Rams in strange role

It may be a first for this year’s Havelock High football team.

"We’ll definitely be the underdog," Ram coach Jim Bob Bryant said.

The Rams (12-1) take on 13-0 Hertford County in the third round of the state 3A playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Ahoskie.

One of Bryant’s former assistant coaches is now an assistant at Hertford County, so the teams run similar spread offenses.

"In many aspects, we’re mirror images," Bryant said. "They do a lot of the stuff we do."

Hertford is coming off a 54-10 victory over Western Alamance in the second round. The Bears forced eight turnovers in the contest and got 202 yards passing and five touchdowns from quarterback Petey Boone. Michael Stephenson caught three of those TD passes and also added an 83-yard touchdown run.

Hertford posted four straight shutouts to end the regular season and has allowed 33 total points in its last eight games.

Havelock and Hertford do have one common opponent. The Rams beat White Oak 36-21 during the regular season, after leading 36-0 in the fourth quarter, while Hertford beat White Oak 35-9 in the first round of the playoffs.

"We’re going to have to play our best game of the year," Bryant said.

He said the Rams plan to stop in Williamston on the 2 1/2-hour bus ride to Ahoskie for a walk-through practice to break up the trip, so the players will be fresh at kickoff.

Bryant said the Rams are as healthy as they have been all year, and the game against Hertford will come down to execution. He said the Rams would have to block and tackle better than they did in last week’s 27-7 victory over East Rowan.

"We have to limit our turnovers," he said. "We have to move the chains on offense to limit their offense."

If you’re going

Hertford County High School is located at 1326 West First St., in Ahoskie.

DIRECTIONS: Take U.S. 70 West to U.S. 17 North in New Bern. Follow U.S. 17 through Washington, N.C. and Williamston to Windsor. At Windsor, take U.S. 13 North and continue for about 21 miles to Ahoskie. In Ahoskie, stay on U.S. 13 past hospital and take a left at West First Street, also N.C. 561. School will be on the right less than a mile down the road. Driving distance is about 113 miles. Drive time is estimated at two hours and 15 minutes, according to MapQuest.