ST. PAULS — Just as its been in each of the last two seasons, Friday’s game between Clinton and St. Pauls will be for the Southeastern Athletic Conference lead.

But Clinton appears to have fielded its best team in that span this season, dominating every opponent in its path so far.

St. Pauls will be the latest to take their shot at the Dark Horses when the teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at G.S. Kinlaw Stadium.

“(We need to) play Bulldog football,” St. Pauls coach Mike Setzer said. “We can’t worry about what they’ve done in the past, we can’t worry about their resume. We’ve got to be who we are and we’ve got to come to play. We’ve got to put in a valiant effort, and we’ve got to be a concerted effort. They’re a good enough team that you can’t make a lot of mistakes with those guys; they are who they are, they’ve earned the right to be who they are. They’re a tough team, but you’ve got to play the game.”

Clinton (8-0, 3-0 Southeastern) has won every game by at least 26 points this season, outscoring the opposition 407-91; this includes a 181-28 scoring advantage in the Dark Horses’ three conference games. The team has scored 40 points or more in all eight of its games and has allowed more than 15 points only once, giving up 22 to Wallace-Rose Hill.

Last week, Clinton defeated Midway 58-0 after the Raiders had entered the game at 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Southeastern.

“You’ve got a four-star, three-star, two-star, one-star, zero-star (recruits),” Setzer said. “They’re a talented team. But I also think they play really passionate for their head coach. When you mix in talent with passion, they’re pretty tough to beat.”

St. Pauls beat Clinton in 2021 en route to the Southeastern title, winning a 58-32 shootout in St. Pauls. Clinton won last season’s game with similar stakes in a 23-20 classic, scoring on a hook-and-lateral within the final two minutes for the go-ahead touchdown.

The game once again has high stakes, with St. Pauls (5-3, 3-0 Southeastern) riding a five-game winning streak since its 0-3 start, including wins to start conference play against Red Springs, Fairmont and West Bladen, a 49-21 decision last week.

“I think (Clinton coach Cory) Johnson and I have done a good job of building a healthy rivalry,” Setzer said. “I think that both teams are excited about getting to compete against each other. I think it’s a really healthy rivalry that we need in our conference, and our teams already understand the parameters of it — I don’t need to get them up for this game.”

The Dark Horses feature weapons all over the field offensively, with perhaps none more explosive than Josiah McLaurin (723 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 296 receiving yards, seven receiving touchdowns), who is listed as a wide receiver but is used in a variety of ways in the Clinton offense. Josiah Robinson (678 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdowns) is also impactful in the run game, while Nydarion Blackwell (922 passing yards, 12 touchdowns) leads the passing game, completing 64% of his passes with just one interception.

“I think our defense has shown every week, they’ve answered the challenge — but this is going to be their biggest challenge so far,” Setzer said. “I don’t think they’ve seen a defense like us, and I don’t think we’ve seen an offense like them, so it should make for a good doggone game. Tell people to sit in the seats and don’t leave early.”

St. Pauls’ offense, which has scored 41.3 points per game in its last three outings after a slow start to the season, will go against an experienced and deep Clinton defense. Its leadership includes linebackers Jayden Williams (38 tackles, five tackles for loss), Dustin Williams (30 tackles, six tackles for loss) and Javion Kenan (25 tackles, two interceptions), safety Alexander Evans (38 tackles, four tackles for loss) and defensive end Amaris Williams (20 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, four sacks).

“It’s going to have to be mistake-free football, no turnovers, and just continue to highlight the things that we do,” Setzer said. “We’re out of the Thomas Edison stage now; we’re not trying to figure out what light bulb works. We know which light bulb we’re going to screw in, and that’s what we’re going to do, we’ve just got to do a good job of being consistent what we do good at.”

St. Pauls’ 2021 win over Clinton was its only victory in seven all-time meetings. The teams were also conference opponents from 2001-04 and Clinton has won five of the six conference games between the programs.

Lumberton at Seventy-First

As the Pirates return to the gridiron fresh off their first win in two years, they’ll do so against their toughest opponent of the season, traveling to United-8 Conference leader Seventy-First for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Seventy-First (8-0, 5-0 United-8) has won 28 straight regular-season games, including 19 straight United-8 games.

