03/28/2024
Spread the love

By Sonny Jones

To say it’s been awhile since West Bladen defeated East Bladen on the pitch would be an understatement. The last time came before any of the current players on either team were in first grade.

It was 2008 when Jarrod Carroll’s goal gave West Bladen a 1-0 win at home against its county rival. West Bladen went on to win a conference championship that season.

The Knights seek to end their winless streak against East Bladen on Monday at West Bladen. Kickoff is scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. following the junior varsity game between West Bladen and Lumberton. The JV contest is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

East Bladen is 24-0-1 against West Bladen since 2010, according to information on MaxPreps. The 2-2 tie came in the second meeting during the 2010 season.

The Eagles have won at least 23 straight since that draw at West Bladen. The Knights haven’t scored a goal in the last seven meetings and have been shut out 15 times in the past 25 games against East Bladen.

However, it hasn’t always been one-sided on the scoreboard. Seven of the past 25 games have been decided by one goal, including both games last season when East Bladen earned a pair of 1-0 victories.

East Bladen is 0-2 in the Southeastern Athletic Conference, 4-5 overall this season. The Eagles won their first three non-conference games, but lost to Midway 3-2 and Clinton 8-0 last week in league play.

Senior Malcolm Bolden leads the Eagles with 15 goals and also has four assists. Jacob Nixon and Chace Butler each have scored three goals. Jamie Delgado and Gabril Algozy each have five assists.

West Bladen is 0-1 in the SAC, 5-3-1 in all games. The Knights won their first three games by a combined 10-1 score. West Bladen lost at Clinton 4-0 in its conference opener last week.

Sophomore Kevyn De La Cruz Labra leads the Knights with seven goals. Freshman Jonah Bryan has four goals. Sophomore Christopher Ramirez Labra has four goals and four assists. Junior Oswaldo Gonzalez and sophomore Cade Allen have split time in goal and have yielded 14 goals in nine games.

The varsity soccer game will be the fourth between the schools in team competition this season. East Bladen won in varsity and junior varsity volleyball. West Bladen won in girls’ tennis.

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