This was not the home debut the Scotland High School football team had hoped for.

The Scots cut a 14-0 Jack Britt lead in half just past the midway point of the second quarter, but gave up three quick touchdowns in the last four minutes of the first half before going on to lose 48-14 to their old Mid-Southeastern Conference rivals on Friday night at Pate Stadium.

Scotland (1-3) ends one of its toughest three-game stretches in years with the 34-point loss. The Scots fell 23-0 at New Hanover and 38-7 at Marlboro and have been outscored 109-21 since opening the season with a dramatic 19-17 win at Seventy-First on Aug. 21.

Scotland has a very young team, with sophomores littering the field. Of course, these players will not metamorphose into juniors and seniors in 2009, so the focus has to be on how to win with youth this season.

"I think God does a lot of things, puts a lot of hurdles in front of you," said Scotland head coach Chip Williams. "Usually, it's our choice on what we make out of it.

"Bottom line, I'm not really worried about (the opponents), I'm worried about the improvement of the Fighting Scots, and we've got a lot of improving to do... I knew it was going to be a grueling schedule; we put this schedule together when I first got here.

"I didn't think we'd have as many sophomores as we do, but such is life. Some of these sophomores are getting better, and that's where we have to go as a team."

Jack Britt is now 4-0 and has outscored its opponents 189-39. The Buccaneers ran at will against Scotland on Friday, gaining 322 yards on 43 carries (7.4 ypc) while scoring four touchdowns on the ground.

Jack Britt quarterback Greg Bryant Jr. led the way, rushing for a game-high 121 yards on 19 carries while scoring three touchdowns. Bryant was also 9-of-21 passing for 145 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown strike to receiver Sergio Davis.

The Bucs finished with 467 yards of total offense. Tailback Eric Johnson had 104 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries; he and Bryant Jr. both eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards during the first half.

"We've just got to put our guys in better situations," said SHS defensive line coach Robbie Goins. "We had a couple of times where we could have got off the field and just missed a couple of tackles.

"We've just got to make plays whenever they're there to make... They did exactly what we thought they would do, and they just kept finding open gaps.

"We've got to go back, look at the film and find out what happened exactly."

Jack Britt made a living on third and fourth down in the first half. The Bucs converted 6-of-8 third downs in the first half, and the two times they missed, they mad up for it on fourth down.

Third-and-10 and third-and-nine turned into passing plays of 15 and 18 yards for Britt en route to a 71-yard touchdown drive to open the game. Johnson bounced a run to the left side and went in from 37 yards to give the Bucs the early lead.

The Bucs were 2-for-2 on third down during their first TD drive, and they went 2-for-2 on fourth down while marching 80 yards in 14 plays to go up 14-0 with 8:31 to play in the second quarter.

Sophomore Tony McRae had a 33-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, and 20 quick yards in Jack Britt penalties had the Scots in Buccaneer territory. McRae found a hole on the right side of the line and traveled down the right sideline on a 31-yard run to the JB 4. On second-and-goal from the 3, SHS quarterback Kwashawn Quick pulled the ball down and got into the end zone with 6:44 remaining in the first half. Balyn Krout's extra point cut the deficit to 14-7.

Jack Britt's response to that score was a 21-point eruption, starting with a 68-yard touchdown drive in just under three minutes. The Bucs used two long pass plays to score on their next possession — a 24-yard screen to Johnson, followed by Davis' 51-yard touchdown catch.

Quick was intercepted three plays later, and a 37-yard INT return set up a nine-yard mini-drive that was capped on a 3-yard run by Bryant Jr. to give Jack Britt its final score of the half with two seconds remaining.

Britt scored two more touchdowns in the second half, the second on a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown with nine seconds left in the third quarter. This old problem from 2008 resurfaced on Friday, as the Buccaneers blocked a pair of punts attempted by sophomore Dominique Green.

Scotland's final touchdown came on an 8-yard pass from Quick to Green with 7:46 to go. Will Purcell's extra point made the score 48-14.

The Scots had 176 yards of offense on the night, including 103 rushing yards on 29 attempts. McRae led the team in rushing with 38 yards on six carries.

Quick ran 13 times for 37 yards and a touchdown, and was 5-of-14 passing for 53 yards, one TD and one INT. Quick was victimized by dropped passes in this game as well. Marlboro Lloyd was the Scots' leading receiver, catching four balls for 60 yards.

Scotland will try to stop its three-game losing skid when it hosts Anson on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

"One of two things is going to happen... We're going to have to get better or we're going to lose faith and just end up quitting," said Williams. "I don't think we'll do the latter. I think these young men will persevere, they'll get better and we'll have a good team before the year's over."