Dual-threat quarterback Deandre Nance (949 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, 777 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns) has completed 66% of his passes with just one interception this season, which came in last week’s 48-0 win over Purnell Swett; he is one of three 700-yard rushers for the Falcons, alongside Donovan Frederick (781 rushing yards, seven touchdowns) and Jayson Franklin (739 rushing yards, six touchdowns). Amire Drummond (271 receiving yards, three touchdowns), Jytavius Whitted (267 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and Zayvion Hill (192 receiving yards, five touchdowns) are Nance’s biggest targets.

Frederick (80 tackles, 28 tackles for loss) and Hill (69 tackles, 18 tackles for loss) also anchor a defense that’s allowed 14 points or less in all eight games this season.

Lumberton (1-7, 1-4 United-8) seeks its first back-to-back wins since 2017 after last week’s 41-18 win over Douglas Byrd, which ended a 19-game losing streak.

Seventy-First has won 10 straight meetings, including all six since the schools became conference opponents in 2017. Lumberton last beat the Falcons in 2012, and Seventy-First leads the all-time series 11-4.

Purnell Swett at Douglas Byrd

Purnell Swett will look to get back on track in the final two weeks of the regular season, starting with Friday’s game at 7:30 p.m. at Douglas Byrd.

The Rams (4-4, 1-4 United-8) have lost four straight games after winning their first four of the season.

Douglas Byrd (0-8, 0-5 United-8) lost its ninth straight game last week in a 41-18 defeat at Lumberton. While the Eagles have lost two games to Robeson County opponents this season, their last five wins have all come against Robeson County teams; this includes wins over Purnell Swett in each of the last two years, with a 28-20 win last year in Pembroke.

The trio of quarterback Isaiah Pope (623 passing yards, five touchdowns), running back Sincere Blount (303 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and receiver Talik McCollum (328 receiving yards, four touchdowns) lead the Eagles offensively. Linebacker Jayden Abney (40 tackles, six tackles for loss) is a defensive player to watch.

Douglas Byrd leads the all-time series 5-3 including wins in each of the last two years since the teams became United-8 Conference opponents.

Midway at Red Springs

Red Springs’ stretch of three straight home games to finish the season hits its second week as Midway visits for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff.

Midway (6-2, 2-1 Southeastern) is coming off its first conference loss, a 58-0 blowout at Clinton. The Raiders have played several high-scoring games this season — including an 80-58 score in their other loss, against James Kenan; they are scoring 40.5 points per game and allowing 34.8 per contest this season.

The Raiders feature several conference statistical leaders offensively. Tripp Westbrook (1,656 passing yards, 17 touchdowns) has thrown frequently to both Andre Gregory (747 receiving yards, four touchdowns) and Kemari McNeill (515 receiving yards, nine touchdowns), while Cody Ammons (934 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns) has been a force on the ground.

Red Springs (4-4, 1-2 Southeastern) won 16-6 against Fairmont last week after losing in its previous two outings.

Midway has defeated Red Springs in each of the last two seasons since the teams became conference foes, including a 59-14 win last year. The Red Devils previously won three playoff meetings, in 2011, 2012 and 2019, and lead the all-time series 3-2.

Fairmont at West Bladen

The two remaining winless teams in Southeastern Athletic Conference play will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in Bladenboro as Fairmont takes on West Bladen. The game has been moved up from Friday to Thursday due to an inclement forecast, Fairmont officials said Wednesday.

West Bladen (2-6, 0-3 Southeastern) has lost four straight games including its first three in the league, with a combined score of 237-78 in those four contests. The Knights lost 49-21 to St. Pauls last week.

Hunter Hester (612 passing yards, seven touchdowns) leads a pass-first offense in which 64% of the team’s yardage has come through the air, with Hezekiah Adams (344 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns) as his leading target. Messyah Whitted (316 rushing yards, three touchdowns) is the team’s leading rusher. Defensively, Adams also has two interceptions and linebacker Jahmar Richardson leads the team with 35 tackles.

Fairmont (1-7, 0-3 Southeastern) has lost seven straight games since a season-opening win over Lumberton; the Golden Tornadoes lost 16-6 at Red Springs last week.

Fairmont leads the all-time series 10-8, and the teams have split 14 meetings as conference opponents, but the Golden Tornadoes have won eight of the last nine meetings; West Bladen’s lone win in the stretch game in 2021.