For Rockingham, first place in the Mid-State 3A Conference is on the line. Meanwhile, Reidsville is looking to remain undefeated with a county rival standing in the way. On the other side of the coin, Morehead and McMichael are just hoping to stay relevant as the second half of the season begins. Let's take a look at what's on deck:

Rockingham (2-0) at Eastern Guilford (2-0, 2-3)

It took the Cougars a few days to dry out after pulling off a 9-6 win over Smith in the torrential, pouring rain from the approach of Hurricane Helene Sept. 26

Sunny skies are forecast this week, however, as Rockingham gets set to face their toughest Mid-State 3A Conference opponent of the season to-date in Eastern Guilford this Friday night at 7 p.m.

After a losing their first three games of the season to Northern Guilford, Williams and Western Alamance respectively – all non-conference opponents – the Wildcats have won their last two over Mid-State 3A rivals Northeast Guilford (1-1, 2-3) and High Point Central (0-2, 0-5) in impressive fashion. The Wildcats had a 54-24 road win over Northeast Guilford Sept. 20, followed by a 64-0 shutout victory over High Point Central last Thursday.

Rockingham, Eastern Guilford and Dudley all enter the week tied for first place in the Mid-State 3A Conference with unblemished league marks. There is a lot on the line for the Cougars and Wildcats in particular, as they try and build post season worthy resumes.

Based on their current trajectories, a win for Rockingham could mean a great season and a shot at a home playoff game, while a loss could mean hitting the road in the postseason to face a top seed or missing the playoffs altogether.

For Eastern Guilford, a loss could mean a bubble spot, whereas a win could mean a showdown for first place.

This is all speculation at this point, however, because there are still several games left to play. Best case scenario for the winner, is a shot at a Mid-State 3A Conference regular season title if both continue the winning track and knock off undefeated Dudley (2-0, 5-0), and that's a tall order.

Rockingham enters the game, battle-tested however, following two consecutive wins.

"It's a big week . . . you've got three teams vying for a chance at first, so obviously us and Eastern Guilford is a big game at their place. They are going to be ready to play. They are well-coached, but we are going to be ready to go too," Rockingham head coach Doug Robertson said.

Ironically, it was Robertson that helped rebuild the Eastern Guilford football program as the Wildcats former head coach. This week, he and the Cougars will focus on beating his former team, a place that still holds a special place in his heart.

"I think what we were able to do over there from 2012 to 2019 was special and I think if I had anything to do with that, we changed the mind-set of what football needed to be there. Football wasn't real important when I got there, but when I left football became important and it stayed that way with the coaches they hired. It's certainly nice to see their program flourishing. I have a lot of great memories there and love for that place and it's still going. They are doing good things there and Tim Bagamary is a heck of a head coach and he's got a really good staff. But we're at Rockingham now and focused on getting ready to go over there and beat an Eastern Guilford team that's going to be really well-coached and are a really good team," said Robertson.

Reidsville at McMichael

McMichael is probably not looking forward to this Friday's home game with undefeated Reidsville coming to town fresh off a bye week. The Phoenix (0-2, 1-5) are still smarting following a 59-0 shutout loss at North Forsyth Sept. 26, a team the Rams defeated 37-0 the previous week.

McMichael is averaging 14 points per game while allowing 34.1 on average defensively, and have been shutout in their last two games.

Meanwhile the Rams (1-0, 5-0) are surging, averaging 40.2 points per game and allowing just nine per contest. They will enter the game supremely confident after the aforementioned win over North Forsyth in week five.

One of the questions for Reidsville entering the 2024 season was who would step into primary leadership positions with the graduation of several prominent seniors from the 2023 NCHSAA state championship team.

Two great ones have emerged however, in senior running back Jariel Cobb and junior quarterback Dionte Neal.

Cobb emerged as the go-to guy in the 28-18 win over Clinton in the 2023 title game after rushing for 145 yards on 24 carries. That momentum carried over to 2024.

Cobb has already amassed 790 yards rushing on 75 attempts and scored 10 touchdowns. He's a vocal leader a lot of the young guys look up to, and his play on the field as he sets the example of what is expected on a championship team.

After making the transition from wide receiver last year to quarterback in 2024, Neal is obviously the voice and heart of the offense. He stepped into a difficult situation following the departure of 2023 2A NCHSAA MVP quarterback Al Lee, who broke multiple program passing records during his senior year. But Neal's decision making has been superb, and he's got the numbers to prove it. He's completed 75 of 95 attempts for 886 yards. Neal has thrown a dozen touchdowns and only one interception this season. He's also spreading the ball around evidenced by five different Reidsville receivers having scored touchdowns so far this season.

At this point, it looks like a three-horse race for the Mid-State 2A Conference championship with the Rams, West Stokes (2-0, 5-1) and Walkertown (1-0, 4-1) head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league.

History won't be on McMichael's side this Friday night when Reidsville comes to town. The Phoenix have never defeated the Rams since the two teams met for the first time in 1989.

Reidsville has had unprecedented domination within the county lines for nearly two decades.

The last county team to garner a win over Reidsville was Morehead in a 34-28 road loss to the Panthers in 2005 – 18 years ago.

Morehead (1-1, 1-5) at Walkertown (1-0, 4-1)

After finally getting the monkey off of their collective backs with a 27-0 win over county rival McMichael the previous week, Morehead suffered a 24-6 loss at West Stokes (2-0, 5-1) Sept. 26. The Panthers will have their hands full once again with a very good Walkertown team on deck this Friday.

The Wolfpack is coming off a 14-6 win over High Point Central last Saturday. Walkertown could very well be undefeated after a fourth quarter rally came up just short in a 21-20 road loss to North Davidson Sept. 13.

First-year Walkertown head coach Tripp Honeycutt is quickly climbing the coaching ranks rebuilding the Wolfpack program after two seasons as the coach at South Davidson. Another win for Honeycutt and Walkertown puts him in serious consideration for Mid-State 2A Conference Coach of the Year if he hasn't already done so.

Wolfpack sophomore quarterback Santana Garcia has thrown 8 TDs and completed 62% of his passes so far this season, while his number one target senior wide receiver Mitrend Curry has caught seven of those touchdown throws. Walkertown has put big numbers on the board with their running game as well led by senior back Cam Kelly who has scored 11 touchdowns.

No matter who emerges victorious the week in the three county games, the playoff picture will certainly become clear.

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