The Scotland defense makes a tackle on Dillon’s starting quarterback Friday night at Dillon Memorial Stadium. Their defense made some plays in the first half but ultimately couldn’t make enough stops throughout the game to bail out a Scots offense that couldn’t score until the second half.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Quarterback Ji’san Mcphatter scrambles during Friday’s season opener in Dillon, South Carolina.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Wide receiver Dajuan Gibson starts to run his route against the Wildcats. Gibson caught a long touchdown pass from Mcphatter in the third quarter that immediately got Scotland right back in the game.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
The Scots defense reacts to the ball being snapped on Friday night.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
DILLON, S.C. — The Fighting Scots football team dropped their season opener by a score of 37-21 to the Wildcats on Friday night at Dillon Memorial Stadium. In just the third all-time meeting between the two teams, the Wildcats jumped out ahead near the end of the first half and never relinquished their lead.
Scotland had their chances to get back in the game during the third quarter but ultimately made too many mistakes to pull out a victory. Head Coach Richard Bailey gave credit to Dillon but admitted the Scots left a lot of opportunities on the table in what he called a “great environment.”
“The real look at film will show that we did a lot of this to ourselves, hats off to Dillon and their coaching staff they did a great job,” Bailey said. “We did some good things and had some near misses, some close calls. I enjoyed the environment tonight, not the result obviously but there’s definitely some positives to take away.”
The game started off as a defensive struggle with neither team scoring in the first quarter and possessing the ball multiple times before the first score of the game occurred late in the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Zamaurious Robertson on 4th & 10. This ended up being a true momentum changer as the Scots had done a very good job on defense up to that point by holding the Wildcats off the scoreboard entirely.
After a big kickoff return set up Scotland with good field position, quarterback Ji’san Mcphatter was picked off by Dan Graves. A quarterback scramble shortly after set up the Wildcats with a goal to go situation at the five-yard line, which they capitalized on to go up 14-0 heading into halftime.
Bailey gave credit to the Scots defense for the plays they made early in the game. He said some touchdowns allowed in the second half were more a product of having to play a ton due to an offense that only got one first down in the first half.
“Defensively we did some good things but they played all night so it’s hard to blame them,” Bailey said. “We did not help them much offensively; I can’t remember the last time I coached a football game where we only had one first down in the first half.”
The Scots did come out of the break with a renewed sense of energy, quickly forcing Dillon to punt thanks to a sack by Dylan Tilson, who Bailey gave some serious praise to after the game by saying it was one of the best games of his high school career. Bailey appreciated the effort and motor he played with on Friday night.
“Dylan just plays hard and does what he’s coached to do,” Bailey said. “The rest of the team should be inspired by watching him play because he really does just lay it on the line and I’m very proud of him.”
Mcphatter and wide receiver Dajuan Gibson took advantage of Tilson’s sack by connecting on a long touchdown pass right after to get the Scots on the board and cut the Wildcats lead in half. Another defensive stop right after seemed to signal a momentum shift in Scotland’s favor. The initial momentum was something Bailey said was a combination of adjustments and better execution offensively.
“We switched up our blocking scheme a little bit and saw some things in the passing game that we saw we could take advantage of,” Bailey said. “To be honest with you we didn’t really change a bunch we just started executing a little bit better, started blocking a little bit better.”
Unfortunately for the Scots, the momentum was short lived as their next offensive possession ended quickly with Mcphatter getting picked off again, this time by Robertson, who made plays all over the field on Friday night. A 19-yard touchdown pass to Ejan Green gave Dillon their 14-point lead back at 21-7.
While the Scots did respond by marching down the field in a hurry, capped off by a Mcphatter touchdown pass, that would be the closest they would get the rest of the game. Robertson once again made a huge play for the Wildcats with a huge run on an end around to set them up in a goal to go situation, which they took advantage of to once again restore their two-touchdown lead.
The Scotland defense did make a goal line stand on their next series to give the team another chance to get back in the game but a safety against the Scots offense seemed to officially halt any hope of a comeback. Mcphatter would connect on a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Quatavius Everette to make the final score a little closer at 37-21.
Despite a pair of interceptions by Mcphatter, Bailey thought he made some good throws and was happy with Everette and Gibson making some plays. He gave credit to the Wildcats secondary for the turnovers forced.
“I thought Ji’san made some good throws and Quatavius, Dajuan, those guys showed,” Bailey said. “A couple of times he didn’t see the safety, their back end made some plays, they have some good players, they’re very fast.”
The Scots will have their next two games at home, starting with a matchup against Terry Sanford next Friday, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will enter the game at 1-0 after defeating Topsail in their season opener 47-41. Scotland beat Terry Sanford on the road last year in a close 34-29 final.