By DAN BISER
Coming off the most decisive football victory in school history, the East Columbus Gators will be out to double their win total of the past two seasons Friday night when they travel to take on the Fairmont Golden Tornadoes.
Gametime is 7:30.
Pending effects of Tropical Storm Ernesto, Friday’s game is subject to postponement or cancellation.
East Columbus, which went 0-11 last fall and 1-9 in 2004, relied on a strong running game last Friday to defeat county rival West Columbus 41-7. It was the Gators’ first win under second-year head coach Travis Conner as they piled up 440 yards rushing and scored all their points in the first three quarters. West Columbus had throttled the Gators 45-0 last year.
The homefield victory over West Columbus also put an end to East Columbus’ 16-game losing streak. The Gators had lost their season opener to state 2A powerhouse Southwest Onslow by a 38-6 score on Aug. 18 at Jacksonville.
Conner said that while last week’s decisive victory put a huge boost of confidence into the ECHS football team, the Gators still have a ways to go in establishing themselves as a good football team.
“Last Friday night showed that our guys are working hard to get us there.” Conner said. “We just need to go out and get the same type effort against Fairmont.”
The Gators should have plenty of reason to play well Friday as last year they suffered a 48-0 loss to Fairmont on their homefield
Coach Kim Brown’s Fairmont team has an 0-1 record, having lost to Pender 18-12 in its season opener on Aug. 18. The Golden Tornadoes had an open date last week.
Last fall, the Golden Tornadoes posted a 5-6 record and advanced to the state 2A playoffs. Southeastern 1A-2A Conference losses to West Bladen and West Columbus each came by one point in overtime.
“Fairmont has good athletes and a lot of size,” Conner said. “I’m sure that having an open date after opening with a disappointing loss will really have them chomping at the bit when we show up their place.”
The East Columbus offense utilized its “spinner” series in quickly opening up its running game last week with junior quarterback Alex Williamson doing a masterful job of carrying out fakes and running options.
“Alex has a good handle on running the offense and our backs are doing a good job of faking and hiding the ball,” Conner said. “If carried out like it should be, it can be pretty effective.”
Twelve Gator players carried the ball Friday night with sophomore back Demetrice McElvie leading the way with 137 yards on only three carries. This included a 64-yard touchdown run off an option-pitch from Williamson.
East Columbus had run up 220 yards rushing in its loss to Southwest Onslow, but the Gators twice fumbled the ball away while deep in Stallion territory.
This will be the 12th Gator-Tornado football meeting since East Columbus was formed by consolidation in 1992. East Columbus holds a 7-4 edge in the series with three of the games being decided by one point each and another being decided in overtime.