State football playoffs
Top-seeded SCHS awaits Clinton invasion
South Columbus defensive back Donovan Watts comes up with a pass interception in last week’s 35-0 victory over Whiteville.
South Columbus fullback Buster James carries the ball against Whiteville.
Staff photos by Mark Gilchrist
By DAN BISER
Sports Editor
Few high school football teams in eastern North Carolina have enjoyed state playoff success as much as the Clinton Dark Horses over the past two decades.
Clinton teams garnered state championships in 1990, 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2005. The Dark Horses also had a state runnerup finish last year as well as in 1995 and 2002.
This year, Clinton has been saddled with a 5-6 record and the No. 16 seed in the 16-team East 2A bracket, meaning they must face the top-seeded South Columbus Stallions in Friday night’s opening round.
Friday’s kickoff at South Columbus is set for 7:30.
South Columbus holds an 11-0 record after winning the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference championship with relative ease.
This will be South Columbus’ fourth state playoff meeting against Clinton and the Stallions are still looking for their first win. The Dark Horses defeated SCHS in the Eastern N.C. 2A championship game in both 1996 and 2002 as well as in the third round of the 1997 playoffs.
South Columbus head coach Joey Price pointed out the fact Clinton went into the playoffs last year with five losses and advanced all the way to the state championship game, where they lost to a talented Burlington Cummings team.
Clinton is coached by Steve Mallard, who served as head coach at West Columbus in 2001.
“Clinton is all about the playoffs,” Price said. “They lost to Southwest Onslow (21-20) last week and probably should have won that game.
“They started out the year kind of young and inexperienced and they’ve had some injuries, but they’ve put up some good wins this year. The East Central Conference is always very strong ... their teams always do well in the playoffs.
“There’s no way Clinton is a No. 16 seed,” Price added. “No way.”
South Columbus put the finishing touches on its perfect regular season with a 35-0 shutout of Whiteville. The big win avenged a 21-15 loss to the Wolfpack last season in a game that decided the conference title.
“It was a big win last Friday, and the kind of win we needed to head into the playoffs with,” said Price, whose Stallions gave him his 115th win in his 11 seasons as Stallion head coach.
Seven of the Stallions’ wins this year have been shutouts, and they have yielded a total of 42 points all season.
Except for the Pender game, when the Patriots struck for two quick touchdowns in the opening quarter before losing 42-14, the Stallion defense has been invulnerable.
The Stallion offense has the ability to strike quickly and put their opponents in an early hole.
Most of the starters on this year’s SCHS team were part of the first-round disappointment last season when it traveled to Jacksonville for a first round game and fell to Northside 14-13 after holding a 13-0 halftime lead.
Northside went on to advance to the Eastern N.C. 2A championship game where it fell to Clinton for the second straight year.
“Anything can happen in the playoffs, and a lot of wild things have happened in the first round,” Price said.
Price’s statement held particularly true last year when Whiteville held the top seed in the East and was upended by 16th seed North Brunswick 24-20 in the first round.
South Columbus is in the state playoffs for the 15th time in the school’s 16-year history.
Friday’s winner will go against the Bunn-Greene Central in second-round play on Nov. 16.