Only three county teams hit the field for week nine as Chatham Central enjoyed a late-season bye week, but for the first Friday this season, the county went winless.
Northwood, Seaforth and Jordan-Matthews all fell to put the county wide record at 10-22.
For the Chargers, the loss didn’t damage their playoff standing, but for the Hawks and Jets who are on the outside looking in, their losses only took them further from the postseason.
As the regular season reaches its final stretch, here’s a recap of Friday’s football action, a preview of next week for each county team, conference standings and the latest football power rankings:
Seaforth
Seaforth (2-5, 2-4) couldn’t do anything offensively in a 44-7 loss to Southeast Alamance (8-0, 6-0) Friday.
The Stallions limited Seaforth to just 86 yards of total offense and came away with two interceptions.
On the flip side, Southeast Alamance gained the majority of its yards on the ground. Sophomore running backs Daniel Bunker and DJ Callis combined for 267 yards (120 and 147 yards, respectively), and Callis scored two touchdowns.
The Hawks will host county foe Jordan-Matthews Friday at 7 p.m.
Against a team riddled with injuries, Seaforth has a good chance to snap its three-game losing streak and regain some confidence with just a few games to go.
Sitting at 35th in the 2A East RPI rankings, Seaforth isn’t all the way out of the playoff race, but the time is now if it wants to move into the top 32.
Another strong performance from its defensive front and a bounce back game from sophomore quarterback Duncan Parker and the offense should be enough to help put Seaforth back in the win column.
Jordan-Matthews
Jordan-Matthews (2-6, 1-5) put up a solid effort against Bartlett Yancey (3-6, 3-4) on its homecoming night Friday, but things got out of hand in the fourth quarter and led to a 57-14 loss for the Jets.
With the Jets trailing 27-14 entering the final period, Bartlett Yancey scored 30 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Explosive plays from the Buccaneers allowed them to score quickly while turnovers and negative plays halted any offensive momentum down the stretch for Jordan-Matthews.
Yet, despite all the misfortune they’ve dealt with this season, Jordan-Matthews still showed flashes of a team with physicality and fight, especially after the Jets recovered a fumble on a kickoff and followed it with a score to come within one score in the third quarter.
The Jets will look to build on those flashes of solid football against Seaforth Friday.
Jordan-Matthews has a solid rushing attack with Nolan Mitchell and Jakari Blue who have been carrying the load with some of the other key players still out.
If the Jets can limit explosive plays from Seaforth while wearing the Hawks down with physical runs, they can make things interesting.
Chatham Central/Northwood
Chatham Central (1-7, 0-6) will host Northwood (5-4, 5-2) Friday.
The Chargers are looking to bounce back from a crucial loss to Cummings while the Bears are looking to come out of the bye week with some juice.
Chatham Central has found something offensively with Brooks Albright at quarterback and Nick Glover catching passes as a receiver. It has given the Bears another option outside of receiver Luke Gaines, however, they haven’t fared well against teams with good defenses.
Northwood’s defense, it’s line especially, has cause havoc in the backfield all year, and against the Bears, they’ll have another opportunity to have a big night.
Power Rankings
Last week: 1. Northwood; 2. Seaforth; 3. Chatham Central; 4. Jordan-Matthews
This week’s rankings: 1. Northwood; 2. Seaforth; 3. Jordan-Matthews; 4. Chatham Central
Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings:
Southeast Alamance (8-0, 6-0); 2. Cummings (7-1, 6-0); 3. Northwood (5-4, 5-2); 4. North Moore (4-4, 4-2); 5. Bartlett Yancey (3-6, 3-4); 6. Seaforth (2-5, 2-4); 7. Jordan-Matthews (2-6, 1-5); 8. Graham (1-7, 1-5); 9. Chatham Central (1-7, 0-6)