Following last week's 38-7 loss at Marlboro County, Scotland head coach Chip Williams included in his postgame talk a question he had posed to his team in practice leading up to the game with the Bulldogs.

"Why can't we win? It took us 20 minutes to figure out the answer to that question at practice," said Williams last week in Bennettsville, S.C. "And what did we finally figure out was the answer?

"We can."

Scotland (1-2) can win. The team proved that with a 19-17 victory over Seventy-First in its season opener. No, the Falcons — who last week lost to a Hoke team that allowed 69 and 52 points in its previous two games; and who barely beat Hoggard, a team that squeaked by 2-A Whiteville — don't appear to be nearly as good as they were last year when they won the 4-A state title.

That does not change the fact that Scotland's schedule is extremely challenging, and losses at New Hanover and Marlboro can help the young Scots if they learn from mistakes made in those two games.

The good news for Scotland? The team will finally be at home tonight (7:30 p.m., Pate Stadium) after beginning its season with three consecutive road games.

The not-so-good news? The Scots host Jack Britt (3-0), and the Bucs have been one of the most impressive teams around, playing with a similar form that helped the team advance to the 4-AA state championship game in 2008.

Jack Britt opened the season with a 30-0 win over East Wake, and followed that with a 69-19 thrashing of Hoke, a team whose head coach, Leon Hope, and assistants Tom Paris and William Clark, were all defensive coaches at Scotland two seasons ago. Last week came a 42-6 win at Hoggard, ending the Vikings' 28-game home winning streak.

Jack Britt quarterback Greg Bryant Jr., the son of former Hoke head coach Greg Bryant Sr., completed 8-of-11 passes for 147 yards against Hoggard, throwing one TD pass and running for two more [58 and 18 yards].

Buccaneer tailback Eric Johnson had two touchdown runs against the Vikings, but his best game of the young season came against Hoke, when he set a school record by scoring six TDs; Johnson had 271 yards on 23 carries in the game.

Johnson has 343 yards and seven rushing touchdowns while averaging 9.8 yards on 35 carries this season. Bryant Jr. is 16-of-24 passing for 245 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

"(Jack Britt) Coach (Richard) Bailey does a good job," said SHS defensive coordinator Beau Williams. "They're spread, they run counter and zone read with the quarterback, and he mixes in the jet sweep and he throws it as well."

Beau was asked if he was surprised to see Jack Britt — who lost quarterback Everett Proctor (N.C. State) and tackle Xavier Nixon (Florida), among others, to graduation last year — averaging 37 points per game. He said he was not.

"He's got a program established," said Williams. "He knows who's coming up, year in and year out. He's got them set up to rise up. He lost, I think, his whole line last year, and he's got another group of seniors who are ready to step in.

"It's kind of like Richmond — he's reloading. That's the point we're trying to get to."

Scotland's defense only gave up three of Marlboro's six touchdowns last week, but all three of those scores came in the first half.

"It's about like every week," said Williams. "It's kind of the same ol', same ol'. We've got to play technique and play ourselves.

"Like with last Friday, we just didn't show up until the second half. Marlboro pulled their quarterback, but on the first couple of drives, they still had their first-group skill in, and we were able to slow them down."

Offense

Sophomore quarterback Kwashawn Quick continues to develop as he gains experience. Quick completed 15-of-34 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown against Marlboro, although he was picked off twice, with one of those being returned for a touchdown.

Senior receiver Francis "Marlboro" Lloyd has five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, scored last week against his old school. Sophomore Dominique Green has six catches for 75 yards, and senior Josh Quirk has six grabs for 87 yards and has been the Scots' most consistent receiver with at least two catches and no less than 23 yards in any of the first three games.

In order to get back on the winning track, Scotland must rediscover success on the ground. In the team's opening win over Seventy-First, Quick ran 10 times for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the game winner from 13 yards out with 19 seconds remaining.

Quick has been sacked six times for losses totaling 49 yards in the two games since, while getting just four yards on six designed running plays.

Scotland's running back stable has yet to produce this season. For the year, junior Malcolm Jones and sophomores Tony McRae and Travis Wall have combined for 62 yards on 31 carries. McRae has the most of the group, with 43 yards coming on 11 carries.

As a team (including negative sack yardage), the Scots have 163 rushing yards on 64 carries this season.

Scotland's problems on the ground have come due to a variety of reasons. The offensive line has struggled with injuries and ran into a brick wall of college-sized defenders at Marlboro last week. Falling behind in the last two games has also forced the Scots to go to the air.

"It's everybody," said SHS offensive coordinator Wes Mattera when asked who was at fault for the team's meager rushing totals. "It's a combination of things. The weather wasn't conducive to throwing at New Hanover, and they stacked the box on us and made some good plays up front.

"At Marlboro, they were blitzing No. 17 (linebacker Lateek Townsend), we had some breakdowns up front, we got behind and we had to start throwing.

"That's what we concentrated on during practice this week, making sure that the dive-back got his four yards and the pitch man got his five around the corner... We've got to get back to the running game. We use it to set up the pass."

Scotland's offensive line was pushed around early and often against the Bulldogs. Lining up against Marlboro would be a tough order on any Friday night, but injuries along Scotland's line made things even more difficult.

"The only person who was in the same spot was (center) Johnny Mintz," said offensive line coach Norman Quick of last week's lineup. "We took Josh Lovell, who had been playing tackle, and put him at guard; we took Jordan Spangler, who had been playing center and guard, and had to move him to tackle.

"At right guard, we put Tyler Jones in, and, at right tackle, we had to put Steven Locklear in. It was a complete change. I think it will help us in the long run, it will help us build depth, and I think we got better by doing that."

Quick said he was disappointed at the way the line came off the football last week. All of the line's injuries have not fully healed, but on Monday, the group was able to practice without anyone sitting out.

"Seventy, eighty percent," Quick said of the line's health. "They're not all the way healthy, but they're out here practicing, trying to get better."

Mattera talked about the Jack Britt defense and what will have to be done in order for the Scots to move the football with any success tonight.

"They're very fundamentally sound," Mattera said. "Jack Britt's always going to do what they're coached to do.

"They play a base 4-3 defense. They're not going to let you beat them deep, they're going to play technique-sound football, so we're going to have to be right in our assignments and use the techniques that they use against them."

Senior defensive end Kevin Bethea said that the last two weeks have not dented the team's confidence, and that seniors like himself must make it their responsibility to help this young team improve and turn the season around.

"We need to get better," Bethea said. "I need to step up, help my teammates out and make sure we're doing the things that we're being coached to do."