The high school football season is winding down.

Just three weeks separate local teams from their playoff fates. This week five local teams will again take to the gridiron as they jockey for position in the post-season.

GAME OF THE WEEK: KIPP Pride at Northampton-East: The Rams of Northampton-East bounced back nicely from their first league loss of the season.

Northampton soundly defeated Weldon High School (38-12) to remain tied atop the Tar-Roanoke Conference standings. That came one week after losing to co-leader North Edgecombe.

Rams’ Head Coach George Privott will look to keep his team focused this week as they welcome county rival KIPP-Pride into the friendly confines of Roy F. Lowry Stadium.

The Panthers have struggled this season (1-6), but KIPP’s Head Coach is Diego Hasty, a man very familiar with both sidelines of Lowry Stadium. Hasty has been the top man at East and at rival Northampton-West.

The Rams and Panthers are each fighting the injury bug. KIPP had so few players left last week they were forced to forfeit against North Edgecombe.

On the home sideline, Privott is battling injuries to several key players including quarterback Evans Grant. Travis Wiggins is taking over under center this week.

Both teams will look to use the players they have as they lock horns in the key TRC matchup.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Roy F. Lowry Stadium.

Cary Christian at Northeast: For the second straight week, Northeast Academy will square off with another top five team in the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association eight-man ranks.

This time the fifth-ranked Eagles will meet third-ranked Cary Christian.

The Eagles stand 3-4 for the season and look to get back to .500 against a 5-2 Cary Christian team that is fresh off a 34-31 win over St. Davids. Northeast fell to second-ranked Parrott Academy 42-20 last week.

Northeast will continue to look to its tough running game as they try to knock off the higher-ranked Cary team. Bo Daniel has led the ground attack while quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Ryan Williams will be looking to keep Cary off guard.

First Flight at Bertie: Neither Bertie nor First Flight has fared as well as they hoped heading into the 2011 season, but both have the potential to at least qualify for post-season.

Bertie needs to close out the season with a win over both First Flight and Hertford County to secure a four-win season. The Falcons are winless in the Northeastern Coastal Conference heading into what will be Senior Night at Roy L. Bond Jr. Stadium.

First Flight has lost three of the last four with their only winning coming over Pasquotank County High School. Bertie suffered a one-point loss at Pasquotank three weeks ago.

The Falcons have injury concerns heading into the week, but will look to snap a four-game skid and claim their first conference victory.

Lawrence Academy at Hobgood Academy: The Warriors are still looking for their first win under new skipper Beau Drake.

Lawrence has improved weekly, but has not found the taste of victory yet. They’ll look to do that this week as they square off with Hobgood Academy.

The Raiders suffered a 68-16 loss at the hands of Southampton Academy last week.

The Warriors have been able to put up good offensive numbers against just about every opponents, but suffered a tough setback to defending state champion Word of God last week.

They’ll look to jump back into the win column Friday.

Southeast Halifax at Gates County: Southeast Halifax is sitting a surprising 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the Tar-Roanoke Conference.

Gates County on the other hand has struggled in the league and currently sits 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

The Red Barons will look to get things going again Friday when they welcome Southeast to Gatesville. There Gates County has prepared for the Trojans for two weeks following last weeks’ bye.

Kickoff for the key Tar-Roanoke Conference matchup is 7:30 p.m.

Hertford County is idle this week.