On Friday, November 26, 2021, the Pender High School Patriots upset Northside-Pinetown’s football team 32-28 to reach the Eastern Regional Championship game. This was the first time PHS had been this far in the North Carolina High School Football Playoffs since 2010. The Eastern Regional Championship game was set for December 3, 2021. The Pender Patriots were sent off to the Eastern Regionals in style. Just after 1:30 pm, the team buses had an escort of sheriff vehicles from the school through the town of Burgaw and to the county line. Students, teachers, staff, and administrators were all out front to cheer the team as they left for Tarboro. The drum line and cheerleaders were also there to lead this group of supporters. As the team drove through Burgaw, members of the community came out to show their support for the Patriots.
The Eastern Regional Championship game was played in Tarboro, NC against the number one ranked Tarboro Vikings. This game would determine who would play for the State 1A Football Championship on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC. It was a hard fought game with the Patriots scoring the first touchdown of the game to go ahead 6-0. Tarboro came back in the second quarter scoring two touchdowns to take the lead 12-6. After half-time, the Patriots scored again to tie the game up at 12 points apiece. The fourth quarter belonged to the number one Vikings who scored 10 more points to make the final score 22-10.
Even though the Pender Patriots came up short in the Eastern Regionals, we are extremely proud of their accomplishments this season. Doing what no other PHS football team has done in eleven years, we couldn’t be more proud of their work ethics, play, and representation of Pender High School throughout the 2021 NCHSAA’s football playoffs and regular season. We congratulate the team for what they have achieved this year and look forward to a winning season next year. The final RPI rankings show Tarboro number 1, Northside-Pinetown number 2, and North Moore number 3 with the PHS Patriots 9th. Way to go Patriots!