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The struggle to return to normal after Hurricane Florence continues with a long weekend of games stretching from Friday until Monday night.

 

For teams like E.E. Smith, Douglas Byrd, Westover, Pine Forest, Overhills, Gray’s Creek and Cape Fear there will be the challenge of playing a second game in a short week.

 

For Terry Sanford, it’s going to be a battle of shaking off rust, as the Bulldogs haven’t played since their Sept. 7 road loss to Sandhills Conference rival Cape Fear.

 

Terry Sanford has practiced, of course, but that’s still three weeks plus removed from the atmosphere of a real game.

Of course, we in Cumberland County can be very thankful when looking at what’s going on in other counties in the southeastern corner of the state.

 

Near the coast, Brunswick and New Hanover county schools aren’t likely to get back in session until after Oct. 5. Duplin County schools just go word they are barred from even going onto their campuses until school officials can determine it’s safe.

Delays continue in neighboring Robeson County where the flood damage from Hurricane Florence was more severe.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association extended the football season one week to make it a little easier to reschedule games and get back on course, but those areas that can’t return to schedule until the first week of October or later may be looking at changes in the way their conference determines a champion to complete the season.

 

It may take some real outside the box thinking on the part of coaches and athletic administrators to sort it out.

The first concern for them, of course, is to get life back to normal after the damage from the hurricane. The fate of high school football is a small headache by comparison.

 

 

I was a perfect 4-0 in the games that were played Tuesday and Wednesday, running the season record to 32-13, 71.1 percent. Here are the picks for the long weekend.

 

Lumberton at Jack Britt - Britt put things together in its win over Southern Lee. Let’s see if they are able to survive the layoff and keep on winning against Lumberton.

 

Hoke County at Seventy-First - Bad timing for Hoke to be playing a Seventy-First team that will want to make a statement after its disappointing loss at Southern Durham before the hurricane arrived.

 

Douglas Byrd at E.E. Smith - This one is a tough call. Both teams are struggling, but Byrd has been a little more consistent offensively with Earlee Melvin providing a needed spark. I’m taking the Eagles in a close one.

 

Westover at Pine Forest - Pine Forest survived a scare with Douglas Byrd Tuesday and will need to be a lot sharper this weekend to get past a Westover team that’s got some skill players.

 

Overhills at Terry Sanford - Overhills got hammered by a Cape Fear team than beat Terry Sanford. The Bulldog defense may have trouble slowing Overhills down, but I think the Bulldogs can score on the Jaguars.

 

Gray’s Creek at Cape Fear - Cape Fear’s win over Overhills adds credence to the belief the Colts are headed for a showdown with South View for the Patriot Conference regular-season title. But Cape Fear better avoid a letdown coming off the Overhills win because this is not the Gray’s Creek team of last season.

 

 

Other games: Ravenscroft 32, Fayetteville Christian 6; Village Christian 20, Wake Christian 6; Trinity Christian open.