CHAPEL HILL – As expected both East Bladen and West Bladen received wild-card berths in the NCHSAA Class 2A football playoffs that were released Saturday.
Coach Robby Priest’s Eagles (4-6) are the No. 20 seed and will open the playoffs Friday night at No. 13 seed James Kenan (5-3). East Bladen missed the playoffs last season despite a 3rd place conference finish because of the limited field due to Covid-19.
Coach Stanley Williams’ Knights (3-5) received the No. 31 seed and will travel to No. 2 seed East Duplin (9-1), the champions of the East Central Conference. It will be the 1st playoff appearance for West Bladen since 2015.
This is the first time that the NCHSAA has used RPI ratings to seed the state playoffs. The RPI formula uses a team’s winning percentage, their opponents winning percentage and the winning percentage of a team’s opponents’ opponents. The formula is RPI = (0.3 x WP)+(0.4 x OWP)+(0.3 x OOWP).
Other playoff games involving Southeastern Athletic Conference teams are:
No. 28 Goldsboro (4-6) at No.5 St. Pauls (8-0)
No. 18 Hertford County (7-3) at No. 15 Clinton (7-2)
No. 24 Midway (6-4) at No. 9 South Granville (4-6)
Other 2A playoff games of area interest are:
No. 29 Camden County (4-6) at No. 4 Whiteville (9-0)
No. 22 South Columbus (3-4) at No. 11 Washington (9-0)
No. 23 SouthWest Edgecombe (3-6) at No. 10 Wallace-Rose Hill (8-2)
Other 1A playoff games of area interest are:
No. 21 East Columbus (3-5) at No. 12 North Edgecombe (5-5)
No. 27 Lejeune (0-10) at No. 6 Pender (6-3)
No. 22 Bertie (1-6) at No. 11 West Columbus (4-5)
No. 18 Lakewood (4-6) at No. 15 Hobbton (4-6)
Other 3A playoff games of area interest are:
No. 24 South Brunswick (6-4) at No. 9 North Brunswick (6-4)
No. 30 West Brunswick (3-6) at No. 3 Seventy-First (10-0)
No. 26 Cape Fear (6-3) at No. 7 West Carteret (7-2)
Other 4A playoff games of area interest are:
No. 19 Wilmington Laney (8-2) at No. 14 Fuquay-Varina (7-3)
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