Unless you’re Clayton or Cleveland, if you’re a Johnston County team playing high school football in round one of the playoffs, you’re getting on a bus Friday afternoon.
That’s the case for North Johnston, which will try to extend a solid first season under head coach Kyle Schenk with a first-round win at Martin County.
Records: North Johnston 6-4; Martin County 7-3
How they got here: North Johnston earned a wildcard after finishing in third place in the Neuse 6, while Martin County was second place overall, and the top 2A finisher, in the Two Rivers 1A/2A.
Simmons Ratings pick: Martin County -25
On the road: Per Google, it’s 86 miles from the parking lot at North Johnston to the parking lot of Martin County High School in Williamston. It’s straight up on I-95 for a bit, then east on U.S. 64.
Series: These teams have not met. Mainly because Martin County High school didn’t exist before this year. It was created with the merger of Riverside and South Creek High School over the summer.
Fun fact: Martin County is led by Hunter Jenks, who you might remember from his Johnston County coaching days at South Johnston and Clayton.
Stat pack: Martin County has played a decent schedule, featuring five wins over playoff teams. All three losses were to teams that made the postseason as well (Tarboro, Bertie and North Pitt), and two of those were by two points each. The Gators score about 35 points per game and allow 15.
It looks like Pete Moore took the reins at quarterback from Jysen Shepherd in mid-October. The freshman held his own, but isn’t quite as explosive as Shepherd. The leading rusher is Jah Sheppard, which isn’t at all confusing to new followers of this team.
On defense…
Meanwhile, for the Panthers, the four losses have all been to playoff teams. North has two wins over playoff teams, but neither of them (Lakewood and Hobbton) had winning seasons. Schenk’s squad is scoring 28 points per game and allowing 22. So close games are the norm for this bunch.
If the Panther offense were a car, Kaleb Pone would be its engine, gasoline and air freshener. The junior has accounted for 27 of the team’s 37 touchdowns and a combined 2,475 yards. And an extra week off to let an injury heal up is pretty good, too.
On the other side of the ball,
Keys to the game: I alluded to it earlier, but a healthy Pone is an equalizer in this game. He missed the Eastern Wayne game, and the offense was unable to pay off a solid defensive effort. I bring that game up because, in the Simmons Power Ratings, Martin County is at 105.2. Chris’ formula has Eastern Wayne at 105.9.
The Panthers are back at 82.3, but I wonder how this would all look of Pone were available for that game that eventually decided the Neuse 6.
This game might be decided on the other side of the ball. Moore is a freshman, and assuming he’s still going to be playing quarterback (the internet has no data on Shepherd’s availability), he’s been up and down for the Gators. He threw three interceptions in the regular season finale against Bertie, a 16-14 loss.
Defensive coordinator Michael Parrish will likely try to put the game in Moore’s hands, and find out how the freshman holds up.
Prediction: My head says that Martin County will find a way to eek out a win on its home field. My heart thinks that the Gators will scuffle a bit against North’s defense, and Pone will make enough plays to produce an upset.
Either way, it feels like a close game to me.