What We Learned in Week One for the 252

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week one brought some high's for some teams, and some low's for others, as well as a couple of unexpected results along the way. Let's dive into who drove their stocks up, and who may be on the watch list for how they can respond in week two. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northern Nash: Watch List</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northern Nash is a team on the watch list that is in a must respond situation. Many had them as the best team in the 252, and a loss in week one could have questions on whether or not they can have as successful of a season as they did last fall. As a team that averaged 360 yards per game in 2025, they were held to just 223 yards against J.H. Rose. Senior Tailback [player_tooltip player_id='618689' first='Myles' last='Eatmon'] was held under 100 yards, with 74 on the night and zero touchdowns. five other ball carriers were held to under 34 yards on the night, and the passing game mustered up 41 total yards between two quarterbacks. Will the Knights bounce back this week against Nash Central?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>J.H. Rose Trending Up</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the flip side of that game, Rose proved that they may be the team to beat this year. As a team, they put up 315 yards, with 215 yards in the air from senior playmaker Chase Davis. He completed passes for an average of 19.5 yards, as well as two touchdowns on the night, with one being to fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id='2264327' first='Kasyn' last='Chase'], who also scored a rushing touchdown, and the other one to Daran Bell. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2199664' first='Tyshawn' last='Bledsoe'] rushed for the team-lead of 35 yards. It will be interesting to see if they can continue their success against a Washington program that went down to the wire with Farmville Central on Monday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New Bern: One To Watch Trending Up</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The New Bern and New Hanover game got flexed to Monday due to weather, but that did not affect New Bern, as they cruised to a 39-point win, beating Hanover 48-9 last night. Hanover used two quarterbacks in the game, that the stout New Bern defense held to a combined 14/26 for 124 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. The biggest stat of the night was Hanover rushing the ball 30 times in the game, for only 32 yards, with an alarming 1.1 yards per carry. Was the New Bern defense that stifling, or did they face a Hanover squad that is struggling? New Bern has only four days before their next game, as they travel to Havelock, who is coming off an impressive win of their own. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Havelock: One To Watch</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Havelock survived a thriller with West Craven, winning 40-35, setting up their game with New Bern to be a battle of two 1-0 teams. Havelock's offense scored three times in the game, with Kaleb Montayne throwing for one and rushing for one, while [player_tooltip player_id='2055660' first='Michael' last='Gatling'] caught the touchdown pass and rushed for one of his own. Junior Austin Livingston was electric with the ball in his hands, as he took back a kick return and a punt return. The tale of the tape in this one will be the New Bern defense/special teams vs the Havelock offense/special teams. Who will win that battle on Friday?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington: Is the Pam Pack Back?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Washington did not beat Farmville Central in the make up game last night, they may be a better team than expected by most, having gone toe to toe with the Jaguars. The meeting last year was a 33-16 loss, so the Pam Pack was at least three scores better this fall than they were the last one. After going 2-9 last year, this could be the start of something better for the Pam Pack, despite not seeing the it in the win column. Could they be a team to watch, or will Rose have their way with them again this year? Friday will be a big test for them to prove they are for real this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmville Central: Stock Riser</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farmville Central exploded on offense, to the tune of 458 total yards, with senior quarterback Connor Kessler throwing for 234 of those yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for another, accounting for all of the touchdowns for the Jaguars. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2169533' first='Z'mareon' last='Brown'] rushed for 150 yards on 16 carries, for an average of 9.4 yards per carry. Carlnell Cotton caught 6 passes for 64 yards and Brown caught 3 passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. With the offensive output, will they beat a South Central team that throttled Kinston 30-8?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->