By DAN BISER

It is the area’s longest running football rivalry.

On Friday night, the Whiteville Wolfpack and West Columbus Vikings will meet for the 42nd consecutive season. Gametime at Whiteville’s Legion Stadium will be 7:30.

Whiteville will come in with a 2-1 season record after running to a 32-12 road victory over Fairmont last Friday while West Columbus is 1-2 following a 41-6 setback at hands of North Brunswick on Saturday.

Since the rivalry began in 1965, Whiteville holds the upper hand with 30 wins in the previous 41 games. There have been one tie.

Last year’s Pack-Viking game at Cerro Gordo was one of the most hotly contested in the history of the rivalry as Whiteville held on to take a 34-27 decision for its third straight win over the WCHS squad.

West Columbus is in a heavy rebuilding year under fourth-year head coach Vernon Brigman after going 8-5 last season and finishing runnerup in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference. Along with their lop-sided loss to North Brunswick, the Vikings suffered a 41-7 road loss to East Columbus. WCHS opened its season with a 48-25 win over a Dixon team that has not won a game since the 2003 season.

WHS head coach Mark Little said that while West Columbus has faced some struggles in early-season play, his team will be as cautious than ever against the Vikings this Friday.

“This is a big game for both sides, and the extra hype and emotions can often play a big part,’ Little said. “We’re expecting West Columbus to come in here and play the best they have all season, and that means we’ll have to be at our best also.”

Whiteville opened its season with a 21-0 win over West Bladen and fell to East Bladen 8-6 a week later.

The Whiteville offense sputtered frequently in its games with West Bladen and East Bladen, but it came up strong with its rushing game in last week’s win over South Robeson. The Wolfpack ran for 290 yards behind junior backs Jarrod McKinney and Tyson Wilcox as the duo combined for five touchdowns.

“I was pleased with the way moved the football at South Robeson,” Little said. “We’re trying to get more consistency on offense and hopefully we’re making some headway there.

Little said that the Wolfpack’s defensive effort thus far has been the team’s biggest plus.

“We came into the season with defense as the big question mark, but we’ve done pretty well on that side of the ball so far.”

West Columbus has one of the area’s top running backs in junior Travis Leggett. Leggett, who is already on the lists of several Division I college programs, is having to shoulder much of the leadership at this point. Leggett had a huge game last year when the Vikings fell a touchdown short of the Wolfpack.

Brigman is staying upbeat about his WCHS squad, stating that the team should make substantial improvement as the season progresses.

“We’re young and have inexperience at a lot of positions, but I think we’re going to be a better football team by the time we get into our conference game,” Brigman said. “We played a good second half against North Brunswick and if we keep working hard, we’ll be okay.”

Vikings vs. Wolfpack

1965 – Whiteville 39, West Columbus 0
1966 – Whiteville 40, West Columbus 0
1967 – Whiteville 36, West Columbus 6
1968 - Whiteville 13, West Columbus 0
1969 – Whiteville 27, West Columbus 0
1970 – Whiteville 20, West Columbus 0
1971 – Whiteville 22, West Columbus 8
1972 – Whiteville 30, West Columbus 7
1973 – West Columbus 7, Whiteville 6
1974 – Whiteville 34, West Columbus 12
1975 - West Columbus 20, Whiteville 20 (tie)
1976 – Whiteville 19, West Columbus 7
1977 –West Columbus 7, Whiteville 6
1978 - West Columbus 7, Whiteville 0
1979 – West Columbus 35, Whiteville 0
1980 – West Columbus 33, Whiteville 14
1981 – Whiteville 40, West Columbus 0
1982 – Whiteville 38, West Columbus 6
1983 – West Columbus 14, Whiteville 7
1984 – Whiteville 34, West Columbus 0
1985 – Whiteville 47, West Columbus 0
1986 – Whiteville 33, West Columbus 0
1987 – Whiteville 51, West Columbus 6
1988 – Whiteville 34, West Columbus 0
1989 – Whiteville 21, West Columbus 0
1990 – Whiteville 21. West Columbus 0
1991 – Whiteville 47, West Columbus 12
1992 – Whiteville 21, West Columbus 0
1993 – Whiteville 16, West Columbus 8
1994 – Whiteville 35, West Columbus 21
1995 – Whiteville 13, West Columbus 8
1996 – West Columbus 29, Whiteville 27 (ot)
1997 – Whiteville 43, West Columbus 28
1998 – Whiteville 37, West Columbus 8
1999 – West Columbus 40, Whiteville 20
2000 – Whiteville 41, West Columbus 0
2001 – West Columbus 15, Whiteville 8
2002 – West Columbus 3, Whiteville 0
2003 – Whiteville 40, West Columbus 0
2004 – Whiteville 52, West Columbus 0
2005 – Whiteville 34, West Columbus 27