LAURINBURG — Two of last year’s football state championship runners-up will meet on Friday night when Scotland hosts Southeast Guilford in the season opener.
Scotland advanced to the 4A state championship game last season, where they lost to East Forsyth. Southeast Guilford fell to Weddington in the 3AA title game.
“They’ve got a couple of their key guys back, including a defensive lineman that’s a highly thought of kid,” Scotland coach Richard Bailey said.”Several good skill guys. They’re big on the offensive line. They’re probably planning on having another very good year.”
The Falcons of Southeast Guilford graduated many contributors from last year’s squad, including starting quarterback Ryan Douglas. But junior running back Jalen Fairley is back after rushing for more than 1,100 yards last season. Also returning is junior receiver Adam Douglas, who posted 436 yards on a team-high 30 receptions last season. The Falcons graduated several key players in its secondary, leaving gaps to be filled by younger players this season.
Southeast Guilford finished with a 14-2 record last season, including an unblemished 6-0 run in the Mid-Piedmont Conference. Bailey said there is value in playing such a tough opponent early in the season.
“It does make your coach a little more gray-headed because you have to worry about it a little bit more,” Bailey said. “It is good to play quality opponents, especially before we get into our conference (so) we’re not shocked by the level of play that we see in our conference.
“Southeast Guilford is definitely one of those programs,” he added. “I’m sure they expect to go right back and play again for a state championship. They’ve got those kinds of players. So we’re going to have to be ready to play, but it will be good for us to test ourselves early.”
Scotland and Southeast Guilford last met when the Fighting Scots were on the road to their 2011 state championship. The Scots defeated the Falcons 55-8 in the second round of the state tournament.
Friday night’s game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Pate Stadium. Scotland’s jayvee football team is not playing this week. They’ll open their season next week at Hoggard.
