Last week’s picks resulted in an ugly 1-4 record, pushing the overall record to 20-8. Clinton pulled out a close one at East Bladen, Union gave up a big first half lead in their loss to Trask, Hobbton struggled against Spring Creek, Lakewood lost in a defensive struggle to North Duplin and Pender shocked Midway.

Clinton returns home to play conference rival Midway on Thursday night. The Raiders are reeling after their loss to Pender last week and need to right the ship in a hurry. This may not be the week for the Raiders to recover. Clinton played a much closer game than expected last week at East Bladen and the Dark Horses will be primed for this week’s match against the cross-county foe. The Dark Horses will run wild over the struggling Raider defense as Clinton makes this one a lopsided affair early on.

Final: Midway 6, Clinton 41

Hobbton plays Carolina Conference foe Princeton at home. Princeton has been very inconsistent this season, and an improving Hobbton squad could slip up on the Bulldogs if they are not careful. Hobbton will need to execute flawlessly on offense, eliminating costly errors and would need to force some turnovers on defense to have a chance in this one. The Wildcats will make it interesting early but look for Princeton to pull away and take the win.

Final: Princeton 35, Hobbton 13

Lakewood will travel to Rosewood on Thursday to face the Eagles. The Leopards once again struggled to score points against North Duplin in their loss last week. Rosewood has a productive offense and if the Leopards are not able to get the defense off the field it could be a long night. Lakewood will need to get some production out of an inconsistent offensive unit if they have any hopes of outscoring the Eagles. The Leopards just don’t have enough weapons to match the Eagles on the scoreboard. Look for a high scoring affair but the Leopards come out on the short end of the stick.

Final: Lakewood 27, Rosewood 31

In the Game of the Week, Union battles Wallace-Rose Hill on the road in a Thursday night showdown. Union shut out Trask for the first 23 minutes of their game on Monday. The only problem was the Spartans gave up 28 unanswered points in the final 25 minutes, falling to Trask for their first loss of the season. Wallace-Rose Hill continues to roll through their schedule, pounding West Bladen 49-6 last week to improve to 6-0.

If Union can eliminate the mistakes that haunted them this past week they can make a game out of this one. They will have to play nearly perfect on offense and have a huge defensive effort to beat the Bulldogs. If Union minimizes the mistakes they can keep the game in reach, but Wallace-Rose Hill probably has too much firepower for the Spartans. The outmanned Union squad gives a good effort, but comes up short in the end.

Final: Union 14, Wallace-Rose Hill 42

Donovan Hayes churns up yardage following a block by Ty Travers on Monday night. The Spartans lost a 21 point lead and dropped the first game of the season to Trask. The Spartans will travel to Wallace to face the Bulldogs on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the game of the week.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Donovan-Hayes-2-.jpgDonovan Hayes churns up yardage following a block by Ty Travers on Monday night. The Spartans lost a 21 point lead and dropped the first game of the season to Trask. The Spartans will travel to Wallace to face the Bulldogs on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the game of the week.

By Ryan Carter

Sports Writer