By DAN BISER

Coach Travis Conner and his East Columbus Gators are hoping that last week’s open date has been helpful in building momentum for their final three Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference football games.

The Gators will play host to the Pender Patriots Friday night at 7:30., in a crucial outing for both teams.

Both teams are coming off losses to perennial conference champion South Columbus and both have chalked up big victories over North Brunswick.

East Columbus is 1-2 in conference play and 2-6 overall while Pender is 2-2 and 5-4.

What makes Friday’s game so critical is that the Gators and Patriots are two of the three 1A teams in the conference and the winner will get a leg up toward a favorable state playoff spot.

Conner is hoping that the two-week layoff has helped the Gators shake off the disappointment of its 42-0 loss to South Columbus. That win came a week after the Gators’ confidence-boosting 30-14 win over North Brunswick.

“It’s not so much that we lost at South Columbus, but how we lost,” said Conner, whose squad trailed the Stallions 35-0 at halftime. “We just didn’t make the plays and didn’t take care of the football. When we play a good team, we have to be ready to give it our best.”

Pender fell to South Columbus 27-12 last week. A week earlier, the Patriots shut out North Brunswick 18-0.

Both East Columbus and Pender are run-oriented teams.

Coach Tom Eanes’ Pender builds his offense around James Henry, a solid 210-pound junior. Henry has surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season while carrying the ball an average of 25 times per game. The Patriots did not complete a pass in their loss to South Columbus.

East Columbus runs a spinner series with junior quarterback Alex Williamson at the controls. Williamson is the Gators’ top rusher while Alex Ward and Demetrice McKelvie have also had big nights carrying the football.

“Pender is a tough team to run against,” said Conner. “We’ll need to get established offensively to do well against them.”

The last time Pender came to play at East Columbus (in 2004), East Columbus pulled out an 8-6 decision for its only win of the season. Pender won last year’s game at Burgaw 32-6.

Conner feels his Gators have gained considerable ground this season after going 0-11 last fall. The Gator program is also encouraged by the fact that the ECHS junior varsity team is in strong contention for the conference JV title.