Back to the basics for the Fighting Scots

LAURINBURG — The Scotland Fighting Scots held their annual seven-on-seven practice in the early mornings on Wednesday at Scotland High School.

It was the second scrimmage the Scots had had after a long off-season. The scrimmage included the junior varsity and varsity teams from Scotland High School versus St. Paul’s and Greys Creek. With all three programs focused on improvement, the scrimmage served as a valuable opportunity to shake off the rust and build chemistry.

Head coach Richard Bailey of the Scotland Fighting Scots commented on his team’s toughness and work ethic, highlighting their commitment during the scrimmage.

“Very competitive, tough and gritty. That’s one thing fans are going to see from this year’s team: a lot of grit,” Bailey said. “These other teams are coming out here to do a seven-on-seven. We came out here at seven in the morning and did our team competition. So we pulled a double duty—our guys pulled through that and still performed at a high level.”

After coming off a 7-6 record, where they were undefeated at home (5-0). This year’s team will have to show toughness and grit after going 2-6 on the road. With Dajuan Gibson, Dylan Tilson and Ji’san McPhatter all graduating, players will have to step up and fill their roles. The question is, who will those players be?

“Offensively, we will be good,” Johnson claimed. “Tyjurian White is returning at running back, our wide receivers are young; they have a chance to be good. Carter Williams, Andre McNeil and Tomek McFadden are coming back. So we will be good this year at getting the ball downfield.”

“It all starts with getting better on defense. When it comes to being on the road, we are going to be better because we are going to get stops.”

For a long time, the common phrase in sports has been “Defense wins championships.” This may sound a little contradictory, given that today’s football teams average 30 or more points per game. But for the Fighting Scots, that saying isn’t just a cliché—it’s a blueprint for how they plan to compete this season.

Now playing in a redesigned conference, offensively if they can maintain their high scoring rate, they have the potential to be a good team. However, if the defense can stop the opposing team’s running game, apply pressure to the quarterback, get off the field and force turnovers, it can improve a team’s reputation and lead to shorter fields for your offense.

With their regular season game not until Aug. 22, the Scots will have ample amount of time to get back into the groove of things.

When asked what to expect from the 2025 Fighting Scots this season, Bailey responded.

“Offensively, we are going to score points, and we are going to be a good team. But if we get stops defensively, we are going to be a difficult team to beat.”

The Scots’ next practice will be Wednesday, June 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.