Coming off disappointing finishes last week, both local members of the Northeastern Coastal 2-A/3-A Conference are looking to bounce back this week.

Bertie, who fell to J.H. Rose 49-19, will be on the road for the fourth consecutive week as they travel to 1-A power Wallace-Rose Hill.

The Falcons, 1-2 on the season, will be meeting a formidable opponent, according to the Roanoke-Chowan’s dean of coaches, Roy Bond.

&uot;Being a young team, the travel has really kept us from getting in a groove,&uot; Bond, the 12-year veteran Bertie football boss, said. &uot;On top of that, we’ve played some pretty good teams and we’ve got another one Friday night.&uot;

The Bulldogs enter Friday’s contest with Bertie undefeated (4-0) and ranked second in the latest iHigh.com poll while the Falcons fell to Beddingfield and Rose on each end of a victory over Goldsboro.

Bond said Wallace-Rose Hill might employ more plays and &uot;tricks&uot; than any team the Falcons have faced this year and that will present a tough task for his squad.

&uot;Looking at the film, it looks like they (W-RH) may do more than any team we’ve faced this year,&uot; he said. &uot;They run the Wing-T offense and have used a lot of different plays, including some reverses and double reverses.&uot;

This will be the first time the Falcons have faced a Wing-T offense this season, following a threesome of Pro-I teams.

The difference will be good for the team, according to their skipper.

&uot;We’ve a lot of the same offenses in the non-conference schedule that we will see once we start playing in conference,&uot; Bond said. &uot;I think that will help us, along with finally playing some games in our own stadium.&uot;

Falcons’ senior quarterback Jermaine Norfleet will be key to the team Friday. The senior has been working with a new set of receivers and is finally starting to settle in, Bond said.

Defensively, the Falcons struggles revolve around tackling.

&uot;On defense, we haven’t learned to tackle yet,&uot; Bond said. &uot;That is our biggest area of concern. Maybe if we get them home, they’ll learn so they won’t be embarrassed in front of their friends and family.&uot;

Meanwhile, the Bears will be returning from a tough non-league road trip to Wilson, where they dropped a 38-6 decision to the Warriors.

COMMENT ON BOUNCING Back

This week HCHS will set their sites on 4-A Big East Conference member D.H. Conley. While the Bears have burst out to a 3-1 mark under Cotton, the Vikings have stumbled out of the gate with a 0-4 mark heading into Friday’s contest.

COMMENT ON NOT TAKING CONLEY LIGHTLY

The Bears will once again count on a trio of backs as they look to Friday as seniors Reggie Wiggins, Lorenzo Benthall and Qwenton Valentine have carried the load for the team this season.

The threesome has combined for nearly 600 yards of total offense during the Bears’ first four games. Wiggins leads all rushers with 206 yards on 32 carries while Benthall (193 yards on 41 carries) and Valentine (173 yards on 31 carries) have each posted over 150 yards on the season.