East Bladen’s Eagles travel to St. Pauls Friday night to face the Bulldogs for the first time since the 2008 season.
East Bladen and St. Pauls were both part of the Southeastern 1-A/2-A Conference from 2005 thru 2008, but with realignment the teams changed leagues in 2009.
The Eagles rolled to a 55-0 victory in 2008 and also posted wins of 36-0 in 2005 and 49-16 in 2006. However in 2007, the Bulldogs edged the Eagles 26-25, and the two teams shared the Southeastern title with West Bladen.
After being mauled 55-6 by Grays Creek and losing 26-8 to Douglas Byrd last week, the Bulldogs come into this week’s game trying to regroup. Quarterback Cody McKenna was lost to an injury early in the Byrd game and back-up Tim Billinger also went down with an injury against Byrd.
Trey Thompson who ran for 65 yards against Grays Creek, and James Patterson who caught touchdown passes from McKenna for the only St. Pauls touchdowns of the season thus far lead the Bulldog attack.
Christian Edwards is another St. Pauls back who will see action Friday, and 315-pound Chris Stephens and Elijah White are interior line stalwarts for the Bulldogs.
The Hines twins, sophomores Eian and Ethan, lead the Eagle offense. Eian Hines has rushed for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns in two games, while Ethan Hines has scored 3 rushing touchdowns and totaled 205 yards rushing.
Ethan Hines also returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown against Whiteville. “Now nobody’s going to kick to them the rest of the year,” said Eagle Coach Robby Priest.
Senior Nikita Owens has picked up 137 yards on the ground and scored 2 touchdowns for East Bladen. Senior quarterback Ty McMillian completed passes of 25 yards to Ethan Hines and 27 yards to senior end Zach Johnson against Whiteville.
The Eagle defense forced five turnovers in the Whiteville win. Junior Derrick Burney leads the unit with 20 tackles on the season. Owens and sophomore Xavia McDowell have 14 tackles each, and junior Michael Walter and sophomore Bernard Robinson follow with 11 tackles each. Walter has also recovered 2 fumbles.
Share on social media using short code: https://bladencounty.org/?p=24593
About Author
