The respective winners of this week's N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A football playoff games involving Tri-Nine teams will meet next week in the third round.

Fayetteville Jack Britt has the highest seed of any of the four teams left in this half of the 4AA Mideast pod, followed by Middle Creek, Fuquay-Varina and Cary.

Fuquay-Varina (10-1) at Middle Creek (9-3)

The Fuquay-Middle Creek rivalry - one of the most intense in Wake County - just went up a few notches.

The two have met before in games that decided conference championships - including this year - but never have they faced off in the state playoffs.

A 48-47 double-overtime in the first week of Tri-Nine play gave Middle Creek all it needed to win the conference championship and earn a 1-seed in the state playoffs. Meanwhile, Fuquay - which led that game by 13 points with five minutes left in regulation - hasn't lost since.

Fuquay's collapse in that game started because it couldn't handle the Middle Creek bubble screens, which the Mustangs mercilessly called for time and again. If the Bengals' pass defense against those short and intermediate routes has improved, this could be quite the classic between the two Tri-Nine powers.

Cary (9-2) at Jack Britt (9-2)

Cary hits the road to Fayetteville to play the vaunted Jack Britt Buccaneers, a 4A powerhouse over the past decade. But the Imps shouldn't be intimidated. A win isn't out of the question.

This year has been a down season for most Fayetteville-area 4A schools. Jack Britt was the only area team to win more than six games. However, the Bucs do have a future ACC player in linebacker M.J. Salahuddin, an N.C. State recruit.

Britt's only losses this season were to unbeaten Scotland County and Lumberton - the team that Cary just defeated in the first round of the 4AA playoffs. Britt has won seven straight, while Cary has won its last five in a row.

The Imps defense has only allowed two teams to score more than 14 points this year, but Britt's defense - led by Salahuddin - is equally as impressive. The Bucs have posted three straight shutouts, including last week's 17-0 defeat of rival Hope Mills South View.

Britt's offense is also capable of getting points early and often, having posted 40 or more points in a game three different times.

player ofthe week

Carlton Bridges

Fuquay-Varina RB, Junior

Bridges carried the ball 29 times on Friday, amassing 200 yards on the ground and scoring on runs of 53 and 31 yards in a 29-14 defeat of Fayetteville's Seventy-First in the first round of the playoffs. Bridges now has 1,472 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.

Coach speak

Bob Paroli

Seventy-First head coach

"They're well-coached and they play very intelligently and they have good people," said the state's all-time leader in football wins. "You can't do good things without good people. They're a good football team."