Scots defense set sights to win a championship

LAURINBURG — “We want to win a championship,” defensive back Shylan Harrell said after the third day of scrimmaging for the Scotland Fighting Scots.

The focus on improvement was crucial during Wednesday’s scrimmage. The Fighting Scots, Grey’s Creek and St. Pauls’ high school players and coaches played competitive seven-on-seven football with the goal of “getting one percent better.”

“It’s great competition for all of us,” head coach Richard Bailey said for the Fighting Scots. “Grey’s Creek has a running back that’s the best in the state, and St. Pauls has really great players.”

Although it’s not true football, as coaches claim, these scrimmages are used in the early stages of the season to help coaches evaluate and observe the kind of team they will have this season.

For Coach Bailey, he has seen some improvement on both sides of the ball, and in their scrimmage against Grey’s Creek and St. Paul’s, he believes his team won the day.

“We’ve been pretty consistent all summer, and our defense had plenty of interceptions. Defensively, we are coming along; offensively, we are a work in progress, but I love what we are doing,” Bailey stated.

“It’s not real football yet, but we made the better plays; if we were keeping score, we would have won the seven-on-seven as a football team.”

Adjusting to a new system may be difficult for certain units, as coaches implement their plan and players must adapt. That change has, however, gone quite well for the Scots defense.

“We’re playing with a new defensive coordinator, and we’ve improved tremendously. He has us ready for the season,” defensive back Shylan Harrell claimed.

“We are improving, coming from a new style and implementing my knowledge; we will see how the season turns out,” new addition at linebacker Kymani Atiles stated.

Coach Bailey stated during last week’s scrimmage that the Scots would be a formidable opponent if his defense could generate stops. With their new attacking defensive strategy, the Scots believe they have the talent to succeed this season.

“We are capable of winning a lot of games this year; right now we’re grinding, putting in hard work off the field, working in the weight room. Everyone on this team is dedicated to winning,” Atiles said.

“Confidence is great. As a defense, we’re going to shut the opposing team’s offense down; we don’t want any offense to score on us,” Harrell stated.