Gridiron Preview: Playoffs Week 2

Nov. 9—Welcome to the second week of the playoffs, Sampson County football fans! We still have three teams playing football in the playoffs, so we will dive right in and examine this week's matchups. First, though, it should be mentioned that unsettled weather is becoming likely at the end of the week, already prompting all games to be moved up to Thursday. Can you believe we're in November, the second week of the playoffs, and are talking about a tropical system? Batten down the hatches!

Midway at Cummings

The Raiders went to East Carteret last week and sprung an upset over the No. 9 seeded Mariners, living to fight another day. There was a brief potential that Midway could host this week's second round action, but No. 8 Cummings held on against Bartlett Yancey and instead will be the Raiders next destination. The Cavaliers are 7-3 overall and finished in second place in their conference. Much like East Carteret last week, Cummings is pretty strong in both departments of their offense.

It doesn't look like the Cavaliers' stats are complete but here is what we know:

Quarterback Johnniyus Sharpe is 86-of-160 for 1,472 yards with 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. His two favorite targets are Khavarie Hightower, who's caught 34 passes for 576 yards and six touchdowns, and Jonathan Paylor, who has hauled in 20 completions for 607 yards and five touchdowns.

In their ground game, Cummings mostly utilizes three ball-carriers: Marione Enoch, with 573 yards and four touchdowns on 91 carries, Sharpe with 344 yards and nine touchdowns on 49 carries, and Paylor with 314 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries.

Midway's offense should have enough firepower to keep pace with the Cavaliers. With the exception of a weird game at West Bladen, the Raiders average around 27ppg, but it's their defense that will have to step up and be big. They found a way against East Carteret — can they do it again against Cummings?

This one has already been moved up to Thursday at 7 p.m. at Cummings.

Hobbton at Southside

I feel like I say this a lot about Hobbton games but this one could be quite interesting. Both teams' schedules are full of mutual teams or otherwise connect-the-dot type scenarios

Examples:

—Hobbton defeated North Duplin 50-14 (Southside won 21-6)

—Hobbton lost to Rosewood 41-13 (Southside lost 27-18)

—Southside lost to East Carteret 52-13 (Hobbton beat Midway, who beat East Carteret)

All of that doesn't really matter, it just helps to get an idea of how this game could transpire. Honestly, it looks like it could be a very good game. We know the Wildcats are loaded with weapons on the offensive side of the ball and have a pretty good defense to complement them (minus the 28 points given up to Northwest Halifax). But, what does Southside offer up?

Well, for starters, they made it to the second round by way of a forfeit. The Seahawks were supposed to play Rocky Mount Prep in round one, but the 1-9 Jaguars opted out. Therefore, Southside is coming in with an extra week of preparation. Will it pay off?

Statistically, the Seahawks have mixed up their offense a little bit but they overwhelmingly favor their running game. To touch on their passing game, quarterback Walker Hill is 45-of-96 for 878 passing yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. On the ground, three guys bear the bulk of the work with Tequon Moore leading the way with 113 carries for 812 yards and 13 touchdowns. Darren Joyner has 585 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, and Brian Carabali-Salinas has 556 yards and three touchdowns.

This is a very winnable game for Hobbton, but the Southside offense should be taken seriously. This could honestly turn into quite a shootout.

Barring a schedule change, game time Thursday is 7 p.m. at Southside.

Clinton vs South Granville

Clinton survived a little scare last week against Beddingfield, running away from a 19-18 halftime score to a 39-18 victory. Next up for the Dark Horses is South Granville, the No. 10 seed who enters 6-5 overall. That record could be rather deceiving as the Vikings played a pretty tumultuous non-conference schedule including teams the likes of Heritage, Lee County, Southern Nash, and Hillside. Even teams like Southern Durham and Vance County make up a tough conference schedule that South Granville has held their own within. It wouldn't be advisable for Clinton to sleep on the Vikings as they will have upset on their mind coming into this one.

Offensively, South Granville will lean very heavily on their running game, and most likely, very heavily on senior ball-carrier Khawan Bobbitt. As a whole, the Vikings offense has produced 2,672 rushing yards with Bobbitt accountable for 1,293 of those to go along with 11 touchdowns. ShaKing Allah has accumulated 540 yards, Jamar Hicks 327, and Nathan Williams-Medley 217.

Clinton's offense has been quite successful this season also, with the Dark Horses generating production both through the air and on the ground. Nydarion Blackwell's 63-of-106 pass completions for 832 passing yards will have to be respected but certainly it's the Clinton ground game that will look to feast the most. Josiah McLaurin is the leading rusher on the team (at least with what's updated) with 768 yards, but he has some good company complimenting him. Josiah Robinson has 546 yards, Blackwell 364, and Amaris Williams 251.

What's also been impressive this season is Clinton's defense, particularly, down the stretch, their second half defense. Last week against Beddingfield, the Dark Horses gave up no second-half scores, only seven against Midway before that, and 13 against St. Pauls before that. (That game was a defensive battle in general.)

These two offenses definitely have what it takes to make big plays but the question is whose defense is going to come up bigger? I'd tend to lean Clinton but you line'em up and play for a reason!

Game time has been moved to 7 p.m. on Thursday.