AHOSKIE – Greg Watford believes repetition is the key to success.

“If you continue to do what you do, you’re going to get better,” the coach of the Hertford County High School Bears said Tuesday. “We’re going to keep doing the things that got us here.”

This week the Bears, fresh off a Northeastern Coastal Conference championship clinching win over archrival Bertie, garnered the number two seed in the state playoffs.

Hertford County will host 15th seeded Southern Wayne High School, the fourth-place team out of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference in the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Watford said his club was pleased to be seeded second overall, behind 10-0 SouthWest Edgecombe.

“We felt like it could have gone as low as a four, so we’re pretty happy,” Watford said. “We have the possibility of playing all of our games at home or, at the end, having to go to SouthWest for one game.”

The first priority, however, is focusing on Southern Wayne.

Watford said the Bears’ Friday night opponents basically ran out of the wing-T offense and were a run-oriented team.

“They run about 99 percent of the time,” he said. “They rarely throw it. They have a very good halfback and a good fullback despite losing Anthony Council, their pre-season All-American.”

Defensively, Southern Wayne plays a 6-2 and is aggressive, according to Watford.

“They pursue well, but don’t seem to cover as well because they’ve given up some big plays,” he said.

The coach said the Saints were members of a good conference, reminiscent of the old Big Eight 3-A league.

While he’s studying the tape on Southern Wayne, Watford admits he’s more concerned about HCHS.

“I’m worried more about us,” he said. “We have to come out and execute and do a better job of hanging onto the football than we did against Bertie.

“We’re going to run the option. That’s what we do,” he said. “Defensively, we’re going to play our look and get after them.

“On special teams, we’re going to continue to play our way n get some returns and block some kicks if we get the opportunity,” he added.

The coach said the Bears would be focused Friday night on playing their game and advancing to the second round.

The Saints come calling at 7:30 p.m.