CALYPSO — For the second consecutive season bragging rights will take a backseat to a shot at a conference championship when Rosewood and North Duplin meet for the 51st time on Friday evening at H.E. Grubbs Field.
The game can be heard on 98.3 WGBR and Goldsborodailynews.com.
The UNC Health Wayne pre-game show begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by kickoff between Rosewood and North Duplin at 7.
The Eagles and Rebels first met in football in 1973. North Duplin leads the all-time series 30-20, but Rosewood has won five of the last six meetings.
The Rebels forced four turnovers and recovered an onside kick in the second half of a 39-32 victory at Branch Pope Field last season, as the two longtime rivals met with key Carolina 1-A Conference positioning at stake.
A loss at Lakewood two weeks before winning at Rosewood cost North Duplin an outright conference championship a year ago.
The Eagles fell in overtime at Lakewood in the regular season finale forcing the Rebels to share the conference championship.
The difference this season is both Rosewood and North Duplin are unbeaten in Carolina 1-A Conference play, and Friday night’s winner will be in the driver’s seat for a conference championship, and a more favorable seed in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1-A state playoffs.
The Rebels are seeking their first Carolina 1-A Conference championship since 2017. Rosewood captured conference championships in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Eagles’ head coach Josh Smith is confident his team gleaned valuable lessons from letting a pair of valuable opportunities slip away over the final two weeks of the regular season a year ago.
“I think it’s about taking care of us,” Smith said. “It’s about not giving really good teams second and third opportunities off of turnovers, and being able to get off the field on third down. It’s a great position to be in, and we’re fortunate to have been in this position for multiple years, and to be able to be challenged and to go up against a really, really good North Duplin football team, especially with both of us being 2-0 in the conference, and trying to get that tighter grip on the conference championship.”
North Duplin enters Friday night’s contest 7-0 and operates at a high level on both sides of the ball. The Rebels average 41 points a game behind a rushing attack that has dominated opponents.
Junior tailback Carell Phillips has rushed for 1,078 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 10.5 yards per carry. North Duplin averages 339.7 rushing yards per game and has 35 rushing touchdowns.
Fellow junior Trashawn Ruffin, a 6’4, 320 lb. defensive tackle and tight end, recently committed to Texas A&M, and anchors a defense that is allowing 9.86 points and just 133.7 yards per game.
The Rebels have forced 16 turnovers and have 32 tackles-for-loss.
“Both (Phillips and Ruffin) of those young men have worked extremely hard since they’ve been in the program to develop themselves physically,” North Duplin head coach Hugh Martin said. “They have talent and they also have a great work ethic, and they have really blossomed here this year, and it’s just great to see that work pay off for them. They’re great young men, and they come in with a great attitude every day. They’re just a joy to be around and they interact with the coaches and their teammates in such a positive way. In terms of Trashawn’s commitment, I’m just elated for him. It’s taken off since the summer, and I’m happy he’s found a place he’s comfortable with now, and I’m excited to see what he can do in the future.”
Rosewood’s defense which has given up over 1,000 yards and more than 20 touchdowns on the ground this season, will be tasked with slowing down a North Duplin offense that averages 43.4 rushing attempts per game.
In their three losses, the Eagles allowed 913 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. North Duplin rushed for 362 yards and five touchdowns on 47 carries (7.7 yards per carry) in last season’s victory at Rosewood.
“North Duplin has just got a great tradition of being hard-nosed and working hard and getting a lot of hats to the ball,” Smith said. “I think Coach Martin and both Coach (Brad) Rhodes do a great job offensively of utilizing what they have and being able to get a lot of people to the point of attack and putting the ball in playmakers’ hands. We’re going to have to play Rosewood football. We can’t allow the moment to get bigger than us, we have to play each snap, snap by snap, and just try to focus on what we can do to try to get ourselves in a position to win at the end.”
After starting the season 2-3, the Eagles have reeled off three straight wins, and have averaged 35 yards a game during that stretch.
An Eagles offense that struggled early in the season to fill the void left by the graduation of former standout tailback David Lamm, has found much-needed consistency in its running game in recent weeks.
During its three-game winning streak, Rosewood has rushed for 746 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 9.9 yards per carry.
That reliable running game has led to the growing comfort level of senior Hunter Sasser, who has been thrust into the role of quarterback since fellow senior quarterback Gio Pineda was lost for the season with a dislocated left elbow in week two at North Johnston.
Sasser has thrown five touchdown passes without an interception in the last three games.
“I think it’s what we prepare for in the pre-season and in our non-conference schedule and seeing really, really good opponents,” Smith said. ‘We figure out what we’re good at, and what we’re not good at, and we’re able to capitalize on those things after we’re into the conference and getting ready for the postseason. I think our guys are comfortable with each other now, and I think Hunter Sasser has gotten comfortable with filling in at that starting quarterback role after Gio went down in week two. Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence and looking forward to playing in the contest this Friday night at North Duplin.”
