LAURINBURG — Friday night’s game was a party from beginning to end.

The Fighting Scots danced to the pre-game music before storming onto the field in front of a packed Pate Stadium in their first home game since August.

The homecoming festivities from the rest of the week had hyped up the team to take on the win-less Hoke County Bucks.

Fighting Scots junior Bruce Wall got Pate Stadium rocking by running the opening kick off back 69-yards for a touchdown. The extra point by senior Tripp Wells made it 7-0 Scots. The offense was back on the field in no time as the defense led by senior T.J. Smith forced the Bucks into a fourth and 21.

Bucks quarterback Kevin Thorpe shanked the punt and the Scots took over at the Hoke 38-yard line. Two plays later Scots quarterback Warren Bell ran the ball in from 19-yards out and with a successful PAT the Scots took a 14-0 lead.

Bell aired the ball out on the Scots ensuing possession finding senior wide receiver Trey Dixon for a 19-yard touchdown. Dixon then bobbled the extra point snap. With a 20-0 lead the Scots offense continued to find ways into the end zone.

Hoke’s Thorpe responded with a 38-yard touchdown run, the Bucks extra point missed wide left to make it a 20-7 Scots lead.

Scots running back Khalil Smith broke off a 32-yard touchdown run put his team up 27-9 with just under three minutes left in the first half.

Senior linebacker Javon Ratliffe ended the first quarter by sacking Thorpe to set his offense up for yet another Zamir White touchdown. White barrelled into the end zone from one yard out to start the second half and give the Scots a 34-6 lead.

The Bucks offense attempted to put together a drive, but the Scots defense stopped Thorpe short on the line to gain on fourth down and 10. The Scots took over on downs at their own nine-yard line — one play later White strolled into the end zone for an 87-yard touchdown.

The long run pushed White over 1,000 yards rushing for the fourth consecutive year. The Scots senior and University of Georgia commit now has over 6,000 career rushing yards.

Scots head coach Richard Bailey learned his lesson after scoring 42 points to get a running clock in the second half. Smith found the end zone for a second time with a 49-yard catch and run from Bell to make it a 48-6 Scots lead heading into the locker room.

“I’m going to make sure we have a running clock when we have a chance,” said Bailey. “That way we can get all of our starters out and get our back-ups some valuable playing time. I challenged out guys to be focused and ready to play because we got better this week.”

The third quarter took eight minutes from start to finish with the running clock and featured a one-yard touchdown run by Hoke running back Kyshaun Galberth. The touchdown didn’t even make a dent in the Scots 48-12 lead which quickly turned into 55 points courtesy of an eight-yard run by Smith.

The fourth quarter was over almost as quickly as Scots senior Brenton Thomas picked off Thorpe to set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Scots back-up quarterback Desmond Davis. The score by Davis was the final of the night as the Scots took the victory, 61-12.

Even though it was a blow-out victory, Bailey still gave the Bucks credit for not throwing in the towel.

“Hoke County is going through a tough year, but my hat goes off to those kids they didn’t quit. They kept fighting, but tonight we were the better football team.”

The Scots offense out gained the Bucks 486-175, with 387 rushing yards and 99 receiving yards. The Scots defense held the Bucks to 58 rushing yards and 117 receiving.

Bailey and his staff shared the wealth this week as five different players scored touchdowns — compared to last week when White scored six in the first half.

“I thought this was Warren’s best game of the year. He did a good job of controlling the offense plus he threw the ball well and ran well,” said Bailey. ” We knew coming in that Khalil would get a few more touches. I felt good about our jet sweep game. I thought Desmond did some good things too, he’s our Swiss Army knife right now. Our offensive line continues to dominate and as long as we’re blocking it doesn’t matter who we have running the ball.”

Bell has five passes for 92 yards and a touchdown to go along with eight carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. In spite of fewer catches, White still led the Scots rushing attack with seven carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.

Amber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange The Fighting Scots made their triumphant return to Pate Stadium on Friday with a 61-12 homecoming victory over the Hoke County Bucks. It was the first home game the Scots have played since August. The team will remain at home next Friday to take on Seventy-First.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_IMG_0417.jpgAmber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange The Fighting Scots made their triumphant return to Pate Stadium on Friday with a 61-12 homecoming victory over the Hoke County Bucks. It was the first home game the Scots have played since August. The team will remain at home next Friday to take on Seventy-First.

Amber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange Fighting Scots wide receiver Bruce Wall ran the opening kick off back 69 yards for a touchdown, which sent Pate Stadium’s fans into a frenzy on Friday night. The Scots continued to score on every offensive possession to secure a 61-12 homecoming win over Hoke.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_IMG_0437.jpgAmber Hatten | Laurinburg Exchange Fighting Scots wide receiver Bruce Wall ran the opening kick off back 69 yards for a touchdown, which sent Pate Stadium’s fans into a frenzy on Friday night. The Scots continued to score on every offensive possession to secure a 61-12 homecoming win over Hoke.
Blow out Hoke County in first home game since Aug.

By Amber Hatten

[email protected]