This week marks the regular season finale for our local football teams, and for several programs, will also mark the end of the 2021 Spring Football season. As of right now, Clinton is the only local team that will surely advance to postseason play. Midway has a long shot to get in as a wildcard, but they can’t afford any set-backs this week at James Kenan. For our 1A teams, Union, Hobbton, and Lakewood, things look far bleaker.

If things go as expected, Clinton vs Wallace-Rose Hill will be the best game this week, followed by Hobbton vs North Duplin, and Midway at James Kenan. Lakewood vs Union could be interesting, but could also turn into a blowout.

Also as of right now, Clinton/Wallace-Rose Hill is the county’s only Friday night football game, with everyone else playing Thursday night. The weather for Thursday is looking absolutely gorgeous, but, Friday night could be another story with rain and storms in the forecast. Keep that in mind, football fans, we’ll have to see if the Dark Horses move their game up.

With that, let’s jump in and break everything down.

Lakewood vs Union

Another Sampson County rivalry will be on display tonight when the Spartans travel into Leopard country. Looking at their records, one would think this to be a competitive game, but after last week’s big loss at Hobbton, the undermanned Spartans could see a repeat of last week. With Lakewood closing out their home schedule, picking up a win tonight, especially on the heels of a tough loss, the Leopards will look to pick up one final win to send their seniors out on a high note. For Union, their season will mercifully come to an end this evening.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Midway at James Kenan

These two teams met up just two weeks ago in Spivey’s Corner – a game that saw the Raiders pull away for a 40-20 victory. Last week, Midway participated in a bizarre game at Wallace-Rose Hill that saw them fall short in a tremendous comeback effort. Wyatt Holland and his core of receivers did what they have done all season and that was put up some impressive totals. Just like two weeks ago, this game will be a battle of Midway’s passing game and the Tiger’s running game. It didn’t take the Raiders long to figure out James Kenan’s running game after surrendering an early touchdown. Midway fell behind in that game 6-0 but went on a big flurry to take control and the win. Tonight’s contest could be interesting for Midway because the Tigers are going to be looking for some revenge on home turf. On the other hand, the Raiders are going to be looking to get back into the win column and with a possible playoff berth on the line, losing isn’t an option.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Hobbton vs North Duplin

Another Thursday night game greets the Hobbton Wildcats for Senior night when they welcome in the North Duplin Rebels. This week, the Wildcats will have a strong running game to defend. The Rebels bring in a total of 1,221 rush yards with Dujuan Armwood leading the way with 717 total yards. For Hobbton, last week Loden Bradshaw showed out with an incredible performance through the air, passing for nearly 300 yards and seven touchdowns. This game should be a fun one to watch, especially to see if the Wildcats offense can fire at a rapid pace again. Celebrating Senior night in their final game of the season, the atmosphere should be an electric one.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Clinton vs Wallace-Rose Hill (Friday)

This will be the game to see this week as the Bulldogs and the Dark Horses lock horns for the East Central Conference Tournament Championship. Both of these teams present a high-powered offense, mainly ground based, and are capable of putting up points quick. For Clinton, Blake Smith and Boogie Smith have been a relentless two-headed monster this season, slicing and dicing enemies in the ground game. Blake has also been lethal through the air, proving to be a versatile double-edged threat. For the Bulldogs, their ground game is a sight to behold. Last week, six different ball-carriers racked up 533 yards of rushing, bringing their season total to over 2,000 yards. The problem for them has been consistency. Their loss to East Duplin and nearly falling apart to Midway sticks out like a sore thumb. They have an explosive enough offense to compete with Clinton, but what about their defense? Can they put together a complete game and spring the upset? Or will Clinton complete the perfect regular season and bulldoze their way into the playoffs?

Game time is Friday night at 7 p.m.

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].