LAURINBURG – The final three weeks of the high school football regular season are upon us. The 2022-23 season has zipped by, and now is the time when the games matter more for NCHSAA playoff implications. For the Fighting Scots, their final three games feature a run at the Sandhills Athletic Conference gauntlet; Pinecrest, Lee County, and Richmond.
Fortunately for the Scots, they are fresh off a bye week and have a different mentality, as head coach Richard Bailey and his team know the importance of winning out.
“(We) understand what’s at stake,” Bailey said. “If we win the last three (games), we’ll be conference champs. If we can beat Lee County, we’ll at least be the 3A conference champs. And so, we’re definitely playing things between seeding and being the number one seed in the conference. But, obviously, these three games mean everything.”
The gauntlet begins with a road matchup against the Pinecrest Patriots Friday night. And, Bailey knows that Pinecrest will be an all-around challenge.
“They’re probably the most complete team we’ve played all year,” he said. “They’re good on defense. They’ve got a really good offense that seems to be getting better as the season goes along. With a new coaching staff, the offense is sort of a work in progress, and it’s kind of gotten where I think they’ve wanted it to be at this point.”
With the Patriots offense progressing, Bailey has realized it looks familiar to him.
“They’re very similar to us offensively; it’s almost like playing ourselves,” Bailey said. “They have the same kind of running scheme that we have. They have a really good slot receiver, sort of like their (version of) Cadyn Graves, and good split ends, sort of like Izeem Graham. They’re very much built the same way we are.”
Defensively, not a lot has changed from last year to now, according to Bailey.
“They’re very similar to what they’ve done in the past,” Bailey said. “I think their defensive coaches must have decided to sort of stick with what’s been working for them. They’re very sound, very well-coached, and they’ve got really good players.”
Pinecrest is coming off a 40-23 win against Lee County and holds a 5-2 record (3-0 SAC). And, the Patriots have some offensive weapons that will be difficult to contain.
Patriots quarterback Mason Konen has played well for Pinecrest this season. He has passed for 957 yards and six touchdowns, with three interceptions as well.
Pinecrest’s star running back Nahjiir Seagraves returned to action against Lee County after suffering a lower-body injury against Grimsley on Sep. 9 and has garnered interest from several “power-five” FBS college football programs, including Wake Forest, Virginia, Pitt, and Maryland. On the season, he has 681 rushing yards on 82 carries, and seven touchdowns in five games. Seagraves has two games of 200+ rushing yards on the year, as well, with 209 against Rolesville, and 260 against Middle Creek.
Pinecrest wide receiver Hunter Neifert has been a solid playmaker for the Patriots and is the top receiving target for Konen. Neifert has produced 480 receiving yards on 26 catches, and four touchdowns this season.
On defense, the player to watch out for will be linebacker Jaden Baptist. Baptist has been on a tear this year, with 59 total tackles (41 solo), 17.5 tackles-for-loss, six sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble.
For the Scots to pull out a win, they’ll have to be aggressive, but have to stay disciplined and avoid mistakes.
“We have to eliminate turnovers and penalties on offense,” Bailey said. “We can not give Pinecrest short fields. We’re going to have to make them have to sustain drives and try to make them one-dimensional. We’ve got to take something away. We’ve got to make it to where we make them do things we sort of know they’re going to do. And, we’re going to have to score in order to win this game, so we’re going to have to find ways to move the ball and finish drives.”
The injury report for the Scots hasn’t grown longer but hasn’t gotten shorter either. Center Micah Clark and quarterback Ji’San McPhatter are both doubtful for Friday night, while linebacker Matrice McRae has been ruled out.
Kickoff between the Scots and the Patriots will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Southern Pines.
Leave a Reply