By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

All four Columbus County high school football teams will be loading up their gear on activity buses Friday as they head out to open their 2007 seasons on opponents’ fields.

Whiteville will travel to the Bladenboro area to take on West Bladen, South Columbus will venture into Robeson County for a match-up with St. Pauls, East Columbus will take the road to Sampson County to tangle with Lakewood, and West Columbus will make the trek to Pender County to take on Heide Trask.
All games are set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Whiteville at West Bladen

Whiteville will be looking to claim its fourth straight season opening victory when it takes on the Knight squad.

Coach Mark Little’s Wolfpack posted a 9-3 record last year as well as its first Waccamaw Conference football championship since 1993.

Whiteville holds a 4-1 edge in its rivalry with West Bladen, including a 21-0 victory in last year’s season opener at Whiteville’s Legion Stadium.

Coach Raymond Marlowe has returned as head coach at West Bladen. Marlowe, who has also served successful head coaching stints at Clarkton and Tar Heel, was West Bladen’s head coach in the Knights’ initial season in 2001 after the school was formed by consolidation. In its initial meeting with the Wolfpack, West Bladen took a 40-39 overtime victory and went on to post an 8-2 record under Marlowe. He left following that one season.

Whiteville’s other wins in the series came by scores of 41-6 in 2002, 42-12 in 2003 and 28-8 in 2004.

Whiteville hopes to utilize a running game built around seniors Jarrod McKinney and Tyson Wilcox and an experienced offensive line. Ben Deans has stepped in as the starting quarterback.

Austin Hollis returns at quarterback for West Bladen along with running back Matt McCall.

The Knights, who compete in the Southeastern 1A-2A Conference finished with a 2-8 record last season.

“We need to come out strong and play well,” Coach Little said. “West Bladen had a tough season last year, but they are still a good football, and having Coach Marlowe back is certainly a boost for their program.”

Whiteville had a home scrimmage with Wilmington Ashley last Thursday and went against Wilmington New Hanover Friday in the annual BB&T Football Jamboree

This will be the first of two straight games in Columbus County for the Wolfpack as it is scheduled to visit East Bladen on Aug. 24.

South Columbus at St. Pauls

This will be the first football meeting in several years between the two schools. They were fellow members of the Waccamaw 2A Conference from 1995 to 1999.

South Columbus finished with an 8-4 record last year and St. Pauls compiled a 7-6 mark, advancing to the second round of the state 1AA playoffs.

Coach Joey Price’s Stallions opened the past two seasons with victories over Wilmington Laney while St. Pauls fell to Lumberton in its 2006 season opener after defeating the Pirates to open the 2005 season.

South Columbus returns with much of last year’s starting line-up, including three-year starters Andrae Jacobs, Dakota Piver, Donovan Watts, Buster James and T.J. Richardson, and it made strong showings in pre-season scrimmages against West Brunswick and Jacksonville.

Coach Price heads into his 11th season as SCHS head coach with a career record of 104 wins and 24 losses. His Stallion teams have won seven Waccamaw Conference championships during his tenure.

Coach Mike Setzer’s St. Pauls team is led by versatile Aaron Bethea, Bethea can handle several positions - including tight end, fullback and defensive line.

“St. Pauls had a good season last year, and they are back with a lot of their strength and size,” Coach Price said. “We’re expecting a very tough ball game.

East Columbus at Lakewood

It has been eight years since East Columbus last won a season-opening game, and if the Gators can accomplish that Friday at Lakewood, it should add some extra firepower to the program.

For the past six seasons, the Gators have opened with a road game against state 2A powerhouse Southwest Onslow at Jacksonville. That has translated into six straight season-opening losses, including a 41-6 decision last season.

Coach Travis Conner’s Gators will be going against the Leopards for the third straight season. Last year, Lakewood took a 21-0 win, and the Leopards also won by a 29-16 score in 2005.

Coach Richard Lewis’ Lakewood team, a member of the Super Six 1A Conference, had a 5-7 record last season.

East Columbus has an effective running game, led by senior quarterback Alex Williamson, who carried for over 1,100 yards last year. The Gators were 3-8 in 2006 and finished in a tie for fourth place in the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference. The squad went 0-11 in 2005.

“If we can get off to a strong start and keep mistakes to a minimum, I think we do well at Lakewood,” Coach Conner said.

“They outmuscled us up front last year, but I feel like we can do a better job there this time.”

The Gators tuned up for regular-season play by scrimmaging Gray’s Creek last week in the Short Stop Jamboree in Fayetteville.

East Columbus last won its season opener in 1999 when it took a 20-7 homefield decision over Pender.

West Columbus at Trask

This game features two squads who faced uphill battles all last season with both closing out with 2-10 records.

West Columbus, led by four-year starting back Travis Leggett, will be out to capture a fourth straight season opening victory. The Vikings opened the past three seasons with lop-sided victories over Dixon. The Vikings only other win came over Southeastern 1A-2A Conference opponent South Robeson.

Viking coach Vernon Brigman will match his running game against the Titans’ pass-oriented attack installed by new head coach Greg Kochakji.

The Titans operate a spread offense out of shotgun formation with junior quarterback Josh Wiggins running the offense.
“In our pre-season scrimmages, all we saw was basically a wing-T,” Brigman said. “Now we have to get ready for a completely different offense.”

Trask lost its final nine games of the 2006 season, including an 0-6 record in the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference.

CORRECTION: In the Monday. Aug. 13, sports section, South Columbus High flanker Dakota Piver was incorrectly identified in photo in which he was catching a 40-yard pass in the Stallions’ BB&T Jamboree scrimmage with Jacksonville.