RONDA -- East Wilkes has already knocked off the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds in the 1A West football playoff bracket.

Now, the 13th-seeded Cardinals are preparing to face No. 1.

It will mean practicing on Thanksgiving and taking a long bus ride the following day when most are hitting the shopping malls with fury, but no one from the Ronda school is complaining. If you're still playing football this time of year, it's a badge of honor to have to rearrange your Turkey Day plans to accommodate team meetings and workouts.

"It's a big hump to get into the third round," Cardinals coach Monty Chipman said . "This is big for our program."

East Wilkes' first-ever foray into the state football quarterfinals will pit them against undefeated North Duplin, which improved to 12-0 with last week's win over Union. The Rebels made it to the state semifinals last year, losing to eventual 1A champion Elkin by a 21-6 score.

Chipman attended that game in Elkin and was on the sidelines in 2004 when the Cardinals beat North Duplin 33-6 in the opening round of the playoffs. He knows this Friday's meeting will be the ultimate challenge for his club, which moved to 5-8 overall with last Friday's 28-27 win over North Stokes.

"They have been scoring a lot of points, and they've got a good defense," Chipman said. "They like to spread it out. They like to go with four wideouts and shotgun, like you've seen with Alleghany, Mount Airy and West Wilkes around here. They've got a good tailback who is quick. And their quarterback is mobile and can run and throw."

The Rebels average 33.6 points per game, with a low for the season of 21 in a pair of conference games against North Johnston and Ayden-Grifton. Defensively, North Duplin has allowed only 85 points all year, with Princeton scoring the most in a 33-13 loss to the Rebels on Oct. 12.

Senior quarterback Doug Lloyd has thrown for more than 1,000 yards, including five completions for 95 yards and a touchdown last week against Union. Akeem Cox rushed for 116 yards and one touchdown in that game and had 198 yards and two scores the week before against Princeton.

Chipman compares Cox to East Wilkes' starting tailback, sophomore Aaron Bauguess. Cox stands 5-7 and weighs just 148, but is tough and fast.

The East Wilkes coach sees rays of hope despite the Rebels' intimidating resume.

"We've looked at the teams they've played and only three had winning records," Chipman said. "I don't know if they've actually been challenged."

The Cardinals certainly have been this season, playing in an ultra-tough and deep conference with the likes of Mount Airy (still undefeated and playing in the 1AA bracket), West Wilkes (9-3), East Surry (9-4), North Stokes (8-5) and Elkin (defending 1A champs, 5-7 this season).

"Our style of football in our conference and what they play down there is very different," Chipman said. "We definitely want to make it a physical ball game.

"They are a hard-hitting, fast-scoring offense. I think we need to make them earn whatever they get and have to drive the ball -- no big plays. We need to try and make it a ball-control game and hold the football."

East Wilkes did just that against Hayesville two weeks ago, essentially doubling the Yellow Jackets' number of plays. The Cardinals may elect to receive if they win the toss this week just to keep the ball away from the Rebels as much as possible.

"If they get 14 to 20 points on you, with that defense, you're going to have trouble scoring," Chipman said. "We think there are some weaknesses where we can move the ball."

East Wilkes used a short passing attack to pick apart North Stokes last week and thus open more holes for Bauguess in the running game. Quarterback Graylan Tharpe completed eight of his 10 passes for 152 yards, including a 57-yard thread-the-needle touchdown strike to Charlie Sale on a slant play in the second quarter.

Bauguess finished with 201 rushing yards and two TDs, including an 80-yard scoring burst in the third period. North Stokes had won the regular season meeting 12-7, but the Cardinals were a completely different opponent this time around

"I think they underestimated us, and we came out and showed them what we could do," Bauguess said after the North Stokes win.

North Duplin likely won't fall into that same trap now that Cardinals have dethroned two of the top seeds from this year's playoffs.

On Monday at practice, Chipman asked his team if they were satisfied just making the third round of the playoffs. The feeling among players was that there is still more to play for.

Friday's winner advances to the 1A West title game to face either No. 10 South Stanley (which beat Elkin and Cherokee) or No. 3 Lakewood (9-4). The winner of that game will then advance to the 1A state title game, which is being played at NC State's Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 11 a.m.

East Wilkes is that close to the trophy that Elkin has dominated in recent years.

"I told them you've got to remember how you played and what got you here," Chipman said. "You can win any game you play if you show up and play hard."

East Wilkes Cardinals

5-8 Overall, 1-7 Northwest 1A

Aug. 17 West Davidson W (21-20)

Aug. 24 North Wilkes W (33-15)

Aug. 31 at Wilkes Central L (21-41)

Sept. 7 East Surry* L (24-31, 2 OT)

Sept. 14 at North Stokes* L (7-12)

Sept. 21 Bishop McGuinness* L (7-10)

Sept. 28 at West Wilkes* L (12-34)

Oct. 5 Elkin* L (0-26)

Oct. 19 at South Stokes* L (19-49)

Oct. 29 Alleghany* W (42-20)

Nov. 2 at Mount Airy* L (0-48)

Nov. 9 State 1A Playoffs: at No. 4 Hayesville W (17-14)

Nov. 16 State 1A Playoffs: at No. 5 North Stokes W (28-27)

* denotes Northwest 1A game

North Duplin Rebels

12-0 Overall, 5-0 in Carolina 1A

Aug. 24 Northside W (34-0)

Aug. 31 at Jones Senior W (28-12)

Sept. 7 Union W (33-8)

Sept. 14 at Dixon W (49-0)

Sept. 21 at Hobbton W (26-12)

Oct. 5 North Johnston* W (21-7)

Oct. 12 Princeton* W (33-13)

Oct. 19 at Ayden-Grifton W (21-8)

Oct. 27 Rosewood* W (41-7)

Nov. 2 at Spring Creek* W (46-6)

Nov. 9 State 1A Playoffs: No. 16 Princeton W (35-0)

Nov. 16 State 1A Playoffs: No. 8 Union W (30-12)

* denotes Carolina 1A game