Pasquotank and Northeastern Spooktacular
Oct. 28 / Written by Christian Bateman
Pasquotank County High School comes into this week facing its inner-city rival, renewing the yearly conference game against Northeastern High School. This matchup, held at Pasquotank as the home team, carries plenty of stakes this Friday night.
The game deemed the “Spooktacular” has friendships, foes and a conference title on the line. If Pasquotank can go in and beat the powerhouse Eagles, they could strip Northeastern of the Northeastern Coastal Conference crown.
A new era of Panther football
The Panthers enter Friday’s contest having done something that hasn’t been done in a while winning six games in the regular season, four of those at home and two away. The biggest difference this year has been their ability to stay competitive. They are three scores away from being atop the conference after losses to both Currituck County High School and Martin County High School. Pasquotank has struggled through close games this season.
The Eagles, however, fly into the finale of the regular season tied for first place for the conference title with Martin County and Currituck also part of the mix. The Spooktacular is being speculated as possibly the closest game played between Northeastern and Pasquotank in quite some time, with “the key to the city” being fought for.
Northeastern and Pasquotank will then wait after Friday night in Elizabeth City to find out where both programs will start their postseason in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 3A playoffs when brackets come out Sunday.
Key players
For the Panthers, senior running back Jayon Harris has been a workhorse: 67 carries for 704 yards and 12 touchdowns this season (as reported). They’ll lean heavily on him Friday night. The junior signal-caller has begun to mix in other weapons running back Tyshawn Spencer and the receiving corps to keep the offense varied.
For the Eagles, quarterback and junior captain Zak Ishmael ranks among the state’s top passers, and wide out Uzziah Harney is one of the top receivers in the 3A division. On defense, Northeastern features Jermaine Dashiell and Mekkhei Williams, who together have 14 sacks this season. On the Panther side, linebacker Dudley Bradshaw has been a tackling machine, averaging 11 tackles per game.
The postseason awaits
Postseason play begins next Friday night with the first round of the playoffs. Current projections have Pasquotank hosting in the first round against South Lenoir High School, a three-win club out of the East Central 3A/4A conference. The last time Pasquotank hosted a first-round playoff game at home was the 2010-11 season against Carrboro High School.
On the other hand, projections suggest Northeastern will receive a first-round bye something the program under head coach Antonio Moore is very accustomed to by this point.
The NCHSAA playoffs span four rounds running from the first week of November to the third week of December, culminating in the state championship game a game that neither program has ever won.
A snippet of history
This 2026 season would represent 19 consecutive years of dominance by Northeastern over Pasquotank the only exception being the 2007-08 Pasquotank Panthers team that defeated the Eagles 39-33 at home. Things have begun to look up under Marcus White’s tenure, as Pasquotank has given Currituck, Martin, and Hertford County all they wanted this season. Mark my words on senior night, White and his coaching staff will have that Panther ball club ready to play. Northeastern, meanwhile, has found themselves in several shoot-out games on the road, and they sorely want to avoid another bump like the loss to Currituck.
19 years of dominance—will Northeastern make it 20 Friday night?