By DAN BISER

The West Columbus Vikings and East Columbus Gators, two teams who entered the state’s Class 1A ranks for the first time last year, will have their 15th annual football meeting Friday night at the ECHS field at Lake Waccamaw.

Kickoff is set for 7:30.

West Columbus holds a 9-5 edge in the series that began in 1992 with the opening of East Columbus. The Vikings have won three of the last four meetings, including a 45-0 runaway victory last season. Two of the West Columbus wins in the series came by one point each.

West Columbus opened its 2006 season last Friday with a 48-25 home-field win over Dixon while East Columbus suffered a 38-6 season-opening road loss to state 2A power Southwest Onslow.

Coach Vernon Brigman’s WCHS squad posted one of the best seasons in the school’s 41-year history last season, finishing at 8-5 after placing runnerup in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference and advancing to the second round of the state 1AA playoffs.

On the other hand, East Columbus went 0-11 last fall. The Gators are riding a 16-game losing streak that dates back to 2004 when their only win of that season was an 8-6 decision over Pender.

West Columbus was hit hard by graduation of last spring, but it returns with versatile back Travis Leggett, who rushed for 180 yards and scored three touchdowns in last week’s win over Dixon. Leggett, a junior, was one of several Viking players who contributed to the Vikings’ 480-yard rushing total last Friday. Another highlight was an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Shawn Brown.

The Vikings won handily last week despite a problem with turnovers. Two Viking fumbles led directly to Dixon scores and played a big hand in allowing the Bulldogs to stay in the game during the first half.

“We have a lot of new players in the line-up this year and they’re working hard to get the varsity experience right now,” Brigman said. “I feel that by the time we reach our conference schedule we will be much closer to where we need to be as a team.”

Despite the lop-sided loss, Coach Travis Conner’s East Columbus squad found some success in moving the football last Friday but its effort were also plagued by turnovers. The Gators twice fumbled the ball away deep in Southwest Onslow territory. A pass interception return for an ECHS touchdown by Demetrius McKelvie cut the SWO lead to 26-6 late in the first half, but the host squad registered its fifth TD right before halftime for a 32-6 advantage.

The Gators amassed 220 yards of rushing, including 102 yards on 22 carries by junior quarterback Alex Williamson. ECHS garnered 14 first downs in the game as they suffered their sixth straight season-opening loss to the Stallions.

“Southwest Onslow broke four big plays in the first half and that’s where most of their yardage came from,” Conner said. “It was a tough loss but we were able to accomplish a few things, and hopefully that means that we are going to be a much better team this year.”

1992 – W. Columbus 22, E. Columbus 0
1993 – W. Columbus 34, E. Columbus 8
1994 – W. Columbus 22, E. Columbus 7
1995 - E. Columbus 31, W. Columbus 0
1996 – E. Columbus 40, W. Columbus 21
1997 – W. Columbus 18, E. Columbus 17
1998 – W. Columbus 32, E. Columbus 18
1999 - W. Columbus 28, E. Columbus 0
2000 - E. Columbus 13, W. Columbus 0
2001 - E. Columbus 30, W. Columbus 10
2002 - W. Columbus 33, E. Columbus 6
2003 - E. Columbus 20, W. Columbus 9
2004 – W. Columbus 19, E. Columbus 18
2005 - W. Columbus 45, E. Columbus 0