Stallions, Vikings set to meet
in intra-county football battle
Joey Price
SCHS head coach
Vernon Brigman
WCHS head coach
By DAN BISER
Sports Editor
The unbeaten South Columbus Stallions will play the second of four straight home games Friday night when they entertain the winless West Columbus Vikings.
Game time is 7:30.
South Columbus has beaten the Vikings in each of the past 13 seasons and is again considered the heavy favorite.
South Columbus posted an impressive 25-7 victory over East Bladen last Friday to put its season record at 3-0. East Bladen’s third-quarter touchdown was the only score the Stallions have allowed this season.
West Columbus came close to pulling a huge upset last week before falling to Whiteville 7-0. The Vikings are 0-4 and will close out their non-conference schedule against the Stallions.
“West Columbus is better than 0-4,” Coach Price said. “They did a good job against Whiteville last week and gave North Brunswick all they could handle too.”
The West Columbus defense held Whiteville to 87 yards of total offense last Friday. The only Whiteville score came in the closing seconds of the first half when the Wolfpack scored on a two-yard fumble recovery return on muffed Viking punt attempt.
Coach Vernon Brigman said that taking on a long established football program like South Columbus presents a huge challenge each year.
“They return solid every year and they are always a tough team to prepare for,” Brigman said. “They are always fundamentally sound and very well-coached. Their win over East Bladen last week was huge.”
South Columbus continues to operate with its trademark running game, but its passing game has also been very effective this season with the emergence of junior quarterback Justin Duncan.
Duncan completed 10 passes for 90 yards while senior fullback Buster James rambled for 150 yards on 17 carries against East Bladen.
James played primarily on defense for SCHS the past two seasons, but he has helped give the Stallions a solid power running game since moving over to the offensive side this season.
West Columbus senior back Travis Leggett is now in his fourth season as a two-way starter for the Vikings. In last year’s 47-7 loss to South Columbus, Leggett scored the only WCHS touchdown on a 70-yard run.
South Columbus opened the season with wins of 42-0 over St. Pauls, and 43-0 over Loris, S.C.
West Columbus fell to Heide Trask 33-22 in its opener. Its other losses came against East Columbus 30-15 and North Brunswick 27-19.
The South Columbus-West Columbus rivalry began in 1992 when South Columbus was formed by consolidation. West Columbus won the first two meetings by scores of 22-6 and 14-7. South Columbus has not lost to Vikings since.
South Columbus will be at home next week when it opens Waccamaw Conference play against North Brunswick and also on Sept. 28 when it is scheduled to take on Wallace-Rose Hill in a big non-conference match-up.