Last week finding a game within the confines of the Roanoke-Chowan region was relatively easy.

Not so much this week.

For the first time in many years, not a single team in the local region will have a home contest as Bertie, Gates, Lawrence, Northampton and Northeast will all take to the road. Hertford County High School is idle this week.

The longest trip will be made by the Falcons of Bertie High School as they take the long trek to First Flight High School. The matchup will be a key one for standings inside the Northeastern Coastal Conference.

The Falcons currently stand tied with Hertford County High School for third place in the league with both at 2-2. The Nighthawks are right behind, however, at 1-2 in the league.

Since both Bertie and First Flight are 2-A schools in the current alignment, it means the contest will definitely have playoff implications. Bertie has a slightly better overall record (5-3 compared to 4-3).

The teams are averaging roughly the same amount of points per contest. Bertie has scored 159 total points this season and First Flight has 167. They are almost identical in points yielded. The Nighthawks have given up 187 to Bertie 185.

The Falcons made a long trip last week and survived a scare from Currituck County High School, coming away with a 13-7 win in the league contest while First Flight suffered a 53-20 loss at the hands of co-league leader Edenton.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Kill Devil Hills.

Another team from Bertie County, Lawrence Academy, will be in an important matchups as well.

The Warriors are coming off back-to-back victories with wins over Northeast Academy and Halifax Academy. They will be looking to take that streak to three with a win at Parrott Academy on Friday.

Parrott comes in with a 3-4 overall record and a loss last week to Word of God Christian Academy. The game will also have playoff implications.

Both teams have an explosive offensive and the contest could well be a showcase on that side of the football.

Northampton County almost was tripped up last week when they survived a scare against Weldon at Roy F. Lowry Stadium. This week they will face a team that did trip up Northampton-East a year ago in KIPP Pride.

This time the contest will take place at KIPP Pride and the Jaguars will look to keep their perfect Tar-Roanoke Conference record (3-0) as they face KIPP Pride.  The Panthers dropped a 14-12 decision at North Edgecombe last week and are 0-7 on the season.

Northeast Academy may have its best shot at getting into the win column this week as they travel to rival Halifax Academy. The Vikings suffered a setback at Lawrence last week just as the Eagles did two weeks ago.

Both teams are able to score and each will be looking for the defense to step up and make the stops necessary to victory.

The final matchup involving a local team will take place at Crowell’s Crossroads where Gates County High School will call on Southeast Halifax. The two teams are each in the upper tier of the Tar-Roanoke Conference and will be looking to battle for playoff position.

Gates County is 1-1 in the league with a win over Weldon and a loss to Northampton County High School. Southeast enters the contest with a spotless 2-0 mark in the conference.

A year ago this was a defensive struggle with Southeast coming away with a 7-6 win at Gates County, but this season the Trojans and Red Barons have been scoring with each averaging nearly 30 points per game.

The key matchup in the league will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday.