By DAN BISER

Year-end, year-out, conference or non-conference, the Whiteville-East Bladen football game is always a big event in Southeastern North Carolina.

That rivalry, which began in 1971, will be renewed Friday night at Whiteville’s Legion Stadium when the 1-0 Wolfpack will take on the defending Southeastern Conference 1A-2A champion East Bladen Eagles. Kickoff is set for 7:30.

Whiteville won its season opener last Friday in a 21-0 shutout over the visiting West Bladen Knights. This will be the season opener for Coach Lenon Fisher’s East Bladen squad. Fisher enters his 27th season as EBHS head coach.

East Bladen has posted winning records in each of the last six seasons. Its combined record in that span is 57 wins and 20 losses, including a 13-1 finish in 2003.

Last August, Whiteville went to Elizabethtown and opened the season with a 15-6 victory over the Eagle squad. All of the game’s scoring came in the first half. That was the first of eight straight victories for Coach Mark Little’s Wolfpack, which went on to post a 9-3 season record.

East Bladen finished 8-4 last season, including a unbeaten record in Southeastern 1A-2A Conference play. East Bladen is competing at the Class 1A level for the second straight year.

Whiteville gave a solid defensive performance in last week’s win, holding West Bladen to 34 yards rushing as Wolfpack senior linebacker Kevin Gamble led the way. There were some difficulties on offense as the Wolfpack committed five turnovers and had some untimely penalties.

“It’s always good to open the season with a win, but all of us realize that we’ll have to play much better if we expect to do well against a team like East Bladen,” Little said. “They are a program that returns solid every year. They always have outstanding skill players and a lot of strength in the line. Coach Fisher has done a tremendous job.”

Both teams are led by experienced quarterbacks – Whiteville’s Harrison Jordan and East Bladen’s Dom Whittington, and premiere runners – Whiteville’s Jarrod McKinney and East Bladen’s Donovan Richardson.

McKinney rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in last week’s victory over West Bladen.

Richardson is a cousin of former Eagle great Kevin Richardson, the leading rusher on Appalachian State’s reigning NCAA I-AA champion team.

Whiteville and East Bladen have been conference rivals for much of the past three decades, but East Bladen left the Waccamaw Conference last year after dropping from 2A to 1A.