Playoff season is always bittersweet, just because the end can happen so swiftly.

That was certainly the case for Princeton and Clayton in round two of the NCHSAA Football Playoffs last week, as each fell in road games.

Cleveland will be practicing on Thanksgiving and playing on Black Friday, however, after defending its home turf against Ashley.

Let’s take a closer look:

Bulldogs drop heartbreaker

Princeton and Eastern Wayne staged a thriller at “Little Big Horn” Friday night, with the Warriors holding on for a 40-36 victory.

The most recent JoCo Sports Game of the Week was a wild affair, with both teams trading haymakers after a scoreless first quarter.

Eastern Wayne’s Izeiah Oates was outstanding, accounting for 327 total yards of offense and all six Warrior touchdowns. The hosts needed every bit of that as Princeton’s Teo Mcphatter rushed for 172 yards and two scores while recording a pair of interceptions, one of which he returned for a score.

It had the feel of one of those whoever-has-the-ball last kind of games pretty early, and that’s exactly how it played out.

Cliche alert: It’s a shame someone had to lose. Princeton concludes its season at 7-5, while Eastern Wayne (10-2) will visit Whiteville for round three.

Richmond County turns back Clayton

An Aiden Smalls touchdown pass to River Fiore staked Clayton to a 7-0 first-quarter lead against Richmond County, but the Raiders reeled off the next 17 points on their way to a 24-13 win.

The Comets (10-2) pulled within four at 17-13 on a Smalls touchdown run with a little more than seven minutes left, but the Raiders (10-2) responded with a run-dominated, six minute scoring drive to provide the game’s final margin.

Richmond County hosts Rolesville in round three.

rams get defensive

You might have read in this space last week about the concern some folks had about Cleveland’s state of mind heading into a second-round game against Ashley.

As the Michael Jordan meme would say, they may have taken that personally. The Rams rushed for 203 yards, allowed one less than that in total offense for the Eagles and threw in nine sacks in a 21-3 victory.

Cleveland, now 12-0 on the season, will welcome Jordan to town on Friday night.