Not a lot of time to fool around this week, so I am going to jump right into it and name my Team of the Week, only this week it is teams of the week.

Both Camden and Northeastern rolled into Friday night’s game 0-2 and badly in need of a win. Both woke up Saturday having accomplished just that.

Both teams have faced a difficult early-season schedule, so there was no shame in being winless at this point, but with the conference slate on the horizon, a third loss could have been devastating. The Bruins fought it out with rival Currituck and escaped with a 35-34 win, while Northeastern played its third straight road game to open the season and came home with a 21-19 win over Farmville Central.

I think the Eagles are talented enough to make a serious run from here. They should be favored the next two weeks in home games against Pasquotank and Camden and will have their toughest conference games at the front of the schedule when they are at Hertford on Sept. 24, at home with First Flight Oct. 1 and at Bertie Oct. 8. Northeastern has a real chance to win out from here.

Heading into an open week, the Camden needed the boost only a win can give. The Bruins have few breaks in their schedule moving forward so winning on Friday was even more important.
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I did not see the Elizabeth City State’s game against Central Arkansas on Thursday, but I followed it online and judging purely from the numbers and watching drives, the Vikings should feel pretty good about their performance.

ECSU led a Division I-AA team in the second quarter and even after falling behind, was in position to tie the game before halftime.

The score aside, the Vikings did not turn the ball over against what should have been a bigger, faster and more skilled team and came away with several big plays early on that certainly got the Bears’ attention. DaRonte McNeill had a 75-yard run and Creven Powell and Dexter Manley hooked up on an 82-yard touchdown pass.

This is one of those situations where a loss could actually propel ECSU further than a win against a lesser team.

The challenge now is to harness whatever confidence it took from this game for two weeks.

That is when the Vikings take on CIAA favorite Fayetteville State in the Down East Viking Football Classic. There, it needs more than a good showing, it needs a win to prove to itself and the rest of the league that ECSU is a legitimate contender for the CIAA crown.
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In this day and age, there is always a push for more information, delivered faster and faster. Paper and envelopes have given way to e-mail, telephones have been pushed aside for cell phones and computers that once needed their own air-conditioned room can travel easily in a bag.

ECSU is taking that and running with it this season as it has joined with GameTracker to send out live play-by-play from all its football games and will be using it during basketball season as well. That is how I was able to follow the game in Arkansas on Thursday.

Now, not only will games be broadcast on WRVS, but you can see updated game stats in virtual time on the internet. GameTracker broadcasts football, basketball, baseball and even lacrosse with an interactive screen and nifty animated graphics. Not only will you know when Powell and Manley hook up on another long touchdown pass, but icons will act out the play.

Check out www.ecsuvikings.com and look for the football schedule. From there, you can access games live when they are played or watch archived games.

Of course, that only tells half the story. If you want more in-depth coverage, pick up The Daily Advance. Some things never change.