Both East Bladen and West Bladen will open their fall scrimmage schedule Wednesday at separate locations. Both teams will be on the same field Friday in the East Bladen Jamboree at East Bladen.
Coach Robby Priest’s East Bladen Eagles will face powerful Scotland at 6 p.m. in the Battle of the Carolinas at Lumberton High School.
The Eagles finished 10-3 last year with losses to Class 1AA State Champion Wallace-Rose Hill, powerful Clinton and Class 2A Eastern Runner-up Southwest Edgecombe. The Eagles return running backs Ethan Hines, Eian Hines and Kyle Tatum.
Scotland finished 12-1 last year and captured its fifth consecutive Southeastern Conference championship. The Scots feature junior Zamir White who ran for 2,159 yards and 41 touchdowns and is the top-rated running back in the country.
Coach Todd Pait’s West Bladen Knights travel to Boiling Spring Lakes to battle South Columbus and host South Brunswick in a scrimmage that begins at 5 p.m.
The marquee match-up will be the Knights against Coach Russell Dove’s South Columbus Stallions. Dove coached the Knights to a 5-7 record a year ago before taking the South Columbus job.
Senior James Moore and junior B. J. Drake are the leading rushers returning from last year’s Knight team. Senior linebackers Hunter Pait and Traquan Smith lead the West returnees on defense.
Coach Dove inherits a team that finished 7-6 overall but was 6-1 in Three Rivers Conference play. Senior Dennis Leggett ran for 1,494 yards last year to lead the Stallions.
Coach Rocky Lewis left East Columbus to become the new coach at South Brunswick. Lewis is the son of Clinton Coach Bob Lewis. The Cougars finished 2-9 last year with wins over West Columbus and Pender.
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