By By KEVIN TRAVIS
Sports Editor
Washington is hoping to give its seniors a win, and gain a little momentum heading into the playoffs, in tonight’s regular season finale.
The Pam Pack (5-5, 3-3) plays host to the West Carteret Patriots (5-5, 1-5) in the Coastal Conference finale. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at J.G. “Choppy” Wagner Stadium.
“They’ve been through a lot of adversity this season,” Washington coach Sport Sawyer said of his seniors. “They’ve played hard and they’ve worked hard.”
The Pack has won four straight over the Patriots, including a 41-14 win last year. West Carteret hasn’t won since a 34-16 nod in 2004.
The Patriots won their first four games of the season, but have lost five of their last six. The West Carteret offense is led by the running tandem of John John Papillion and Reubin Simmons.
“They have a pretty good offense,” Sawyer said of the Patriots. “I think they’ll come here and play hard.”
Washington will likely finish in fourth place in the standings. West Craven and Havelock, both 9-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play, are playing for the conference championship tonight.
South Central (7-3, 4-2) locks up third place with a victory over winless D.H. Conley. The Falcons own the tiebreaker over Washington after taking a 14-13 overtime win last week.
Senior Tony Turnage will play quarterback for the Pam Pack. The players behind him are a question mark as William Ellegor and Lindsey Harris have both been banged up.
Washington’s defense has been solid all season. The Pack is led by senior linebacker Ronnie Woolard, who has 109 tackles and five fumble recoveries to his credit.
Cole Hartley has 90 tackles, which includes a season-high 17 in last week’s game against South Central.
Amiar Johnson leads Washington with five quarterback sacks. Turnage’s five interceptions are a team best.
Washington will find out its playoff fate when the pairings are released Saturday.
“I think if we win, we might be an 11th or 12th seed,” Sawyer said. “If we lose, we could be 14th, 15th or 16th. But, like I told the guys, if we get in, anything can happen.”
YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE NIGHT
Youth League football players will be honored tonight. Any player in uniform accompanied by an adult will receive free admission. Players will also be introduced at halftime.
Key games in conference finales
The Williamston Tigers are certainly peaking at the right time. Heading into tonight’s regular season finale at Roanoke, Williamston has won five straight.
They’ll be looking for their sixth straight win, and second of the season over the Redskins, in this Four Rivers Conference contest. The Tigers (8-2, 5-1) rolled to a 52-0 win over the Redskins on Sept. 4.
Roanoke (3-7, 3-3) has turned things around in a big way, as the Redskins head into the game riding a three-game winning streak.
A win locks up second place in the conference for the Tigers. If Williamston wins, and Camden (1-9, 1-5) upsets Manteo (10-0, 6-0), the Tigers would share the conference crown with Manteo. However, the Redskins own the tiebreaker after beating the Tigers earlier this year.
Roanoke can tie for third in the conference with a win over Williamston, coupled with a Plymouth (6-4, 3-3) victory over Perquimans (4-6, 4-2).
The Tigers are led offensively by running back Cedric Moody (1,280 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns, 267 passing yards, 3 TD passes), quarterback Luke Matthews (94 of 168 for 1,206 yards, 9 TDs, 9 INTs) and receiver K.J. Brown (46 catches for 818 yards, 7 TDs).
The Williamston defense is led by Trevon Rodgers (6 INTs), Laquan Speller (5 INTs), Quinton Lawrence (4 INTs) and Walt Ange (3 fumble recoveries).
PERQUIMANS AT PLYMOUTH
The Plymouth Vikings face the Perquimans Pirates in a key Four Rivers Conference battle.
The Vikings (6-4, 3-3), who have dropped three of their last four games, can finish as high as third place in the conference with a win.
Perquimans (4-6, 4-2) enters the game winning two of its last three.
CRESWELL AT COLUMBIA
The Creswell Tigers will be looking to complete a perfect regular season when they visit Columbia in tonight’s Tideland Conference tilt. A win would give Creswell its second straight perfect run through conference play after going 8-0 last year.
The Tigers (9-0, 7-0) already have the conference championship wrapped up.
Creswell picked up a 48-8 win over Columbia on Oct. 2.
However, the Wildcats (5-3, 5-2) are playing much better football of late. Columbia has won its last three games.
A win locks up second place for the Wildcats. A loss, and a Jamesville win over Cape Hatteras, forces a tie for second between Columbia and Jamesville. Those two teams split their regular season games earlier this year.
Creswell is led offensively by Jaquan Bryant (793 yards rushing, 11 TDs), Timell Sawyer (780 yards rushing, 7 TDs) and Gary Blount (410 yards receiving, 355 yards rushing, 13 total TDs). The Tiger defense is spearheaded by Timothy Roughton (95 tackles), Shaton Basnight (85 tackles), Marchez Phelps (76 tackles), Tommy Cherry (75 tackles), Xavier Owens (65 tackles, 12 sacks) and Justin Phelps (4 INTs).
CAPE HATTERAS AT JAMESVILLE
The Jamesville Bullets are hoping to gain at least a share of second place with Columbia in the Tideland Conference standings. In order for that to happen, Jamesville (4-3, 4-3) will need to beat Cape Hatteras (1-8, 1-6) and have Columbia lose to Creswell.
The Bullets cruised to a 36-0 win over the Hurricanes on Oct. 2.