The West Columbus Vikings will be playing at home against the Pender Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. West Columbus will be looking to keep their six-game home win streak (dating back to last season) alive.
Last Friday, West Columbus strolled past East Bladen with points to spare, taking the game 24-8. West Columbus pushed the score to 21-0 by the end of the third, a deficit East Bladen cut but never quite recovered from.
West Columbus can attribute much of their success to Jaylen Bellamy, who rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries. Bellamy was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 55 yards.
The team's defense also helped out by holding East Bladen to a paltry 209 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to West Columbus' ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out five times before it was all said and done. The heavy lifting was done by Tony Jordan and Dj Bryant who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 106 points the game before, Pender were a bit more limited in their match on Friday. They were beaten by Whiteville 56-6. Pender was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 35-6.
Even though the team lost, they still came through with several impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Jordan Hansley, who rushed for 81 yards.
West Columbus' victory lifted them to 7-1 while Pender's defeat dropped them down to 4-4.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Thursday's game as the two teams haven't had much trouble getting there this season. West Columbus commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 4.6 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like Pender struggles in that department as they've been even better at 4.7 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Thursday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup.
West Columbus didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Pender in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, but they still walked away with a 26-22 win. Will West Columbus repeat their success, or does Pender have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
