5th Quarter Season Preview: Bladen County

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — In Bladen County, they take their sports seriously, especially football. Fans in the area are getting ready to see their Eagles and Knights back in action this week.

Bladen County may only have two football teams, but they don’t have a shortage in support. In Elizabethtown, expectations could not be higher following the successful season Coach Robbie Priest and his Eagles had last year.

At the Three Rivers Conference Media Day, they were tied with South Columbus with first place votes to win the division. One challenge the team will face will be replacing Eian and Ethan hines. But Coach Priest believes in his team.

“We look forward to different people stepping up and filling those voids and carrying on a great tradition.” Priest said.

One player that will carry on the tradition, and the football, will be running back Xavier Wooten. The Eagles are going to need players like Wooten to step up if the team wants to be successful in an incredibly competitive Three Rivers Conference.

“Oh I look for it to be tough,” Priest said. “It’s going back to the way the conference was whenever I was playing. Anybody coming out of our conference with a chance for a spot in the playoffs will be battle tested and ready for playoff action.”

Over at West Bladen, focusing on the playoffs isn’t the chief concern for the Knights. This season, Coach Todd Pait is out and Coach Kris Williams is in. The turnaround for the program won’t come over night, so Coach Williams is focused on rebuilding this program and keeping the kids focused on their goals.

“We’ve got to instill it every single day, as a coaching staff, the entire coaching staff, during every rep,” Williams said. “If we’re in an individual period, we have to be on every rep. Just give us your best effort.”

One player Coach Williams hopes to make an impact is sophomore quarterback Tyre Boykin.

“I don’t want to inflate his head but he probably has the best arm I’ve seen here,” Williams said. “I don’t mean that just by strength but by accuracy and strength. Just a very humble coachable kid.”

Unlike the Eagles, the Knights aren’t looking at the Three Rivers crown. But they could get there in a few years time if they do one thing: work.

“Being a first year, we’re not expecting a championship,” Williams said. “But we’re going to work for it.”

The battle for Bladen County went to East last year. we will see who takes it on November 3.