For Fuquay-Varina, the 5-seed in the 4-AA East, it took a road win at 10-win Pinecrest to advance to the third round. Middle Creek, seeded third in the 4-A East, had two home contests but had never advanced past the second round until this year.

Now the hardest task to date lies ahead. Both the Bengals and the Mustangs must play at undefeated opponents.

Middle Creek (12-1) will make the trip to the little town of Angier on Friday in a match-up against Harnett Central (13-0).

Central is coming off a 27-21 overtime win against Southeast Raleigh.

Mustangs Coach Sean Crocker said his team will have to bring the same intensity it did in the last game to come away with a win.

In the previous round, Middle Creek held off Durham Hillside 24-19. Hillside had previously not allowed more than 12 points in its last eight games.

A lot of the offensive success for the Mustangs can be attributed to junior quarterback Garrett Leatham. Leatham has completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,687 yards and 33 touchdowns.

And he's posted those numbers without locking in to just one target.

Four different Mustangs have more than 500 yards receiving, but none has more than 915. Five different players have four or more touchdowns, but none has more than nine.

"Garrett has definitely been stepping up for us as he has the whole year. He's been real solid and taking care of the football," Crocker said. "I think Friday night he made more plays with his head than his arm. Some of his best passes were the ones he didn't try to attempt."

Middle Creek's opponent may have the most potent offense the Mustangs have faced all year.

With 36.3 points per game, Harnett Central is ranked No. 1 in points per game in the area. Middle Creek is No. 3.

Harnett Central has three players with more than 789 yards rushing and all three have at least 11 touchdowns. The Trojans aren't afraid to pass out of their spread formation either.

The team is led by junior Brian Taylor, who like Leatham is considered one of the top junior quarterbacks in the state. Taylor, already offered a scholarship by UNC, has completed 62 percent of his throws for 1,905 yards and is also his team's kicker.

Middle Creek's defense, led by defensive back Jordan Mays, linebacker Britt Cherry and defensive lineman Darius Wilkins, hasn't allowed more than 20 points in a game since Oct. 9.

On the other side, Harnett Central is allowing just 13.2 points per game.

"We've got to really take care of the ball. We can't give a team as good as Harnett Central an easy six points," Crocker said. "We've got to be able to control it on our end and on defense we've got to limit their big plays."

Fuquay-Varina will also face an unbeaten opponent on Friday when it travels to face Wake Forest-Rolesville. That game will take place at Heritage High due to remodeling of the stadium at Wake Forest.

The Bengals may have easily advanced past Pinecrest, but all signs point to this game being nothing like what Fuquay has faced before.

Wake Forest-Rolesville is unbeaten, and almost unscored upon with seven shutouts.

The Cougars' defense has given up just five offensive touchdowns all year long.

The average final score this season has been 32-4.

And while the Bengals' defense hasn't been nearly as dominant as Wake Forest-Rolesville's, Fuquay is allowing just 12.3 points per game in its last four. The turnaround is due in large part to the return of defenders Eric Powell, Isaac Minor and Ethan Ricci among others.

Minor had at least 10 tackles against Pinecrest and stripped and returned a fumble for touchdown.

"They do a lot of the same stuff we do on defense. We're a pretty good defense too, and we're getting guys healthy," coach Ryan Habich said. "They're a very fundamentally sound defense and that's why it's so hard to move against them."

In some ways, Fuquay will be looking in the mirror when it lines up across the Cougars on Friday. Each team has two players with at least 1,000 yards rushing.

The Bengals' Cory Hunter leads the way with 2,073 to go with 35 touchdowns, while quarterback Nate Budde has added another 1,156 and 17 scores.

"They run a similar offense," Habich said. "I don't think it's the exact same offense, and they run it well."

With another two rushing touchdowns, Hunter will be in the top eight in state history for rushing touchdowns in a single season. Already in the top-70 for career rushing yards, the junior needs another 37 yards to crack the top-100 for most rushing yards in a season.

Against Pinecrest, Hunter ran for two scores, threw for another and played defense.

Middle Creek and Fuquay-Varina will each face off against their undefeated counterparts at 7:30 on Friday night.