A trio of local schools is preparing for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Gates County High School, Hertford County High School and Northampton County High School – East will each play Friday night as the NCHSAA playoffs begin.

HCHS enters the 3-A playoffs as the number two seed in the East. They will be paired with number seven Southern Wayne (5-5) for Friday’s opening round.

With the advent of the pod system, there are four brackets to the playoffs – East, Mideast, Midwest and West. The Bears garnered the number two seed in the east and the number two seed overall in the eastern bracket.

The number one seed in the East pod is Havelock (8-2). The Rams will host number eight Currituck (3-7), who plays in the Northeastern Coastal Conference with HCHS.

The other 3-A top seeds are Northeast Guilford (Mideast), West Rowan (Midwest) and Burns (West).

Gates County also earned a number two seed both in their eastern pod and the East as a whole in the 1-AA bracket. The Red Barons enter the playoffs with a 9-1 record for seeding purposes. They are slated to host Camden County (4-6) in Friday’s opening contest.

The number one seed in the East is Southwest Onslow. The Stallions are 10-0 for playoff seeding purposes and open the 1-AA playoffs against Dixon (4-6).

The other top seeds in the 1-AA bracket are Goldsboro (Mideast), Mt. Airy (Midwest) and Avery County (West).

Northampton-East will also open the playoffs Friday night, but the Rams (3-7) will be on the road. East, seeded number seven, will travel to number two Creswell. Northampton is seeded number 13 overall in the East.

The top-seeded team in the East pod is Manteo (9-1), who will host number eight Mattamuskeet (2-7) Friday. Also seeded number one are Wallace-Rose Hill (Mideast), Lakewood (Midwest) and Murphy (West).

Other schools of interest locally include:

• Northampton County High School – West is seeded number six in the Mideast pod for the 1-A playoffs. They will travel to number three Jones senior on Friday;
• KIPP Pride is the number seven in the same bracket. They will travel to North Edgecombe, who is seeded number two. When the two teams, who both play in the Tar-Roanoke Conference, met in the regular season, North Edgecombe won 34-8;
• Roanoke Rapids High School garnered a number three seed in the 2-A East. The Yellow Jackets will host number 11 Northside of Jacksonville Friday;
• Plymouth High School is seeded number three in the 1-A East. The Vikings will host Northside (Beaufort County) on Friday;
• Weldon High School is the number four seed in the Mideast 1-A bracket. They will host number five North Duplin High School;
• Riverside (Martin Co.) is the number four seed in the 1-AA East bracket. They will host Perquimans on Friday;
• First Flight High School earned the number five seed in the 2-A East. They will travel to South Lenoir on Friday;
• Pasquotank County High School will also be on the road Friday. The number seven seed in the 2-A East will travel to number two Tarboro;
• Franklinton High School, under the leadership of former Gates County skipper Clark Harrell, earned the number eight spot in the 2-A Mideast. They will travel to number one South Columbus;
• Northeastern, who won the Northeastern Coastal Conference, earned the number one overall seed in the 2-AA East. They will host Topsail (4-6) Friday night;
• SouthWest Edgecombe is the number five seed and, despite being 8-2, will travel to number four Beddingfield (5-5); and
• New Bern High School earned the number one overall seed in the East and will meet J.H. Rose for the second week in a row. The Bears defeated the Rampants 31-7 last Friday.

The playoffs are slated to begin Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Click here for playoff brackets: http://tiny.cc/n49rt