Since its inception in 2021, the rivalry between Neuse 6 2-A Conference foes Princeton and Eastern Wayne has grown from a slow simmer to a steady boil.

The Bulldogs (7-4) won the first two meetings in the series, but the previous two contests have gone to Eastern Wayne.

Eastern Wayne defeated Princeton 52-15 last season at Little Big Horn, handing the Bulldogs their first loss to a conference opponent since the regular season finale in 2019.

Despite losing just one conference game to Wilson Beddingfield by a single point in 2023, Eastern Wayne was picked to finish third in the Neuse 6 2-A Conference at the league’s annual coaches meeting held in the summer.

The Warriors (9-2) used that perceived slight as motivation all summer, and they followed up their victory over Princeton last season with a 30-18 road win over the Bulldogs on Oct. 4.

With realignment coming to North Carolina High School Football in 2025, Friday night’s meeting in New Hope in the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2-A state playoffs could be the final meeting between Princeton and Eastern Wayne for quite some time.

Friday night’s victor may just find itself in the rare position of having possession of bragging rights that come without an expiration date.

The game can be heard on 98.3 WGBR and Goldsborodailynews.com.

Friday night will also mark the first time Eastern Wayne has played a second-round playoff game since 2014 when it finished 11-3.

The Bulldogs are in the second round for the fifth time in ten seasons under head coach Travis Gaster. Gaster has won seven games or more in nine of his ten seasons.

Eastern Wayne’s speed and athleticism was certainly a factor in its win at Princeton in early October. The Warriors’ defense routinely flew into the Bulldogs’ offensive backfield before ballcarriers could cross the line of scrimmage.

Princeton’s Single-wing offense which isn’t built for third-and-long situations, routinely struggled to gain positive yardage on first and second down.

Offensively, the Warriors distributed the football to their bevy of playmakers out in space, while taking plenty of deep shots, and junior quarterback Izeiah Oates threw for three touchdown passes, including an 80-yard scoring strike to Tavorus Dunn Jr.

Whether Eastern Wayne can once again utilize its advantage in speed on both sides of the ball, or if the Bulldogs’ can sustain drives offensively and shorten the game, while tackling as a unit defensively and limiting explosive plays will be a major storyline.

“We have to be even faster,” Warriors head coach Leander Oates said. “We know with the temperatures being what they’re supposed to be, we just have to overlook that. Our guys understand when we catch the ball, we gotta go. That’s our vantage point, and we’re going to be very smart with the ball again. Going into the game we understand they’re going to be over the top and make sure we don’t beat them with any long balls, so that’s what we’re going to make sure we’re working on is getting the ball in the right hands and finding the space.”

Princeton walked out of its loss to Eastern Wayne earlier this season pointing to missed opportunities to score in each half that went a long way toward deciding the outcome.

The Bulldogs recovered a Warriors’ fumble on a punt return deep in Eastern Wayne territory late in the second quarter. Princeton failed to convert the turnover into points and instead trailed 14-6 at halftime.

A second golden scoring opportunity was squandered in the third quarter as Princeton drove down the field behind physical running from junior Austin Lewallen, only to have freshman Teo McPhatter stuffed on 4th-and-goal from inside the 5-yard line.

“That’s the biggest message,” Gaster said of capitalizing on opportunities against Eastern Wayne on Friday night. “We had the ball inside the 5-yard line and we didn’t score. That’s what our offense is built for. It’s a manhood check for our guys and a reminder over and over the details of what we do matter. There’s some folks that can get away with not being great detail-oriented people just because they have athletes all over the place. That’s not who we are. We are at our best when we’re all locked in and focusing on the details of our specific position and the blocks we’re trying to execute.”

The Bulldogs were without senior running back Kadyn Haire against Eastern Wayne in early October. Haire experienced a minor setback early in the season in his ongoing recovery from a knee injury he sustained in the second game of the year in 2023.

Haire returned to the lineup the week after the loss to Eastern Wayne, and has rushed for 627 yards and 10 touchdowns during Princeton’s current five-game winning streak. He rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 13.4 yards a carry in the 55-18 win last week at East Carteret.

The Bulldogs have averaged 53 points a game during their winning streak and their offense has rushed for 3,762 yards (342 yards per game/7.3 yards per carry) and 55 touchdowns this season.

“We came into the season not knowing when we would get Kadyn back fully healthy,” Gaster said. “He had another minor setback there at the beginning of the year, and it threw us for a loop. Having (Haire, McPhatter, and Lewallen) is a lot better than having two of them. Kadyn is a major piece to us, even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hand he’s a threat just because of his speed. Having those three guys on the field at the same time has been very good for us.”

Eastern Wayne’s defense held Princeton to its second-lowest rushing output of the season (252 yards) in their matchup earlier this season.

The Bulldogs averaged 4.8 yards per carry in their October loss to the Warriors.

Eastern Wayne’s defense is holding opponents to 10.3 points per game and has held eight of its 11 opponents to 15 points or less.

The Warriors have forced 30 turnovers with 18 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries.

“Defensively we’re just going to hit them in the mouth,” Oates said. “That’s what they want you to do. They want to come back offensively and hit you in the mouth. We’ve got to hit everybody that’s around. If anybody’s around they’re just going to get touched, We have to make sure they understand that’s how we’re coming defensively.”