubbing of North Forsyth.

"We've set a mark that's going to be hard to beat for a very long time," second-year EW starting quarterback Mitch Pike said earlier in the week.

Eastern Wayne (11-2 overall) is just the fourth county football program to advance to the regional championship level since 1967.

Rosewood captured eastern 1-A titles in 1973, 1980 and 1991; and took runner-up honors in 1984. Goldsboro emerged the eastern 4-A runner-up in 1980 and eastern 3-A runner-up in 2002.

Southern Wayne and Edenton shared the eastern 2-A regional title in 1967. The NCHSAA did not crown a state champion in all classifications from 1961-71.

"Any time you get a win now, it's a big win," EW head coach Bubba Williams said. "It doesn't matter how you do it, how it comes out or how it looks. You get it done and move on."

The Warriors improved to 4-9 all-time in postseason play.