Last Friday night’s mass exit of all four Columbus County football teams from the state playoffs came as a real stunner, especially in the case of the Whiteville Wolfpack in its upset loss at the hands of North Brunswick.

It’s quite a reverse from year ago, when the county had three teams in the playoffs and all three came away with opening-round victories.

This year’s first-round games for Whiteville and South Columbus had rather ironic twists.

First, both teams had battled hard the previous Friday in a head-to-head matchup for the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference championship. Whiteville pulled off a touchdown pass play in the final minute for a 21-15 win, its first over the Stallions since 1994.

Then last week, the two teams went into first round of the 2A playoffs knowing that if each claimed a victory, they would clash again in the second round. Like it or not, the anticipation of another big square-off was there from the moment the state playoff brackets were released.

As things turned out, Whiteville struggled almost constantly in a 24-20 loss to North Brunswick and South Columbus saw a 13-0 halftime lead deteriorate into a 14-13 road loss to Jacksonville Northside with turnovers the main culprit.

WITH FOOTBALL NO LONGER on the scene in the county, attention turns to basketball and it looks like things will again be very competitive on the hardcourt.

For the first time since the 1979-80 season, Whiteville High boy squad will have new head coach on the sidelines, as Tyrone Frink steps in to the position held by Glenn Mckoy. In his 27 seasons, McKoy’s Wolfpack rolled up 536 victories, including the 1999 and 2000 state 2A championships McKoy’s retirement at the end last season.

Coach Michael Powell’s West Columbus boys team advanced to sectional finals play last season and should be a strong contender again in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference, especially with the return of 2006 Columbus County Player of the Year Chaz Everette. Powell heads into his 19th season as Viking head coach.

East Columbus is back to defend its 2006 Waccamaw Conference championship under new head coach Clarence Ganus. A strong group of seniors, led by Jerry Moore and B.J. Patrick, puts the Gators among the league favorites.

South Columbus, under third-year head coach Nathan Faulk, made a lot of strides last year and is expected to make even more this year as Faulk has had many of his players involved in off-season competition.

The Whiteville girls, under head coach Dudley Revels, hope to again repeat as Waccamaw Conference champion after last year’s East Regional runnerup finish. The Lady Pack returns with starters Talena Faison, Paige McCallum and Portia Baldwin, but they will be hard-pressed to replace three-time All-Stater Shannon McCallum, who signed with South Carolina.

The East Columbus girls squad of Coach Karlyn Stephens is expected to make strong run at the Waccamaw title this year after last season’s runnerup finish.

South Columbus and West Columbus girls teams are hoping for steady amounts of improvement.