LAURINBURG — It’s a numbers game from here on out for the Fighting Scots. There are eight teams left in the 2016 North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A state playoffs and just three games left until a champion is crowned at North Carolina State University on Dec. 17.
Looking at the odds the Scots have a better than average chance of making it to the state finals. This Friday they will play No. 6 Hoggard (8-5) in their final game of the year at Pate Stadium. The Vikings scored an impressive 65 points last week against J.H. Rose to advance to the third round.
Hoggard managed 582 total yards of offense against J.H. Rose as senior running back Tony Allen scored six rushing touchdowns off 19 carries for 191 yards. As an apples to apples comparison, Scots running back Zamir White had 13 carries for 221 yards and five touchdowns.
A full preview of Friday’s game between the Scots and Hoggard will as always appear in Thursday’s edition of the paper.
If the Scots are able to sink the Vikings ship on Friday they will face the winner of No. 4 Cardinal Gibbons vs. No. 2 Cape Fear out of the East bracket.
On the other side of the bracket, in the West No. 1 Davie will take on No. 2 Dudley — only having one of those two powerhouses left in the playoffs is a win for everyone. In the Mid-west No. 1 East Forsyth will be taking on No. 2 Charlotte Catholic.
The four winners from Friday’s games will meet in the state semi-finals to determine who will play for the title on Dec. 17.
Below is the complete list of the remaining teams in all of the NCHSAA classes. All games will be played Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Class 4AA
EAST
(East No. 1) Wake Forest vs. (East No. 3) Wake Forest Heritage
(Mideast No. 1) Apex Middle Creek vs. (Mideast No. 2) Garner Magnet
WEST
(West No. 2) Greensboro Page vs. (West No. 4) West Forsyth
(Midwest No. 1) Matthews Butler vs. (Midwest No. 3) Charlotte Vance
Class 4A
EAST
(East No. 2) Cape Fear vs. (East No. 4) Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
(Mideast No. 1) Scotland vs. (Mideast No. 6) Wilmington Hoggard
WEST
(West No. 1) Davie County vs. (West No. 2) Greensboro Dudley
(Midwest No. 1) East Forsyth vs. (Midwest No. 2) Charlotte Catholic
Class 3AA
EAST
(East No. 2) Lee County vs. (East No. 5) Jacksonville
(Mideast No. 1) Eastern Guilford vs. (Mideast No. 3) Western Alamance
WEST
(West No. 1) Asheville Reynolds vs. (West No. 2) Weddington
(Midwest No. 3) Hickory Ridge vs. (Midwest No. 4) Waxhaw Marvin Ridge
Class 3A
EAST
(East No. 1) West Craven vs. (East No. 3) Havelock
(Mideast No. 4) Rocky Mount vs. (Mideast No. 3) Southern Guilford
WEST
(West No. 1) Lenoir Hibriten vs. (Midwest No. 2) West Rowan
(Midwest No. 1) Belmont South Point vs. (Midwest No. 2) Canton Pisgah
Class 2AA
EAST
(East No. 1) East Duplin vs. (East No. 3) Hertford County
(Mideast No. 1) Clinton vs. (Mideast No. 6) Jacksonville Northside
WEST
(West No. 1) Shelby vs. (West No. 3) Gastonia Huss
(Midwest No. 1) Monroe vs. (Midwest No. 3) East Lincoln
Class 2A
EAST
(East No. 1) Elizabeth City Northeastern vs. (East No. 3) Edenton Holmes
(Mideast No. 1) South Columbus vs. (Mideast No. 3) East Bladen
WEST
(West No. 1) Lincolnton vs. (West No. 3) Hendersonville
(Midwest No. 1) Reidsville vs. (Midwest No. 3) North Rowan
Class 1AA
EAST
(East No. 1) East Carteret vs. (East No. 3) Tarboro
(Mideast No. 1) Salemburg Lakewood vs. (Mideast No. 2) Wallace-Rose Hill
WEST
(West No. 1) Mt. Airy vs. (West No. 2) Whiteville
(Midwest No. 1) West Montgomery vs. (Midwest No. 3) East Montgomery
Class 1A
EAST
(East No. 1) Plymouth vs. (East No. 2) North Edgecombe
(Mideast No. 2) Chocowinity Southside vs. (Mideast No. 5) Northampton County
WEST
(West No. 1) Murphy vs. (West No. 2) Mt. Holly Mountain Island Charter
(Midwest No. 2) Mitchell County vs. (Midwest No. 4) Cherokee
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
