By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Williams and Southeast Alamance are the only Alamance County football teams to reach the second round of the state playoffs in both 2023 and this year.
They’ll have home games Friday night, while Western Alamance goes on the road.
The East Region games begin at 7:00 p.m. Here are matchups for Alamance County teams:
Jacksonville at Williams
This is a Class 3-A game. Fifth-seeded Williams (10-1) has won 10 games in a row. The Bulldogs will face a team with a winning record for the third time in a two-month span.
Williams lost second-round playoff games on the road the last three years.
No. 12 seed Jacksonville (9-1), which owns a four-game winning streak, has scored more than 50 points in each game of its streak. Running back Demon June, a North Carolina commit since the summer, is a go-to player for the Cardinals. He was charted for 407 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 23 carries in a 62-43 victory at Greeneville Conley last month.
Jacksonville’s 2023 season ended with a second-round overtime loss at Southern Alamance. The Cardinals won a first-round game in the 2021 playoffs against visiting Western Alamance then won in overtime three rounds later at Eastern Alamance.
Western Alamance at Havelock
In Class 3-A, these teams have met three times in the postseason, most recently in the 2021 spring season. Havelock has won each meeting, also in 2017 and 2019.
This year, the lone loss for top-seeded Havelock (10-1) came by 28-27 to New Bern in September.
The No. 16 seed Warriors (8-3) are trying to reach the nine-win mark for the first time since the 2021 spring season.
Kinston at Southeast Alamance
This is a Class 2-A game. The third-seeded Stallions (11-0) have defeated 12 different schools in their two seasons since the school opened. They aim for a 13th.
No. 19 seed Kinston (7-4) beat South Columbus 39-38 in overtime in the first round. Three of the Vikings’ four losses came by a combined eight points and those were all on the road. A victory would give Kinston eight wins for the second time in a six-season stretch.
