LAURINBURG — Scotland’s loss at Pinecrest last year was a game head football coach Richard Bailey and the Fighting Scots would like to forget.
In the 34-12 loss on the road, Scotland’s offense was stalled by four turnovers and 16 false-start penalties. The Scots will look to avenge that loss when they host the Patriots on Thursday night.
“I haven’t forgotten it,” Bailey said. “It was one of the worst defeats of my career, as far as just how it happened. I take a lot of that stuff personally, the things we didn’t do well. I could’ve done a lot better job coaching.
“Hopefully we coached enough, albeit on a short week, and hopefully our kids play to their capabilities,” he added.
The Scots are in much better shape then when they visited Southern Pines a year ago. Last year’s loss marked what Bailey called a “defining moment” for a struggling group that finished the regular season with a 5-5 record. This year, the Scots are 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Sandhills Athletic Conference play. Three games remain on the schedule, and Scotland will likely need to win all of them in order to take home the conference title.
“This game right here, it really sets us up to have a chance to probably play for a conference championship,” Bailey said. “I’m not disregarding Lumberton at all, but right now they’re struggling a little bit. But this game is tough. Last year they beat us, and it was in an embarrassing fashion.”
The Scots are coming off a 42-21 homecoming win against Seventy-First. Senior receiver Bruce Wall slid over to quarterback for that game, and he’ll remain at that position for the foreseeable future. Wall’s ability to run the offense efficiently and use his mobility to break out of tough situations inspired that decision.
Bailey said it wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially after junior quarterback Tyler Barfield was given the starting nod earlier in the season. Bailey complimented Barfield for how he handled the situation.
“Tyler had a big (touchdown pass) on Friday night,” Bailey said. “I expect him to be ready in case his name is called. So far Tyler has been a team guy, and I respect that from Tyler.
“It’s not easy, because somehow it comes across as everything we were doing bad was (Tyler’s) fault, and that’s not the case. We weren’t effective with throwing, catching, pass protection and snap issues. But Bruce can help rectify a few of those things.”
Pinecrest is 7-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Patriots’ only setback was a 36-0 loss at Richmond. With the exception of a season-opening 21-13 victory against Concord, all of Pinecrest’s wins have been routs.
Pinecrest defeated Lumberton 51-14 last week. Pinecrest’s running backs tallied a combined 202 yards rushing in that win, led by Nick Boulanger’s 62 yards. In Pinecrest’s previous game, a 45-0 shutout of Purnell Swett, quarterback Ben Garbark posted a team-high 79 yards rushing.
WHEN AND WHERE
The game will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Pate Stadium. The game was moved up from Friday due to the threat of inclement weather.
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