By Sonny Jones
Call it Regular Season: Part 2
Hopefully, the East Bladen and West Bladen football teams can take advantage of it. Part 1 of the 2022 season wasn’t memorable as each won only once in four nonconference games.
Now, it’s time for conference play and the drive toward possible state playoff bids.
Both schools open Southeastern Athletic Conference play Friday — the Eagles play at Midway and the Knights travel to Clinton.
Can both or either team earn state playoff bids as they did a season ago? Of course, but it’s likely to come down to four games.
For the sake of argument, let’s presume St. Pauls and Clinton will play for the conference championship Oct. 14 in Clinton and both will beat the other five conference teams. If that plays out, then games between East Bladen, West Bladen, Midway, Fairmont and Red Springs will determine postseason opportunities.
That makes East Bladen’s game Friday at Midway (2-2) an important conference opener for both teams. The winner will have an early edge as the season moves along.
West Bladen, after playing at Clinton on Friday, will have two weeks to prepare for its home game against East Bladen on Sept. 30. The Knights will seek to snap a 20-game losing streak against their in-county rivals.
East Bladen will host Clinton on Sept. 23 before playing at West Bladen. The remainder of the Eagles’ schedule is Fairmont at home on Oct. 14, at Red Springs on Oct. 21 and home against St. Pauls on Oct. 28.
West Bladen closes at Fairmont on Oct. 7, home against Red Springs on Oct. 14, at St. Pauls on Oct. 21 and home against Midway on Oct. 28.
Pay close attention to games not involving St. Pauls nor Clinton. Those other games will determine whether the Bladen football teams will be playing in November.
• For the record, West Bladen was outscored 149-45 in its four nonconference games and East Bladen was outscored 173-55.
• Middle school football supporters can get a glimpse of the three Bladen teams when Bladenboro, Tar Heel and Clarkton School of Discovery scrimmage in Clarkton this afternoon. The first of three scrimmages is set to begin at 4 p.m. Admission is $5. Elizabethtown is not fielding a team this season.
WEDNESDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
Tampa Bay pitcher Drew Rasmussen took the loss Aug. 2 when he pitched against Toronto, although he allowed only one run in six innings. He’ll get the win this time against the Blue Jays. Rasmussen was the American Pitcher of the Month for August and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a start since July 14.
MONDAY’S PICK: Atlanta’s Kyle Wright will rebound from an atypical start Sept. 6 against Oakland when he allowed eight runs in four innings. Against San Francisco, he’ll be more like the pitcher who allowed only three runs in 26 innings in his four previous starts. RESULTS: Wright didn’t pitch Monday, but he did pitch Tuesday and got the win in a 5-1 Atlanta victory. Wright gave up a run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
• MLB: LA Angels at Cleveland or Houston at Detroit, 1 p.m., MLBN
• MLB: Atlanta at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m., or San Diego at Seattle, 4 p.m., MLBN
• MLB: Oakland at Texas, 7:30 p.m., FS1
• SOCCER: New York City vs. Atlas, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
• MLB: LA Dodgers at Arizona, 10:30 p.m., MLBN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @FOSonnyJones.
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