Gators to resume schedule at Pender

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

Hoping to reap the benefits of last Friday’s open date, the East Columbus High School football team, will resume its Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference schedule this Friday against the Pender Patriots at Burgaw.

Gametime is 7:30

East Columbus is 0-3 in conference play and has a 4-4 season mark. Pender is 2-2 in conference and 5-4 overall after dropping its last two games.

“We’ve played three strong 2A teams in our conference so far, and now we have to play a very strong 1A team,” said ECHS head coach Travis Conner, whose Gators are riding a three-game losing streak after posting a 4-1 non-conference record.
“We’ve been hit pretty hard by injuries this season, and the open date has given us some time to regroup.”

A dozen Gator regulars have been lost or slowed by injuries this season, with most coming in conference play.

“We’ve had two weeks to give some of these injuries time to heal,” Conner said. “Hopefully, we’ll have most the players back who are able to come back.”

East Columbus, which fell to South Columbus 46-0 in its last outing, will take on a Pender team that fell the South Columbus 42-14 last week. Pender jumped to a 14-0 lead before being overtaken by the unbeaten Stallions.

Conner said that the Pender squad is very well coached and has a lot of discipline.

“Coach (Tom) Eanes has done a great job with their program,” Conner said. “They went deep into the playoffs last year, and they are just as strong this year.”

Pender shut out the Gators 20-0 last season with the Patriots’ line strength providing much of the difference.

“They aren’t quite as big up front as they were last year, but they are still solid.”

Conner said that he hopes to have running backs B.J. Bracey and Fred Blanks returning healthy Friday as well as safety Demetrious McKelvie.

In their recent game with South Columbus, the Gators trailed 7-0 at halftime before the Stallions took control of the game in the third quarter.

Pender is paced by running back James Henry and quarterback Anthony Blanks.