With the recent news that the high school football season is getting another week at the end of the regular season, this week marks the three-quarter pole.

It’s light math, so we can manage it.

That being said, let’s have a peek at this week’s slate:

Week 8

Princeton (2-4, 0-1) at Goldsboro (0-6, 0-1)
North Johnston (4-2, 1-0) at Beddingfield (1-4, 1-0)
South Johnston (3-3, 1-2) at Southern Wayne (1-5, 0-3)
Smithfield-Selma (0-6, 0-3) at West Johnston (4-2, 2-1)
Cleveland (6-0, 3-0) at Willow Spring (1-5, 0-3)
Clayton (6-0, 3-0) at South Garner (1-4, 0-3)
Fuquay-Varina (2-4, 0-3) at Corinth Holders (5-1, 2-1)
American Leadership Academy is idle

All the media types

It’s been planned this way since August, but you wouldn’t blame us media types for wanting to check out Corinth Holders this week. The JoCo Sports Game of the Week makes its way to Wendell for the Pirates’ clash with Fuquay-Varina.

You can catch live, free audio from that game right here, starting at 6:40, and it will also be broadcast on 102.3 FM by our friends at Curtis Media Group.

Carl Smith’s first season is going rather well, buoyed by a defense that’s allowing a shade over 16 points per game and a two-headed rushing attack from Jaylon Holder (488, 9 TD) and Zeon Ware (450, 10 TD).

At first glance, one might expect Corinth Holders to be heavily favored in this one. The Massey Index, however, has a different take. The computer has the Pirates as only a 1.5-point favorite, probably due to the rugged nature of the Bengals’ schedule. Those four losses came against Clayton, Cleveland, Southeast Raleigh and Holly Springs.

Jeb Hall’s teams are always tough and physical, so the Pirates had better be ready.

the road to 50

Cleveland will visit Willow Spring in search of its 49th consecutive regular-season win this week, and the Massey folks have them as a 39.5-point favorite.

The folks at JOCO Radio will have the call for this one, and all signs point to a comfortable Rams’ victory.

The road to Cleveland

No one at Clayton will admit it, but it’s not hard to think a little about a possible for-all-the-marbles showdown with Cleveland on Nov. 1.

There’s work to be done first, including this week’s trek to South Garner. The computers aren’t worried, tabbing the Comets as 33.5-point favorites.

Much like its rivals, the odds are heavily in favor of a positive result for Clayton. Catch this one on CRN.

A sprint to the finish

Thanks to its 39-32 loss at Fike back on Sept. 20, West finds itself chasing the Demons for the top spot in the Quad County 3A. C.B. Aycock is also perfect in league play, but the Wildcats will get a crack at them next week.

First things first, though, and that’s a county rivalry home game with Smithfield-Selma. The Spartans are still seeking their first win, and the Massey Index has them as 28.5-point underdogs.

You have to go back to 2016 to find a margin of victory that wide, and SSS has actually won two of the last three meetings.

Still, it’s hard to look past West Johnston, even in a letdown spot with CBA coming up next week.

bounce back spot

South Johnston is 0-2 without starting quarterback Tyler Williams, but if there was a spot where the ground game and the defense should be able to carry the day, it would be a road trip to Southern Wayne.

No disrespect to the Saints, but with a 1-5 record, and a 35.5-point underdog status from the folks at Massey, this has all the makings of a Trojan runaway.

Speaking of bouncing back

Princeton’s Neuse 6 opener didn’t go according to plan last week, but a short trek over to winless Goldsboro offers a chance to square the conference ledger.

The Bulldogs are 38.5-point favorites, according to the computer, and you’ll get no argument from me.

keeping things rolling

North Johnston started its conference slate with a win last week, and the Panthers will be on the hunt for No. 2 at 1-4 Beddingfield in Week 8.

North is a 19.5-point favorite, and with the way its offense is playing, it’s not hard to figure out why. Kaleb Pone is having a remarkable junior season, accounting for 1,660 total yards of offense and 16 touchdowns from the quarterback position.

Corinth Holders’ first season under Carl Smith is turning heads around the area, but Kyle Schenk’s first season in Kenly is also going pretty well.