By DAN BISER

Hoping to bring a four-game football losing streak to an end, the East Columbus Gators will celebrate their 2006 Homecoming on Friday night by hosting North Brunswick.

East Columbus, which opened Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference play last Friday with a 33-7 loss to Whiteville, is looking for its first conference win since 2004. The Gators last won their Homecoming game in 2003.

East Columbus, now holding a 1-5 record, put up a good first-half battle against Whiteville. The Gators turned a Wolfpack fumble into a quick touchdown and later stopped the Wolfpack offense inside the five-yard line as Whiteville managed to hold a 14-7 lead at the half.

But East Columbus fumbled the ball on the second-half kickoff and fumbled away its next possession. Whiteville scored on both opportunities.

“Just when it looked like the momentum was starting to swing our way, we turned the ball over twice,” said second-year head coach Travis Conner. “If we don’t make those mistakes, I feel like we could have made it a ball game.”

East Columbus had snapped a 16-game losing streak on Aug. 25 when it defeated visiting West Columbus 41-7. Against Fairmont a week later, the Gators held a 12-7 lead before mistakes and turnovers helped the Golden Tornadoes gain control in a 37-12 victory. Against Red Springs, East Columbus held the lead in the final minute of play before the host Red Devils broke a long scoring run to pull out a 34-29 victory.

Other Gator losses have come against Southwest Onslow 38-6 and Lakewood 21-0.

North Brunswick has a 3-2 record following last week’s 35-7 conference-opening loss to South Columbus. Coach Garry Bishop’s Scorpions have wins of 41-6 over North Brunswick and 7-6 over Jacksonville Northside. Other losses have come against Midway 14-12 and Lejeune 13-12. Both Scorpion wins have come on the road and all three losses have come on their homefield.

North Brunswick downed East Columbus 49-0 in last year’s game at Leland. The 2005 Scorpions posted a 9-3 season record that included a runner up finish in the Waccamaw Conference.

Talented running back Josh Balloon heads the Scorpion forces, which contains several members of the standout North Brunswick track and field team.