FOOTBALL --Friday night preview capsules

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on October 26, 2017 11:16 PM

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Alas, week 11.

Cooler temperatures have supplanted the lingering broiler-plate heat, and our teams have returned from the road to play a little smash-mouth with some old acquaintances.

Call it rivalry week.

Spring Creek (3-6)

at

Goldsboro (4-5)

Goldsboro, led by the one-two ground charge of junior Xzavior Bowden and sophomore JB Rhodes, will tangle with Spring Creek tonight in the city proper for the very first time as members of the newly-formed East Central 2-A gauntlet.

SC, which has dropped five straight, will have to contain the edge and tackle with swiftness to emerge victorious.

South Central (8-1)

at

C.B. Aycock (2-8)

Contain. Dexter. McDuffie.

Such is the rule of law when you play South Central, a high-scoring outfit that has put 447 points on the board this fall -- a number that cannot escalate tonight if CBA is intent on posting a victory.

On the flip side, expect to see plenty of touches for sophomore tailback Tae Jackson, who needs just 68 yards to surpass 1,000 on the season.

Eastern Wayne (4-4)

at

J.H. Rose (3-6)

Eastern Wayne, once the crown jewel of the Wayne Country gridiron scene, is in must-win mode tonight in Greenville.

At stake? Pride.

The Warriors will have their hands full, however, trying to contain a Rampant team that has been sensational at times this season.

Rosewood (5-4)

at

North Duplin (9-0)

Familiarity, check.

Longstanding rivalry, check.

A chance for one team to silence the homecoming crowd in Calypso?

Big check.

If you're into all that's right about high school athletics, this is the ticket for you.

North Duplin, unblemished on the season and survivors of back-to-back panic attacks, will look to make life easier on themselves tonight with a solid return to form in all three phases.

Just don't expect Rosewood, laden with playmakers such as Michael Reid and Tucker Chapin, to simply show up and go through the motions. This one means something -- always has, always will.

Expect the Rebels to counter with William Archer and Kenny Sheppard, as well as hard-charging Colby Bass, who lowers his pads, runs hard and gets North Duplin winning  yardage when it matters most.

Princeton (6-3)

at

Lakewood (7-2)

Seven days after dropping a heartbreaking overtime loss to rival North Duplin, head coach Travis Gaster and his Princeton Bulldogs have to load up the bus and travel for Roseboro for a date with Lakewood.

As usual, it's pace versus physicality -- with the Carolina 1-A title still within mathematical reach.

D.H. Conley (8-1)

at

Southern Wayne (0-9)

Southern Wayne has been playing better football as of late, even if the win-loss column doesn't reflect as much.

To compete tonight, they will have to contain Holton Ahlers, Conley's all-everything gunslinger. If not, things could get ugly in a hurry.

Northeast Academy (4-4)

vs

Wayne Christian (0-9)

These two staged a scoring affair a week ago, with NE claiming a 74-62 triumph. Here's thinking the Eagles reverse last week's decision and nab victory in front of the home folks.