By Sonny Jones
If you want to watch a fall sports state playoff game in Bladen County you better head out to East Bladen High School this afternoon. The Eagles’ volleyball team hosts Washington at 2 p.m. in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.
While the East Bladen football team and boys’ soccer team are likely to qualify for postseason play neither will play at home, barring stunning upsets.
The same is true for the East Bladen volleyball team. The Eagles are seeded No. 14. If they beat Washington, then a trip to Farmville Central on Tuesday is likely unless No. 30 East Carteret can upset the No. 3 seed.
First things first, of course, and that’s beating a 19th-seeded Washington team that is 13-9 overall and finished third in the Eastern Plains Conference behind Farmville Central and No. 11 seed Ayden-Grifton.
The Eagles would appreciate your support today and, again, it’s likely to be the only home game in Bladen County this fall sports season.
• A racket tip to West Bladen’s Kaden Thurman and Lainey Autry. The duo was eliminated Friday in the second round of the NCHSAA 2-A Mid East girls’ tennis regional. It was an amazing career for the seniors. They finished with a 43-8 record in doubles play, including a 30-6 record playing as West Bladen’s top-seeded double team, and won a pair of conference titles. Well done!
• It’s been written about East Bladen’s long winning streaks against rival West Bladen in football (21 straight) and boys’ soccer (26 straight), but it’s not the longest in the region. South Columbus beat East Columbus 27-12 Friday night. It was the Stallions’ 30th consecutive win against the Gators.
• What’s the atmosphere going to be like Sunday inside Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium when the woeful Carolina Panthers host the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers? The Panthers have fired their head coach, traded their best player, got rid of a disgruntled receiver and will start the third-string quarterback while the two injured QBs, each making about $14-$18 million per season, watch. Maybe the Bucs will bring the cannon with them.
• How much does winning matter? Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said during a recent interview that the team has about 14,000 season ticket holders, of which I am now one, compared to only about 4,400 a few years ago prior to the squad snapping their nine-year playoff absence.
SATURDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
Gerrit Cole has been the stopper for the Yankees this postseason, going 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 13.1 innings against Cleveland. He’ll need a 7-inning, 2-run, 9-strikeout performance against Houston in Game 3 to keep the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.
FRIDAY’S PICK: On June 23, National League home run champion Kyle Schwarber hit a home run off San Diego’s Joe Musgrove. The pair meet again in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series in Philadelphia where the Phillies slugger may not smash one 488 feet, but he will connect for a long ball against the Padres ace. RESULTS: Schwarber hit Musgrove’s sixth pitch out of the park for a leadoff homer. I’m off to buy a few lottery tickets.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2005 — Mount Union drops a regular-season game for the first time since 1994, losing 21-14 to Ohio Northern in a Division III matchup. The Purple Raiders, winners of 110 straight regular-season games, had not lost a regular-season game since they were beaten 23-10 by Baldwin-Wallace on Oct. 15, 1994.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
• DP WORLD TOUR: Mallorca Open, 8 a.m., GOLF
• FOOTBALL: Syracuse at Clemson, noon, ABC
• FOOTBALL: Cincinnati at SMU, noon, ESPN
• FOOTBALL: Kansas at Baylor, noon, ESPN2
• FOOTBALL: Houston at Navy, noon, ESPNU
• FOOTBALL: Louisiana-Monroe at Army, noon, CBSSN
• FOOTBALL: Iowa at Ohio State, noon, FOX
• FOOTBALL: Duke at Miami, 12:30 p.m., BALLY SOUTH
• NASCAR TRUCKS: Baptist Health 200, 1 p.m., FS1
• NHL: Minnesota at Boston, 1 p.m., NHLN
• FOOTBALL: West Virginia at Texas Tech, 3 p.m., FS1
• PGA: CJ Cup, 3 p.m., GOLF
• FIGURE SKATING: Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 3 p.m., NBC
• FOOTBALL: Texas at Oklahoma St., 3:30 p.m., ABC
• FOOTBALL: Boston College at Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., ACCN
• FOOTBALL: Mississippi at LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS
• FOOTBALL: Western Michigan at Miami, Ohio, 3:30 p.m., CBSSN
• FOOTBALL: Purdue at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
• FOOTBALL: Memphis at Tulane, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
• FOOTBALL: Brigham Young at Liberty, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
• FOOTBALL: UCLA at Oregon, 3:30 p.m., FOX
• NASCAR XFINITY: Contender Boats 300, 4:30 p.m., USA
• MLB PLAYOFFS: Houston at NY Yankees, 5 p.m., TBS
• NBA: San Antonio at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., NBATV
• FOOTBALL: Fresno St. at New Mexico, 6:30 p.m., FS2
• FOOTBALL: Boise St. at Air Force, 7 p.m., CBSSN
• FOOTBALL: Mississippi St. at Alabama, 7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2
• NHL: Dallas at Montreal, 7 p.m., NHLN
• FOOTBALL: Minnesota at Penn St., 7:30 p.m., ABC
• FOOTBALL: Central Florida at East Carolina, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
• MLB PLAYOFFS: San Diego at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m., FOX
• FOOTBALL: Pittsburgh at Louisville, 8 p.m., ACCN
• FOOTBALL: Kansas St. at TCU, 8 p.m., FS1
• FIGURE SKATING: Grand Prix of Figure Skating, 8 p.m., USA
• NBA: Memphis at Dallas, 8:30 p.m., NBATV
• FOOTBALL: Utah St. at Wyoming, 9:45 p.m., FS2
• NHL: Carolina at Calgary, 10 p.m., BALLY SOUTH
• FOOTBALL: San Diego St. at Nevada, 10:30 p.m., CBSSN
• FOOTBALL: Washington at California, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
• FOOTBALL: Montana at Sacramento St., 11 p.m., ESPN2
• LPGA: BMW Ladies Championship, 11 p.m., GOLF
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @FOSonnyJones.
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