Lee County, Union Pines, and Southern Lee Make Playoffs – 1st Round Previews

Updated Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Three Tri-County 3A teams will head to the playoffs for post-season play starting this coming Friday night. Lee County earned the #1 overall seed in the 3AA East Regional and has home field advantage all the way if the Yellow Jackets keep winning. Lee County (11-0) will host #16 Eastern Guilford (6-5) of the Mid-Piedmont 3A Conference Friday night at Paul Gay Stadium in Sanford.

The Tri-County 3A #2 team, the 10th seeded Union Pines Vikings (8-3) will travel to take on #7 West Bruswick in the 3AA playoffs this Friday night.

Southern Lee (6-4), the Tri-County 3A #3 seed and the #12 seed in the 3A East, will travel to face #5 Rocky Mount in the 1st round.

The Lee County Yellow Jackets will host Eastern Guilford this Friday night in the 1st round of the 3AA Playoffs. Eastern Guilford finished 6-5 overall, and the #3 seed from the Mid-Piedmont 3A Conference. Eastern Guilford averages 29 points per game and has amassed nearly 4000 yards of total offense. Quarterback Kamell Smith, at 6’4″ and 200 pounds, leads the EG offense. Smith has thrown for 1881 yards, 22 TDs and 14 INTs. Leading rushers include Hezekial Newby with 835 yards on 118 carries, Smith with 596 on 104 carries, and Zephania Cole with 361 yards on 70 carries. Three Eastern Guilford receivers have over 25 catches on the season with Damon Coleman leading the way with 45 catches for 648 yards. Lee County will counter with QB Colin Johnson, who has 1811 yards, 21 TDs and only one INT on the season. AJ Boulware leads the Lee County rushing attack with 1422 yards while Larry Baldwin has chipped in 557 yards on the season. Tyric Mckendall leads that Yellow Jackets receivers with 34 catches for 550 yards. Lee County averages 43 points per game and have given up 11 points defensively per game this season.

Southern Lee will head to Rocky Mount in the 1st round in a rematch of a playoff game two years ago that was won by Rocky Mount 30-28. The Cavaliers enter the game as a #3 seed out of the Tri-County 3A and Rocky Mount the number #2 team from the Big East 3A conference. Southern Lee comes into the game with 2847 yards of total offense and averaging 25.6 points per game. Southern Lee has gained 1570 yards passing and 1277 on the ground for the season. Rocky Mount features a potent ground attack and has put up 2213 yards rushing and 1290 passing on the season. The Gryphons feature 3 backs with nearly 500 yards each on the season led by Antwain Dunston with 495 on 64 carries. Tashaun Lawrence and McKenley Hines have chipped in 428 and 469 yards respectfully. Southern Lee will rely on the passing game a little more than Rocky Mount this Friday night and getting the ball to Tanoah Lockley and Elijah Foxx will be key for Southern Lee.

The Union Pines Vikings will go on the road to face West Bruswick (9-1) of the Mideastern 3A/4A conference in the 1st round. The Trojans only average just over 20 points per game and have done it this year defensively. West Brunswick has passed for 747 yards this season and put up 1698 yards rushing. The Trojans feature 5 running backs that have from 208-411 yards each – so its running back by committee. The Vikings will counter with a balanced offense and QB Rory Board will hold the key to this one. The Vikings have been successful through the air and will need to this Friday to get past West Brunswick. Board will look for favorite receiver Jacob Bowbliss and moving through the air will be the best option for Union Pines.

Lee County and Union Pines are in the Eastern 3AA playoffs and below are the 1st round matchups:

#1 Lee County (11-0) vs #16 Eastern Guilford (6-5)

#8 Northern Durham (9-2) vs #9 Southern Alamance (8-3)

#5 Cleveland (10-1) vs #12 Cape Fear (7-3)

#4 DH Conley (8-3) vs #13 JH Rose (6-5)

#3 Southern Durham (10-1) vs #14 Grays Creek (7-4)

#6 Southeast Guilford (8-3) vs #11 Clayton (6-5)

#7 West Brunswick (9-1) vs Union Pines (8-3)

#2 New Hanover (10-1) vs #15 Topsail (8-3)

Southern Lee is in the 3A playoffs and below are the 1st round matchups:

#1 Southern Nash (11-0) vs #16 EE Smith (4-7)

#8 Northern Nash (7-4) vs #9 Vance County (9-2)

#5 Rocky Mount (8-3) vs #12 Southern Lee (6-4)

#4 Terry Sanford (8-3) vs #13 Fike (4-7)

#3 Eastern Alamance (11-0) vs #14 Hunt (5-6)

#6 Northside Jacksonville (6-5) vs #11 CB Aycock (7-4)

#7 Jacksonville (7-3) vs #10 Western Alamance (8-3)

#2 Havelock (9-1) vs #15 North Brunswick (6-5)