Carrboro (3-0)

at East Chapel Hill (2-1)

One third of the battle for the school district’s unofficial championship. (2A Carrboro hosts 3A Chapel Hill next week.) And its the third leg of a three-game stretch in which East has invested a lot of personal value: vs. Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge and Carrboro. The Wildcats gave a favored Chapel Hill all it could handle on the Tigers’ home field and last week won 10-6 against Cedar Ridge.

Undefeated Carrboro will test the limits of East’s improved defense. The Jaguars rolled up 453 yards of total offense on 3A Orange in a 27-19 home win last week, and Trai Sharp ran for more than 200 of those yards on the ground.

Series: Carrboro leads 3-0; each of the last three year’s games have been closer than the year before.

Northwood (2-1)

at Chapel Hill (3-0)

Chapel Hill has barely missed a beat since setting a school record last year for victories in a season (10) and now has won 13 of its last 16 games. Despite the proximity of the two schools, they’ve met only three times this century. (Northwood originally was too small to take on CHHS, which was a 4A school for many years until Carrboro opened.) The last two games in 2010 and 2009 were decided by less than a touchdown.

Northwood has been picking up speed in each game. After a faltering start against a very good East Duplin team, the Chargers have knocked off area rivals Southern Lee and Jordan-Matthews.

Series: Chapel Hill leads 2-1 since Issac Marsh became head coach at CHHS.

Cedar Ridge (0-3)

at Southern Vance (2-1)

Both teams have first-year coaches – Lewis Young at Southern Vance and Chris Casey at Cedar Ridge – trying to install new philosophies and systems.With a big line on both sides of the ball – most notably the 6-7, 350-pound Jaquez Bullock – Southern Vance looks like a dark horse contender for the Carolina-6 Conference title. Senior backs Devonte Henderson, brother Chris Henderson and Reggie Hunter are pounding opponents on the ground.

Cedar Ridge has under-performed so far, getting outscored 116-12 over three games. Half of Cedar Ridge’s points came from defense, on a 100-yard interception return by junior Raekwon Villiness. The Red Wolves have got to hold onto – and move – the ball to have a chance in this one.

Series: Cedar Ridge leads the series 2-1; Southern Vance won last year, 28-25.

Durham Jordan (0-3)

at Orange (2-1)

These two teams used to be league rivals back in the days of the 3A classification’s old District III “Black and Blue” Conference, but the parted ways when Orange dropped down to the 2A classification and Jordan stepped up to the 4A. After a long hiatus, they resumed their series in 2009, after Orange had moved back up a notch to the 3A ranks.

Speaking of ranks, Jordan has been hot-and-cold so far this season, depending on the rank of its opponent. Versus No. 6 Wake Forest-Rolesville – cold – a 35-6 loss. Versus unranked Raleigh Enloe – hot – a 20-0 win. Last week versus No. 3 Raleigh Leesville Road – very cold – a 49-0 loss. Orange is unranked, and Jordan played Leesville Road on Thursday, giving the Pride an extra day’s practice to concentrate on the Panthers, who are capable of scoring on just about anyone. OHS won its first two games by a combined score of 70-0.

Series: Jordan leads 2-1 since the series resumed; Orange won last year, 34-33.