Pigskin Picks week 12: The Playoffs begin

The 2024 regular season for football has come to a close after last week’s end to the extended season. Monday, the seeding for the NCHSAA playoffs took place, and Sampson County has four teams that made the cut. The playoffs are always a tricky time, as it’s a win-or-go-home situation, but upsets are plentiful.

Underdogs are always looking to upset the favorites, but that’s especially true when it means ending their season. Favorites try to assert their dominance and show why they’re the favorites. These are games full of emotions, big plays, and clashes of titanic proportions.

#17 Greene Central @

#16 Midway, Friday, 7 p.m.

This game sets out to be the closest of any two seeds Sampson County will see. One less touchdown or another miscue from the Raiders and they could have easily been on the road for this matchup. Their big road loss to St. Pauls in the SAC-6 championship surely did not help their RPI, which is used to determine playoff seeding.

Midway utilizes the Wing-T offense which spreads the ball around via the run, but they can pass sometimes as needed. St. Pauls had their number in their last contest though, and no amount of game planning could help the Raiders get through the Bulldogs. But, that game is in the past where it will stay, and all they can do is look forward.

Gehemiah Blue, Ke’mari McNeil, and Nathue Myles lead the way for the rushing attack for the Raiders, but injuries have plagued the boys in blue from Spivey’s Corner this season. Things didn’t get any better for them two weeks ago, as John Williams, one of their starting offensive linemen, went down against the Bulldogs, as well as some of his teammates.

Hopefully the week off in between the games allowed Midway to rest up and heal their injuries before taking on the Rams at home. Greene Central runs their offense out of the shotgun, often utilizing trips or quads formations, but their stats would have you believing a different story. They have 947 yards and nine touchdowns through the air and 1,803 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Their rushing attack is spread out among a few different ball carriers, which would lead you to believe they also utilized the Wing-T. Midway needs to be careful not to get sucked into the run game early for them to pass over the top, which could happen as the Raiders haven’t seen a bunch of passing all year.

I’ll still be a homer and take the Raiders, though. Give me Midway by a score of 40-32.

My last prediction: Midway over St. Pauls, 40-35. I am 6-3 for the Raiders.

#20 Hobbton @ #13

Rosewood, Friday, 7 p.m.

It’s not often that we see two members of the same conference play each other in the playoffs, but that’s exactly what we’re going to witness in this game. Rosewood took the third spot in the Carolina 1A after losing to Lakewood in their last time on the football field, in their 16-12 game on Nov. 1. Hobbton took fourth in the conference.

In their last meeting, which was Oct. 4, the Eagles handed the Wildcats a 39-12 loss. Since then, Hobbton has only won one game, but don’t let that fool you — there were two nail-biter losses, including the 34-30 game against Lakewood on Oct. 18 and the near-upset of North Duplin two weeks ago, which ended with the Rebels winning 34-31, so this is a much different team this time around.

On top of that, receiver Reggie Thompson leads the entire state — not just the conference or division — in receiving yards, and is currently No. 22 in the entire country in that category. He is thriving in the pass-heavy offense that Hobbton has, and this creates problems for opposing defenses. He averages 136.1 yards per game and 16.6 yards per catch right now, and in their last meeting, he had nine catches for 97 yards, which means the Eagles were able to keep him a little below average.

I don’t think that’s going to be the same story this time around. The Wildcats proved to themselves — and everyone else — that they could hang with the big dog that is North Duplin. They surely are coming back from that game with a new attitude and maybe a little bit more swagger. Look for Thompson and company to have a big game this Friday.

I’ll take Hobbton by a score of 38-34.

My last prediction: North Duplin over Hobbton, 42-20. I am 6-3 for the Wildcats.

#23 Northampton County @

#10 Lakewood, Friday, 7 p.m.

Lakewood has made some noise as a solid squad all-around this season, going a respectable 7-3 in the regular season, which could have seen them go 8-2 or 9-1 had just a couple more things gone their way. Two of their losses came by a combined four points to Midway and North Johnston. Close scores were the name of the game for them in many of their contests this season, but there were some bigger wins along the way as well.

The box score and stat lines show that quarterback Rylan Godbold and running back Calvin Lacewell, Jr. were missing from their Nov. 1 contest at Rosewood, the game that gave them the No. 2 spot in the conference and a higher seed in the playoffs. I have no word on whether they will be back for the playoffs, so this analysis will come under the assumption that they aren’t.

Reed Ammons has proven to be a great replacement for Goldbold this season, having thrown for 524 yards and three touchdowns in an offense that isn’t primarily pass-heavy. He averages 15.4 yards per completion to boot. Chris Carr and Nakai Owens have served as great replacements for Lacewell, too. Combined, they have 1,073 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Carr has one more yard than Lacewell on the season, but with 21 fewer carries, meaning that he averages more per carry — a whopping 10.4.

And that’s just their offense — I haven’t mentioned their defense yet. I’d argue that one of the Leopards’ biggest strengths is their defense, which is anchored by players such as Owens, Dashaun Carr, Cooper Ivey, and Cameron Williams. With 333 points for the Leopards and 198 against in their 10 games, Lakewood scored 1.68 points for every point against them — a sign of a great defense. Their 641 total tackles is better than the national average of 498.

I’ll take Lakewood in front of their hometown crowd, 42-28.

My last prediction: Lakewood over Rosewood, 42-20. I am 7-2 for the Leopards.

#27 Union @ #6 North

Moore, Friday, 7 p.m.

First of all, congratulations are in order for Union’s freshman running back Tobias Cromartie, who eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season last week against West Columbus. That’s a tough feat for anyone, but as a freshman, that’s even harder.

The Spartans are winless this season, which certainly isn’t how they wanted their season to go, but not all hope is lost. They could be in for a big game against North Moore, and I’ll explain why.

The Mustangs are only 5-5 and came in fourth place in their conference. How they ended up as the No. 6 seed is beyond me, but I know it has to do with the wizardry of the RPI rankings. They started off slow, going 0-4 to start the season, but corrected course and went 5-1 to finish the season out.

But, that doesn’t mean Union can’t handle them. They’re a run-first team, as most teams around here are, and Union’s defense stacks up well against that. Defensively, the Mustangs have one player that stands out from the rest in the tackles category, but I think if the Spartans play good, consistent all-around ball, they could hand them the upset. Cutting out penalties and unforced errors will be key, though.

I’ll take North Moore by a score of 38-20, but with the caveat that I truly think Union could win this one if they play to their full potential.

My last prediction: Union over West Columbus, 26-18. I am 6-3 for the Spartans.