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By Sonny Jones

One team is flying high and headed to a championship game. The other team has seen its once-promising season fall apart in the past two weeks.

So, what happens Saturday night when high-flying North Carolina (8-1, 5-0 ACC) visits Winston-Salem to play turnover-prone Wake Forest (6-3, 2-3)? A lot of points, that’s for sure, if recent history is any indication. UNC has rallied to win the previous two meetings 59-53 and 58-55.

With UNC’s Drake Maye and Wake’s Sam Hartman letting it fly, there should be plenty more points Saturday night.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The Tar Heels officially can clinch the Coastal Division and a spot opposite Atlantic Division champ Clemson in the ACC championship game in December with a win Saturday. UNC is going to win the division. It’s just a matter of making it official.

UNC, which is 5-0 on the road, can set a school single-season record with its sixth victory away from Kenan Stadium. It’s of note the Tar Heels have not played a game this season against a team that was ranked at the time of the contest.

The Demon Deacons were ranked in the top 10 two weeks ago before turnover-plagued losses at Louisville and N.C. State ended Wake’s streak of 22 weeks ranked among the AP Top 25 poll. The Deacons had eight turnovers against Louisville and three more against N.C. State as Hartman was pulled from both games.

It will be interesting to see if Hartman can bounce back. You would have to believe so since UNC’s defense ranks 122nd in the Bowl Subdivision in total defense (457.7 yards allowed per game) and Hartman, who admittedly has struggled the past two games, has thrown for 827 yards and nine touchdowns against the Tar Heels in the past two meetings.

Maye has carried the Tar Heels offense and leads the Bowl Subdivision with 31 TD passes. He’s third in yards passing per game with 329.3 and has thrown a mere three interceptions in 312 attempts. He’ll be getting some Heisman hype next season.

There won’t be a lot of “three yards and a cloud of dust” in this one. It should be fun to watch. The oddsmakers favor the struggling team, Wake Forest, by 4 1/2 points, and have set the combined over/under line at 78 1/2. My advice: Take the over. No idea whether Wake can cover or win. I’m just going to watch Maye and Hartman march up and down the field.

• For those that keep up with such things, here are the final numbers for the weekly — or weakly — football predictions. Like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, maybe I stuck around a year too long. Unimpressive, among other terms that come to mind.

Week 12 record: 15-6 (71%)
Season record: 155-62 (71%)
Prep record: 62-24 (72%)
College record: 78-30 (72%)
Pro record: 15-8 (65%)

• Clinton is the lone Southeastern Athletic Conference team remaining in the state 2-A football playoffs. The Dark Horses shut out South Granville 26-0 on Thursday and will play at East Duplin on Friday in the third round. Midway was eliminated by Burlington Cummings 42-7.

• Whiteville advanced to the third round of the the 2-A football playoffs with a 42-35 win against Edenton Holmes. The Wolfpack will host Hertford County on Friday. Hertford County eliminated East Bladen 40-8 in the first round.

• West Columbus seeks to advance to the third round of the 1-A playoffs with a home game Saturday night against Washington County.

• Feels odd not to have NASCAR races this weekend. There’s been races almost every weekend since February.

SATURDAY’S PICK TO CLICK

N.C. State’s defense will hold Boston College to under 250 yards total offense as the Wolfpack notches a 17th-straight home victory.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 1972 — Richard Petty wins a record fourth NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National championship after finishing third in the Texas 500.

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• FOOTBALL: Virginia Tech at Duke, noon, BALLY SOUTH

• FOOTBALL: Boston College at N.C. State, 3:30 p.m., ACCN

• FOOTBALL: Alabama at Mississippi, 3:30 p.m., CBS

• FOOTBALL: North Carolina at Wake Forest, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

• NHL: Carolina at Colorado, 9 p.m., BALLY SOUTH