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By Sonny Jones

No, I didn’t have “East Bladen 53, St. Pauls 28” on my Bingo card, yet that’s what happened Friday night at Lenon Fisher Stadium. The Eagles dominated the line of scrimmage as evidenced by their 353 rushing yards. St. Pauls had no answer for for an East Bladen offensive line that opened holes for the powerful running of Zamir Lewis and Masion Brooks. The duo combined for six touchdowns and 323 rushing yards.

Head coach Robby Priest and staff have turned their team from fledging eaglets in August into playoff participating Eagles at the end of October. East Bladen will enter next week’s state 2-A playoffs on a four-game win streak after losing five of its first six games and just might prove to be a tougher foe for a much higher seeded team in the first round.

“It’s better to be peaking at the end instead of early or in the middle (of the season),” Priest said. “I like the way we’re playing right now.”

BINGO!

• Kudos to the West Bladen football team for putting up quite a battle Friday night against playoff-bound Midway (6-4). The Raiders scored a first-quarter touchdown and that was it as West Bladen lost 7-0 at The Castle. A strong effort on Senior Night that brought an end to a disappointing 2-8 season. West Bladen was shut out five times. Oh, for some offense along the way.

• So, the East Bladen boys’ soccer team was ranked No. 28 in the NCHSAA’s final 2-A East Ratings Percentage Index and, therefore, should be matched against the No. 5 conference champion. After, No. 1 plays No. 32, No. 2 plays No. 31, No. 3 plays No. 30, No. 4 plays No. 29, No. 5 plays No. 28 and so on. The playoff pairings came out Friday and East Bladen is seeded No. 30 and will travel to No. 3 Manteo. Please explain. I’m sure there’s a reason and it’s not a complaint about playing No. 3 instead of No. 5 because either opponent will be difficult to beat.

• Midway (25-0) is scheduled to host Whiteville (21-2) on Saturday in the third round of the state volleyball playoffs. It’s likely our two Bladen schools are not surprised. East Bladen won only one set combined in a pair of losses to conference rival Midway and region rival Whiteville. West Bladen didn’t win a set in two losses against Midway.

• Bad scene in Teachey on Friday night. A noise that sounded like a gun shot halted play with 25 seconds remaining in the James Kenan at Wallace-Rose Hill as Wallace, trailing 31-28, was lining up for a potential game-tying field goal, reports WCTI-TV’s Brett Kennedy. The game is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Saturday and fans will not be allowed into the stadium to watch the finish, Kennedy reported. Reports are that no one was shot.

SATURDAY’S PICK TO CLICK

Yordan Alvarez homers as Houston ties the World Series at a game apiece against Philadelphia.

FRIDAY’S PICK: It’s time for Teuvo Teravainen to put the puck in the back of the net. The Carolina forward scored 22 goals last season. RESULTS: Teravainen didn’t score and was a minus-3 in plus/minus as Carolina was routed by the New York Islanders 6-2.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 2011 — Joe Paterno breaks Eddie Robinson’s record for victories by a Division I coach with No. 409 in Penn State’s sloppy 10-7 win over Illinois.

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• DP WORLD TOUR: Portugal Masters, 8:30 a.m., GOLF

• FOOTBALL: Notre Dame at Syracuse, noon, ABC

• PGA: Bermuda Championship, 1:30 p.m., GOLF

• FOOTBALL: Wake Forest at Louisville, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

• FOOTBALL: Kentucky at Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN

• NHL: Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m., BALLY SOUTH

• FOOTBALL: Michigan St. at Michigan, 7:30 p.m., ABC

• WORLD SERIES: Philadelphia at Houston, 8 p.m., FOX

• FOOTBALL: Pittsburgh at North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACCN

• NWSL CHAMPIONSHIP: Portland vs. Kansas City, 8 p.m., CBS

• FOOTBALL: Stanford at UCLA, 10:30 p.m., ESPN