H.S. FOOTBALL: Will the annual Fat Friday contest be another nail-biter?

Week 3’s trio of Burke County prep football matchups feature both extremes in terms of history between opponents.

In the game of the week locally, Freedom visits East Burke in the 51st installment of the Fat Friday rivalry. No two schools in county history have met more often on the gridiron, with the Patriots having owned the head-to-head series over the past decade and a half to seize a 31-19 all-time advantage over the Cavaliers.

The other two local contests next week represent first-ever head-to-head meetings, as Draughn caps nonconference play by hosting Wilkes Central and Patton returns from the bye week for the first of back-to-back home games as it faces Owen

The Paper’s sports staff will again take our best shot at breaking down the matchups and predicting the outcomes.

Here are the local Week 3 games …

Freedom at East Burke

Last season’s 12-7 Freedom home win over EB — which served as Derrick Minor’s final game as Cavaliers coach — marked the fourth consecutive contest in which these rivals battled it out in a game decided by two scores or fewer.

In that contest, Freedom’s Jaiveon Belin rushed 16 times for 96 yards and a touchdown, while EB’s Carter Bennett made his first varsity start at quarterback.

The year before, in the teams’ most recent meeting in Icard, the Cavaliers won 29-13 to halt a 13-year losing skid versus the Patriots.

The two head coaches, Freedom’s JK Adkins and EB’s Chris Cogdill, have combined to coach just one game in this rivalry. And that 2024 win was a breakthrough of sorts for Adkins, who had dropped his only previous game versus the Cavs as a head coach (in 2009, with Patton) and who as a Patriots player, lost narrowly to EB in both of his last two seasons (1995, 1996).

The outcomes in the series so far this decade have certainly resembled the good old days following a decade of absolute dominance by Freedom.

But next week’s showdown might be a reversal back to the 2010s, with the already banged-up Cavaliers figuring to have a hard time matching up with Freedom’s overall depth and speed as well as its ability to move the ball both on the ground and through the air.

NOTE: This game can be heard on The Big Dawg 92.1 FM, featuring Bob Clark and Paul Schenkel on the call, beginning at 7:15 p.m.

Predictions: Paul Schenkel — Freedom 40-6; Josh McKinney — Freedom 51-8

Owen at Patton

The once-mighty Warhorses won just once last fall and finished without a win in conference play, helping end Rosman’s lengthy losing streak. But Owen blanked the same Rosman squad on Week 1 this fall, 35-0, seven days after giving EB all it could handle at the Burke County Jamboree.

Owen did the bulk of its damage on the ground in that one as 262 of its 309 total yards of offense came via the rush, with junior quarterback Emmitt Minks and junior running back Stephen Anderson (both second-year starters) tallying at least 78 yards and one TD.

Patton, meanwhile, opened the season with a lopsided loss at Freedom, passing for negative yardage and throwing a pick-six, and needs to revert to its jamboree passing form to take some heat off sophomore stud running back Jet Chatman.

Ultimately though, whichever team establishes its run game more successfully early and can thus keep its defense fresh stands a great chance here.

The Panthers still seek their first varsity gridiron win since late September of 2022, and this contest offers them a great opportunity to do so.

Predictions: PS — Patton 34-20; JM — Patton 20-12

Wilkes Central at Draughn

The Eagles didn’t fare much better than Owen in 2024, winning just twice. But like the Warhorses, Wilkes Central also made the best of a fresh start this season, beating North Iredell 34-23 in Week 1 despite gaining just 135 total yards of offense (without a single player who gained 30 or more yards in any capacity).

Draughn’s offense also struggled mightily in the season opener, totaling just 104 yards and failing to find the end zone in a blowout loss to Bunker Hill.

Through Week 1, the Wildcats had lost three consecutive games dating back to the end of last season. Draughn hasn’t lost four or more straight games since coach Chris Powell’s first season at the Valdese program in 2018.

Draughn projected starting quarterback, junior Fore Putnam, may be able to return from injury to make his season debut and first career varsity start in this one, and the youthful hosts (whose roster features just a handful of seniors) will need all the help they can get to halt their struggles.

Predictions: PS — Wilkes Central 23-14; JM — Wilkes Central 27-13