The West Brunswick Trojans will take on the Topsail Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for West Brunswick and 12 for Topsail dating back to last season.
On Friday, West Brunswick lost to New Hanover at home by a 28-14 margin.
Although West Brunswick took the loss, they still got scores from Marzell Stanley and Israel Saunders.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 52-12, which was the final score in Topsail's tilt against Hoggard on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 282nd, while the Vikings are ranked 14th).
West Brunswick will need to focus on slowing down Jackson Reeves, one of several Topsail players who made an impact when they last played. He picked up 125 receiving yards and one touchdown. The bulk of those receiving yards came from one huge play: a catch that gained an incredible 80 yards.
Topsail didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Luca Van Der Lee and Logan Stephenson. Topsail got some further help from Preston Plunkett: he forced one fumble and made 17 total tackles.
Topsail's defeat dropped their record down to 0-8. As for West Brunswick, they suffered their first home loss, dropping their record down to 4-4.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. West Brunswick has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 148.4 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Topsail, though, as they've been averaging only 75.6 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
West Brunswick ended up a good deal behind Topsail when the teams last played back in September of 2024, losing 24-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Pirates' Damarion Smith, who rushed for 43 yards and one TD, and also picked up 38 receiving yards and one score. Now that the Trojans know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
