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It would be kind of hard to run one of the state's best triple-option offenses without a quarterback, wouldn't it?

Quarterback, schmorterback. Northeast Guilford coach Tommy Pursley has a fullback and two halfbacks more than capable of handling direct snaps. Maybe he'll just go without a QB tonight against Western Alamance in a game with major playoff implications.

Pursley goes so far as to say the maestro of his flexbone offense, Kendall Bratcher, won't start. Bratcher will dress and probably play, but Pursley wants him to take it easy after suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament in one knee in a Sept. 21 victory at Western Guilford. Bratcher isn't fully recovered from a high ankle sprain, either.

"If he were 100 percent," Pursley said, "he'd start in a heartbeat."

Freshman Maurice Harris started at quarterback at Southern Alamance last week and helped Northeast rush for 418 yards. Harris even threw for two scores. Pursley said Harris would play in Thursday's JV game and dress for tonight's varsity game -- but he won't start. So who will? No matter what, the Rams will hand a heavy workload to fullback Tyler Woods, who has run for 950 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Northeast will be without top halfback Chris Reed. He's out two to three weeks with an MCL sprain. Halfback Marquise Wright was lost for the season when he suffered a torn anterior crucial ligament Sept. 14 at Reidsville.

"In 28 years of coaching," Pursley said, "I've never had a year or a team that's had so many injuries and bad luck."

Bratcher, an all-county QB as a junior, didn't practice last week and was at half-speed Tuesday. He's critical to Northeast's chances of winning the conference and going deep in the playoffs, but the Rams don't want to rush him back.

"We're preparing for him to play," said Western Alamance coach Hal Capps. "If it's going to be a surprise, it will be a surprise if he's not playing."

GRIMSLEY MISSING KEY PIECE: Grimsley coach Mark Saunders knows for certain that speedy sophomore Keenan Allen won't be available tonight when the Whirlies open Metro 4-A play at High Point Central.

The running back was ejected for taunting when he high-stepped into the end zone on Grimsley's third touchdown of the first quarter last week against Winston-Salem Reynolds. He already had returned a kickoff 80 yards for a TD.

The ejection required him to sit out Grimsley's next game. Saunders anticipated a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and was disappointed with the call. He had lost starting quarterback Zach Maynard -- Allen's brother -- for the Aug. 24 game at Northern Durham because of an ejection the previous week.

Still, the Whirlies are 6-0, and linebackers Jack Schultz and Andre Oliver return from injury. Grimsley will try to extend a 16-game conference winning streak.

HELPING A LEAGUE RIVAL: When McMichael played a volleyball match at Eastern Guilford last month, coaches Marty Woods and Tony Johnson noticed the canvas cover on Eastern's ball cart was torn.

They raised money to donate a brand-new cart to the fire-ravaged school plus replacement Wildcats-blue fabric for the old cart. A presentation was made between JV and varsity matches Sept. 27 at McMichael.

Turns out, the damage hadn't been done by fire. Because the fire destroyed the Wildcats' storage space, coach John Lasher had been cramming the team's equipment in his car. The wear and tear had come from Lasher's makeshift closet.

"It was one of the greatest sporting gestures I had seen in 20 years of officiating," said game official Burton Matherly.

Contact Jeff Carlton at 373-7065 or jcarlton@news-record.com