Barring injury or a work stoppage along the offensive line, St. Pauls’ Shawn Williams should hit 1,000 yards rushing for the season tonight early in the first quarter against East Carteret, pushing him near the top of my Robeson County “Race for the Heisman” watchlist which is designed to give readers an accurate representation of who I’m looking at for the area’s player of the year.

Williams’ personal goal of 2,000 yards would seemingly be within reach if he kept his current pace with five conference games and at least one postseason contest remaining. He’s been the catalyst thus far for an offense averaging a county-leading 52.3 points and 522.2 yards per contest.

Trey Sasser considered the Bulldogs a run-first team heading into this fall, but the offense has developed a new dimension with the hurry-up thanks to Kane Banner’s solid numbers at quarterback and a slew of reliable options at wide receiver. Banner, along with Lumberton’s Daniel Robinson and a handful of stat producers at Red Springs, are all in the mix to capture this year’s top player award.

Like last season, The Robesonian will vote on a player of the year, an offensive player of the year and a defensive player when the last county team is eliminated from the playoffs.

Week 5 record: 5-0; Overall 24-5

Another solid week puts me at 24-5 overall, a better record than I had last season at this point. Teams are starting to show their true identity and that always makes it easier when picking winners and losers.

East Carteret (1-3) at St. Pauls (4-1)

The final quiz before the season’s first real test is Friday night for the Bulldogs, a team with conference championship aspirations and deservedly so. St. Pauls has proved it can score points when it needs to, but stopping the opposition remains the team’s only question. Jhamel Leonard’s five interceptions leads the county, but he’s been the only reliable cover man in the secondary. It would be promising to see the Bulldogs finish up the non-conference slate with a convincing win while holding the Mariners to single digits, but that will be easier said than done with the number of possessions East Carteret will receive tonight.

St. Pauls 48, East Carteret 20

Red Springs (3-2) at Goldsboro (3-1)

Have we seen the ceiling for Red Springs this season? In short, the answer is no. The Red Devils picked on less-talented defenses early in the season with three 50-plus point outings, but couldn’t move the ball as efficiently against a pair of teams with comparable talent. A road trip to Goldsboro tonight presents a final non-conference indicator of just how serious a shot Red Springs has at contending for a state title this season. At some point in the postseason, the Red Devils will have to win on the road against a quality opponent to advance and that’s the reason a game like this is scheduled. A loss, however, would effectively drop Red Springs out of the Associated Press Top 10 heading into its biggest home game of the season next week against St. Pauls.

Red Springs 36, Goldsboro 22

Fairmont (2-3) at Jones Senior (0-4)

The Golden Tornadoes need this one to avoid a three-game losing streak on the cusp of Three Rivers play while Jones Senior seeks its first victory after reaching the state title game last season. Both squads are struggling on offense and Fairmont has nearly half of its starting personnel out on defense. The Golden Tornadoes are capable of scoring more points than they’ve show this season and you’ll see that tonight. The turnover battle will dictate who wins this one.

Fairmont 26, Jones 12