Most of the Roanoke-Chowan region’s football teams will be playing Thursday this week in preparation for the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene.

Bertie High School, Hertford County High School, Lawrence Academy and Northampton County High School – East have all moved their games to Thursday. Gates County and Northeast Academy have not moved their games as of press time.

Rocky Mt. at Bertie

Bertie High School will look to start the season with as many wins as they had all last year Thursday night.

The Falcons, fresh off a 26-24 win at Gates County, will host one of the state’s top tier teams in Rocky Mount High School. The Gryphons claimed an impressive 30-0 win over Bunn last week.

Both the Falcons and the Gryphons struggled a year ago with Bertie coming home 2-8 in Head Coach Greg Watford’s first season and Rocky Mount limping home 3-8 under second-year mentor Dickie Schock.

The squads are each looking to rebound and both did just that in their first game of the season.

Rocky Mount won last year’s outing between the two schools 26-7.

Kickoff for the nonconference contest will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Roy L. Bond Jr. Stadium in Windsor.

Northampton-East at Plymouth

The early season schedule for Northampton-East takes a tough road swing Thursday night. The Rams will travel to Plymouth High School to take on the defending Eastern 1-A finalist Vikings.

Last week, Northampton-East struggled through a rain delay and never got things going as they lost to Granville Central 30-14. This week they will look to get their new no-huddle offense on track at Plymouth.

The Vikings are coming off a week one win over Farmville Central.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Plymouth.

Hertford County at Southeast Halifax

Hertford County hadn’t lost a season-opener since 2004 until last week’s 27-14 loss at South Central High School.

In 2004, the Bears suffered through a dismal 0-4 non-league start before bouncing back to go 6-1 in the league and make the state playoffs.

Third-year skipper Scott Privott’s team 2011 team will look to end the skid quicker than that as they head to Crowell’s Crossroads Thursday to meet Southeast Halifax, a team that was a league foe in the old Tar-Roanoke Conference.

The Trojans are fresh off an 18-16 win over cross county rival Northwest Halifax in the season-opener under Ahoskie resident Larry Edwards.

The Bears will look to see if they can bounce back at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Lawrence at Southampton

A long-time rivalry will be renewed in the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association eight-man opener in Courtland, Virginia Thursday.

The Warriors of Lawrence Academy, under first-year skipper Beau Drake, will renew their rivalry with Southampton Academy, who reenters the league after a multi-year absence.

The Raiders have always been a formidable opponent and the two teams have a history of close games and tough battles.

Lawrence enters the season looking to rebuild after missing the playoffs in four of the past five seasons while Southampton is hoping to get things going as they return to eight-man football.

Kick off for the contest is slated for 7 p.m. in Courtland.

Word of God at Northeast

Two teams who have battled in the regular season and deep in the playoffs will be in action in week one of the NCISAA eight-man league Friday.

The Eagles of Northeast Academy, under first-year skipper Stevie Flythe, will host Word of God Christian Academy in the opener for both schools. The contest, originally scheduled as Word of God’s home game, has been moved to Lasker.

The Eagles are a perennial playoff squad as are the Crusaders and the contest looks to be an early matchup of squads that could compete for a bid in the finals.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Lasker.

Perquimans at Gates County

Gates County High School barely missed a two-point conversion last week that would have sent their season-opener to overtime.

A season ago a missed extra point caused their only loss in the regular season – a one-point setback to Hertford County – and then the Red Barons rolled off 11 straight victories.

Friday night they will look to try that streak again as they welcome Perquimans High School. The Pirates suffered a 56-6 loss in their season-opener to Northeastern High School.

Both teams will be looking for their first win at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Gatesville.