Scotland releases 2023 football schedule

LAURINBURG — The 2023 Scotland High School football schedule was released to the Laurinburg Exchange on Wednesday with a 10-game slate that includes five contests at Pate Stadium and five that are on the road.

Four nonconference matchups will kick off the new season for the Scots, starting with a home game against the Southern Durham Spartans on Aug. 18. The Scots last played the Spartans in 2014, when they fell 34-28 in week four; it was Scotland’s only regular-season loss of the year.

On Aug. 25, Scotland will get a highly-anticipated rematch against the Terry Sanford Bulldogs at Bill Yeager Field in Fayetteville, where the Scots lost 58-55 on a Hail Mary as time expired in the second round of last year’s NCHSAA 3A state playoffs. Two more rematches from last year against the Marlboro County Bulldogs and the Jack Britt Buccaneers will round out the nonconference portion of Scotland’s schedule; the Scots will play the Bulldogs in Bennettsville, S.C. on Sep. 1 and host the Bucs on Sep. 8.

The Scots will get back-to-back road games to open up Sandhills Athletic Conference play against the Hoke County Bucks on Sep. 15 and the Southern Lee Cavaliers on Sep. 22; Scotland’s Homecoming game will be against the Union Pines Vikings on Sep. 29 with their bye coming the following week.

On Oct. 13, the Scots will host the Pinecrest Patriots for their Breast Cancer Awareness game, and on Oct. 20, they’ll play in Sanford against the Lee County Yellow Jackets. The final regular-season game of the year will be at home on Oct. 27 against the Richmond Raiders, which will also be Senior Night.

“Very tough and challenging schedule (to) have two of the top 20 3A teams in the state in preseason with Southern Durham and Terry Sanford,” Scotland head coach Richard Bailey said. “Will be nice to have a home game versus Jack Britt in week four after playing them on the road for two consecutive years.”

The Scots recently wrapped up spring practices and will begin summer workouts on June 12 before attending a camp at North Carolina State University on June 16. Bailey also has a 7-on-7 event scheduled for his team at St. Andrews University on June 22.