Longtime rivals Charles B. Aycock and Eastern Wayne opened their respective seasons with convincing wins a week ago.
When the Golden Falcons and Warriors collide on Friday night at Little Big Horn they’ll both aim to add validity to those Week 1 wins.
The 31st all-time meeting between Aycock and Eastern Wayne can be heard on 98.3 WGBR and on Goldsborodailynews.com. The UNC Health Wayne pre-game show begins at 6:30 p.m. , followed by the Strickland, Agner, Pittman, Law High School Football Game of the Week at 7.
The series between the Golden Falcons and Warriors is tied at 15-15, but Aycock has won the last two meetings, including a 33-20 victory a tear ago.
The Golden Falcons put up over 500 yards of offense in a 48-20 win at Rosewood last Friday night behind a rebuilt offensive line tasked with replacing three starters from last season. Senior tailback Ricky Elliot finished with 218 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Sid Lancaster displayed the composure of a veteran in his first varsity start while completing six passes for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Uncharacteristic drops by upperclassmen wide receivers were one of the only weakness in an otherwise solid performance by Aycock’s offense.
“I think Sid did a great job of running the offense,” Golden Falcons’ head coach Tom Zietlow said. “He made some good throws. He probably should have had a few more completions, but we dropped probably three or four passes too. We ran the ball very well all night, I was definitely happy with his first start.”
The Warriors began their 2024 campaign with a 38-0 victory over Southern Wayne, while avenging last season’s loss to the Saints.
Junior quarterback Izeiah Oates threw for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win over Southern Wayne. Oates threw for 2,350 yards with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
How Eastern Wayne chooses to attack an Aycock secondary that allowed Rosewood receiver Talan Collins to haul in six passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns will be worth watching.
Collins got behind the Golden Falcons’ defense for touchdown catches of 65 and 70 yards, and the Warriors possess multiple big-play receivers, including Trondel Smith, who had 871 receiving yards and eight touchdowns a year ago.
Turnovers were a critical factor in Aycock’s victory over Eastern Wayne last season, as the Golden Falcons intercepted Izeiah Oates three times. Oates threw a pair of interceptions last week in the victory over Southern Wayne.
“We can’t start late in the game like we did against Aycock last season,” Leander Oates said. “Those turnovers happened very early. We decided to get relaxed late, and we were able to move the ball efficiently like we had planned to at the beginning. We’ve got to limit the turnovers, and not give them good field position. We’ve got to make sure whenever we’re in the red zone we’ve got to capitalize.”
Aycock’s running game also played a key role in the win over the Warriors last season. The Golden Falcons rushed for 303 yards on 28 carries (10.8 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.
“I think we’ve got to keep Eastern Wayne’s offense off the field because they’ve got some athletes that can make some plays,” Zietlow said. “We’ve got to try to control the football game with the running game. It’s going to be a big part, and being able to try to sure up some of those flaws we had in the secondary last week.”
Defensively, both teams are laden with size and speed and veterans littered at seemingly every key position. Aycock returned nine starters to a unit that forced 25 turnovers a year ago, and gave up 15 points or less five times.
Eastern Wayne’s defense is anchored by upperclassmen that played pivotal roles in holding four opponents to eight points or less, including three shutouts, last season.
Producing stops on key third downs, forcing a turnover at an opportune time and getting the football back to your offense could go a long way in deciding this matchup between two old Wayne County rivals.
“We’ve just got to play our football,” Leander Oates said. “We’ve got to make sure that we wrap up. We’ve got to make sure that we read our keys and just play honest defense. It’s just a matter of how bad the kids really want it going into it. We’ve got to live with the slogan of how football is really played, and you’ve got to be relentless, you’ve got to be fierce and you’ve got to dominate.”
