EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA — The high school football regular season enters Week 9 with six Eastern North Carolina teams still unbeaten and J.H. Rose holding the top spot in the latest News 12 poll.
Three private schools remain undefeated: Liberty Christian, Pungo Christian and John Paul II.
The unbeaten public schools are Northside of Beaufort County, Northside of Jacksonville and J.H. Rose.
Rose improved to 7-0 last week with a 28-26 win over Jacksonville in a back-and-forth game. The Rampants trailed late before a double-pass play resulted in the go-ahead touchdown.
Rose travels to White Oak this week and is tied with D.H. Conley for first place in the Big Carolina Conference.
News 12 high school football poll
J.H. Rose remains No. 1 in the latest News 12 poll, followed by unbeaten Northside-Jacksonville at No. 2 and Northside of Beaufort County at No. 3.
Tarboro is No. 4, with its only loss coming against unbeaten Hunt.
Jacksonville drops one spot to No. 5 after its loss to Rose. East Duplin is No. 6, followed by James Kenan at No. 7 and Croatan at No. 8.
D.H. Conley moves up to No. 9, while Swansboro rounds out the top 10. The Pirates' only loss came against Croatan.
Swansboro faces No. 12 Havelock this week. The Rams' four losses have come against teams in the News 12 poll: J.H. Rose, Tarboro, Croatan and New Bern.
College football
UNC heads to Durham this week after earning a road win over previously unbeaten Pitt.
The victory was Bill Belichick's first over a ranked opponent in his two seasons leading the Tar Heels.
UNC now makes the 11-mile trip to face Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils have won the past two meetings and currently hold the Victory Bell. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
ECU opens the college football week with a Thursday night game, while App State travels to Coastal Carolina for an 8 p.m. kickoff Friday.
Panthers sit atop NFC South
The Carolina Panthers return from a weekend off with sole possession of first place in the NFC South.
Carolina is 2-2, the only non-losing record in the division.
The Panthers travel to Philadelphia on Sunday to face an Eagles team that has lost three straight games, including two consecutive last-second losses.
Elsewhere, defending Super Bowl champion Seattle visits Denver on Thursday night.
ENC connections in MLB playoffs
Carteret County native Lonnie Chisenhall returned to Cleveland during the Major League Baseball playoffs to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Guardians' Game 5 win over the White Sox.
Chisenhall played for Cleveland from 2011 to 2018 and helped the team reach the World Series in 2016.
Former ECU pitcher Gavin Williams made more history for Cleveland, becoming the first pitcher to allow one or fewer hits while recording 12 strikeouts in a winner-take-all game.
The Guardians are trying to reach the World Series for the first time since 2016.