LAURINBURG — “All we got is all we need.”
That’s been the Scotland football team’s motto in recent years. But, for their second round playoff opponent Terry Sanford, what they needed was a last second miracle to keep their state title aspirations alive.
The miracle became reality.
A game-winning Hail Mary with time expiring was what ended Scotland’s season on Nov. 10. Scots head coach Richard Bailey feels his team wasn’t destined for a state championship this season.
“We fought till the very end of that game,” Bailey said. “And, unfortunately, the Hail Mary was answered. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
But, Bailey knows this year’s team battled through things out of their control, and had some big achievements this season.
“Considering some of the obstacles that we had in front of us with the injuries, even the last game having people sick, I’m so proud of what we did,” Bailey said. “Anytime you beat Richmond County, it’s a pretty good year in Scotland County. Anytime you win with a split conference, you know, if you win your half of the conference anyway, there’s some good accomplishments to point to.”
Bailey also knows they lost some winnable games throughout the season however.
“We should of won a few more games,” Bailey said. “Hoke and Marlboro are the two games that are going to stick in my craw. Neither one of them, we should not have lost those two football games. We just did not play well enough offensively or defensively in those games, in particular. Just turning the ball over, too many mistakes, giving up big plays; we could have handled those games better.”
The Scots finished the year 7-5 overall with a 4-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference record. However, they recorded the highest scoring offense in the SAC, averaging 36.4 points per game in 12 games played.
Junior quarterback Carter Revelle finished the year with 1,798 passing yards, a SAC-high 17 passing scores, and nine interceptions.
Running backs Patrick Primus and Zay Jones combined for 2,479 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns on the season. Primus suffered an injury on Oct. 21 against Lee County that would ultimately end his season, which led the Scots to almost rely solely on Jones at running back.
Jones went for 1,001 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns in the final four games of the season.
Wide receivers Izeem Graham and Cadyn Graves combined for 50 catches, 1,061 yards receiving, and 12 touchdowns on the year as Revelle’s biggest receiving targets.
On defense, the Scots allowed 29 points per game over the course of the season.
Jahari Brown and Graham led the Scots with a team-high two interceptions apiece. Graham was slotted in at defensive back near the end of the regular season.
During the regular season, linebacker Luke Strickland was the team-leader in tackles per game with seven, and linebacker Malcolm McGirt recorded a team-high two sacks.
When Bailey was asked if there was anything he wishes he could change about the season, besides the ending to it, he had multiple answers.
“I wish we’d of been a little more careful with the football early in the year,” Bailey said. “I think I overestimated JV transferring to varsity on the defensive side of the ball. We had a good JV defense; I thought that would have transferred a little better than what it did. And, that ain’t something you can change though. You can’t change sort of the talent level of the kids you have. Obviously, (wish) we’d have played better.”
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