With an in-county rivalry bout on the slate, week four of the high school football season brought an even share of winners and losers amongst Chatham County’s teams.
Seaforth reappeared from its two-week hiatus and helped the county move to a combined 5-9 record this season. Securing its first victory of the year, the Hawks joined Jordan-Matthews as the two county teams to improve their records last week.
Here’s a recap of Friday’s football action, a preview of next week for each county team, conference standings and the latest football power rankings:
Seaforth
After not playing a game since Aug. 23, Seaforth (1-1, 1-0) didn’t miss a step in its 50-6 domination of Graham (0-3, 0-2) Friday.
The Hawks’ offense bounced back in a huge way following a disappointing showing against Westover and led the team to its largest victory in program history.
Seaforth ran all over Graham, tallying 277 yards rushing. Junior running back Evan Minor led the way with 137 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Duncan Parker poured in 95 yards and a score on the ground while also throwing for 153 yards and a touchdown.
Seaforth will host a tough conference foe in Cummings (3-1, 2-0), Friday at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers have utilized their versatile and effective rushing attack to hang over 50 points on its first two conference opponents.
The Hawks’ defense will have to step up like it has all season and control the line of scrimmage, while their offense will need to continue playing complementary football and take advantage of defensive stops.
Northwood
Northwood (1-3, 1-1) once again found itself on the receiving end of a rout, losing 41-6 at Southeast Alamance (4-0, 2-0) Friday.
The Chargers’ offense had another rough night as it lost three fumbles, threw an interception and gave up 7.5 sacks.
On the defensive end, Northwood got hit with a balanced offensive attack. Southeast Alamance quarterback Landon Dodson threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns while seven different rushers combined for 175 yards and four scores on the ground.
Northwood’s defense has been one of its strength’s this season, but it’ll have to return to its usual form Friday when it hosts a run-heavy Jordan-Matthews (2-2, 1-1) team at 7 p.m. Although it won’t be as easy as last year, the Chargers can once again regain some confidence against the Jets with an all-around bounce back performance.
Jordan-Matthews
Coming off their second straight victory in the rivalry series with Chatham Central, the Jets have another in-county rival in sight.
Jordan-Matthews hasn’t beaten Northwood since 2011, but the past doesn’t always tell the present. Northwood will be one of the more talented teams the Jets face this season, but the Chargers have shown weaknesses early this year.
If the Jets can out-muscle the Chargers, especially at the line of scrimmage, Jordan-Matthews can make this matchup more competitive than it has been over the years. This game will be a good test of just how different this year’s Jets are than its previous teams in recent history.
Chatham Central
Chatham Central (1-3, 0-2) came up just short against Jordan-Matthews Friday night, but it’s now looking ahead to a trip to Bartlett Yancey (1-3, 1-1) Friday at 7 p.m.
The Buccaneers are coming off a 56-20 loss to Cummings, and they haven’t been able to stop the run, giving up 300 rushing yards in its previous two games.
The Bears have found most of their offensive success on the ground behind Nick Glover and Eli Turner, and those two will need big games for Chatham Central to pull off a win.
Power Rankings
Last week: 1. Northwood; 2. Jordan-Matthews; 3. Chatham Central; 4. Seaforth
This week’s rankings: 1. Northwood; 2. Jordan-Matthews; 3. Seaforth; 4. Chatham Central
Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings: 1. Southeast Alamance (4-0, 2-0); 2. Cummings (3-1, 2-0); 3. Seaforth (1-1, 1-0); 4. Northwood (1-3, 1-1); 5. Jordan-Matthews (2-2, 1-1); 6. Bartlett Yancey (1-3, 1-1); 7. North Moore (0-3, 0-1); 8. Chatham Central (1-3, 0-2); 9. Graham (0-3, 0-2)