The regular season comes to a close tonight for all three county teams, two of which have made enough noise over the last two-plus months to contend for a top playoff seed.

Washington currently sits at No. 5 in the Class 2-A Associated Press prep football poll, an honor well deserved and years in the making, especially after coasting through a difficult out-of-conference schedule. In Eastern Plains Conference play, the Pam Pack has remained defensively poised, while improving each week on the other side of the ball (although, a handful of fumbles cut a few drives short last week).

Against a North Pitt team that had won four of its last five games entering the contest, two first quarter touchdowns from Markel Spencer last Friday gave Washington a swift 13-point lead, one it never surrendered. Spencer finished with 180-yards and three touchdowns in the win. It was the Pam Pack running back’s fourth-straight game with 170-plus yards on the ground. Even the second-string back, senior Xzavier Clark, notched a career-high 131-yards rushing. Business as usual in Washington.

In Camp Lejeune, Southside made quick work of the reeling Devil Pups with a 55-8 win. Junior Matt Baxter picked up an easy 119-yards rushing, while Zikajah Crawford, Lawrence Brown, Donshae Miller and freshman Brandon Sullivan combined for 246 yards on the ground. Head coach Jeff Carrow has yet to veer from his multi-back, run-heavy scheme, even with the situational success of backup quarterback Marhsall Medlock, who is filling in for the injured Johnny Sullivan.

Northside’s road matchup against East Carteret was highlighted by the most impressive individual performance the county has seen all season. In a 52-46 loss, senior running back Rockne Butler was a one-man scoring machine, notching 362 yards and six touchdowns. Unfortunately for the team, its 3-7 record will likely earn them a tough first-round opponent, regardless of their performance in tonight’s game.

 

WASHINGTON AT NORTH JOHNSTON @ 7:30 P.M.

KENLY — Some wins were in dominant fashion and others went down to the wire, but the Pam Pack battled its way through conference play, only to come out clean on the other side. The win against North Pitt clinched Washington’s second-consecutive conference championship. Now, against North Johnston, the team will look to preserve its one-loss record and No. 5 ranking.

The Panthers enter with a 1-9 record and are winless in the Eastern Plains. With a defensive that’s proved completely ineffective, North Johnston has been outscored 410-122 this season, giving the offense virtually no cushion to work with.

Evident by last year’s junior varsity conference championship, the younger talent has yet to make any noise at the varsity level.

Winners of nine-straight, Spencer, quarterback Patrick Thompson and Pam Pack offense should have very little problem running over a tissue paper defense. In fact, tonight’s game could give head coach Sport Sawyer the opportunity to rest some of his starters and allow backs like Clinton Pope and Stepfon Rodman to take more of a leading role.

 

NORTHSIDE VS. LEJEUNE @ 7 P.M.

PINETOWN — With a conference championship well out of reach for both of these squads, tonight’s matchup is bound to be a dogfight between two teams with little to lose.

The Devil Pups, who are 0-10, have found the end zone just six times all year, an overly disappointing campaign for the defending Coastal Plains Conference champions. Lejeune is allowed over 35 points per game on defense, numbers that closely resemble Northside’s production.

Offensively, however, it’s the Panthers who have put 78 points on the scoreboard in the last two weeks, doubling the Devil Pups’ 10-game total output.

This should be a fitting regular season ending for head coach Keith Boyd and an understaffed Panthers team.

 

SOUTHSIDE AT PAMLICO COUNTY @ 7 P.M.

BAYBORO — Two old rivals will meet on the same football field tonight to decide the Fossil Bowl and, suitably, the Coastal Plains conference championship.

The game will put Southside’s strong running attack against head coach Kevin Yost’s balanced offensive approach, centered around quarterback Josiah Simmons and running back Tony Credle.

For the Seahawks, the running game has posed over 340 yards in each of the last three contests, including a 406-yard performance against a middle-of-the-table East Carteret team.

With both teams currently sitting at 8-2, this game will not only decide the bowl and conference, but also a top playoff seed. Expect a packed house and a close game.