LAURINBURG — Expect the unexpected is the mantra every football team in the playoffs is well aware of — they also hope they don’t become part of the statistics associated with it. Seventy-First High School did just that when they were upset by Southeast Raleigh last week in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs.
Seventy-First was ranked No. 5 in the Mid-East Region and traveled No. 4 Southeast Raleigh. Despite being the lower ranked team, everyone assumed that Seventy-First would come out on top — expect the unexpected. Southeast Raleigh defeated Seventy-First, 21-14 to earn themselves a trip to Pate Stadium on Black Friday.
Fighting Scots head coach Richard Bailey was expecting to play Seventy-First, a team he had some knowledge of just because of proximity, but knew nothing about the 9-3 Bulldogs from Southeast Raleigh. A good bit of the week was spent just learning about the team and hoping this year to survive the second round of the playoffs.
Last year, the Scots were stunned in the second round by North Davidson, 46-42 at Pate Stadium, a fact that’s never far from Bailey’s mind.
“Last year was the first time I’ve ever lost in the second round, in my career,” said Bailey. “Hopefully with that still in the back of our minds — I know it’s in my mind. I’m hoping the kids understand that and we were a favor last year and I’m sure we’re a favorite this year. We are going to have to be ready. You can’t take anything for granted — just ask Seventy-First. The best team in football doesn’t always win. Hopefully we’ll play with a sense of desperation and purpose and understand how big this game is. Everyone is fighting for their lives right now.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s opponent, Southeast Raleigh finished third in the Greater Neuse River conference behind Garner Magnet and West Johnston. Garner Magnet is ranked No. 2 in the Mid-East 4AA and will host No. 3 Richmond on Friday. While West Johnston is ranked No. 3 in the 4A East Region and will travel to No. 2 Cape Fear.
“They play in a tough league with Garner and West Johnston, two very good teams that are still playing, I really don’t know much about them because I’ve never played them,” said Bailey. “There’s not many teams in this state that I haven’t played after 25 years of doing this, but I don’t know a lot about them, but we were able to look at some film and they have some good athletes.”
The Bulldogs offense is led by senior wide receiver turned quarterback Maurice Nelson, No. 20, is 50-of-201 for 803 yards for six touchdowns and six interceptions. The Bulldogs second quarterback Emmanuel Coward, No. 9, is 26-of-60 for 433 yards, three touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The team prefers to run the ball with 23 rushing touchdowns on the season, but isn’t opposed to throwing the ball with 13 receiving touchdowns. Bailey said the Bulldogs score an average of 20 points per game
“Their quarterback is a very dynamic player, about halfway through the year they switched their quarterbacks,” said Bailey. “They aren’t a big explosive offense, but they have gotten better since they made the change. They have a lot of guys that play both ways, they have five or six starters playing both sides of the ball, which is a lot for a 4A team.”
Senior Jeff Onyegbule, No. 27, is the Bulldogs leading rusher with 80 carries for 565 yards and nine touchdowns. Nelson is the team’s second leading rusher with 78 carries for 373 yards and four touchdowns. Rounding out the top three runners for South Raleigh is senior running back Jayquon Hodge, No. 37, with 34 carries for 189 yards and five touchdowns.
The Bulldogs receiving corps is led by junior wide receiver Tyler Williams, No. 10, has 25 catches for 480 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Nick Thomas, No. 6, has 17 catches for 243 yards and a touchdown. Carlito Lamb is the third leading receiver for the Bulldogs with 11 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown.
“They have good offensive pieces in Onyebule, Williams and Nelson are three skilled athletes that could play for any program,” Bailey said. “I think that’s sort of what has their team catching fire, they’ve won six in a row now. Their defense has been pretty stingy, giving up 15 or so points per game. In the age of modern offenses, that’s a pretty good defense.”
Nelson is not by any means what Bailey would call a “polished passer,” which will hopefully work in favor of the Scots defense, that enters the second round allowing only team to only score six points per game, to go along with 14 interceptions and 53 quarterback sacks.
“Williams on film out competes people for the football, so those 50/50 balls become 80/20 and he comes down with them,” said Bailey. “So that might be a concern for Coach Johnson, it doesn’t take a lot of time to catch it and throw so it’s hard to get pressure sometimes. That’s the one thing we’ve been better at this year. I told someone the most remarkable stat for our football team is we had 15 sacks last year as a team — this year we have 53. We’re getting quarterbacks on the ground, covering people longer so quarterbacks have to hold the ball longer because no one is open, so all those things intertwine together; which has allowed our defense to go from giving up 18 or 19 points per game to six.”
The Fighting Scots and Southeast Raleigh kick off the second round of the 4A playoffs on Friday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Pate Stadium.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
