Vikings to visit East Bladen

The West Columbus Vikings last defeated East Bladen in 1999, and that’s when the East Bladen teams were called the Cougars instead of the present-day Eagles.

The two squads will meet Friday night at 7:30 at East Bladen in a rivalry that dates back to 1971.

East Bladen, with a 6-2 season record, is battling for a third consecutive Southeastern 1A-2A Conference championship, and West Columbus is still trying to gain its first win of the season.

West Columbus is carrying an 0-9 record following last week’s 46-6 road loss to St. Pauls. That setback came after a 23-15 overtime loss to Red Springs on Oct. 7.

East Bladen, which has been under head coach Lenon Fisher for 28 seasons, suffered a 25-7 non-conference loss to South Columbus and dropped a 26-25 thriller to St. Pauls in its conference opener.

West Bladen leads the Southeastern Conference with a 3-0 record while St. Pauls and East Bladen are right behind with 2-0 marks.

The Eagles posted a 13-1 record last season while advancing to the Eastern N.C. 1AA finals.

In last years’s game played a Cerro Gordo, East Bladen took a 45-7 victory.

In 1999, West Columbus shut out East Bladen 33-0 in a Waccamaw 2A Conference game and that marks the last time that the Vikings claimed a victory in the rivalry series.