Editor’s note: All stats and rosters used in this article are from MaxPreps.
It’s that time of the year once again.
The days are shortening and the first day of school for students is just over a month away, which means another season of high school football is right around the corner.
The 2023 schedule for the Fighting Scots was released back in May and will feature five home games and five that are away. The first two weeks of the season will feature notable nonconference matchups against Northern Durham and a rematch from the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 3A East playoffs last year against Terry Sanford, who the Fighting Scots were eliminated by 55-52 on a Hail Mary as time expired.
Scotland’s bye week will come on Oct. 6, right before they play a difficult three-game stretch to close the regular season against Pinecrest, Lee County, and Richmond; the Scots will get to play Pinecrest and Richmond at home this year, however.
But when looking at the entirety of Scotland’s 2023 10-game slate this year, which opponent is the toughest? I ranked them in ascending order of difficulty based on where and when the game is played and how the Scots match up with the opponent; these rankings are also based on my personal opinion, respectively, and are not indicative of an official rating scale.
10) Southern Lee Cavaliers
Southern Lee football will be under new leadership in 2023 with former head coach Mike McClure resigning in November 2022. Fred Blanks will take over the Cavaliers this season and will have several impact players returning from last year.
Junior quarterback Robbie Sims, who started for the Cavaliers last season, will be back with the program this year, along with senior running back Tyrice Douglas, who rushed for 770 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Brett Tate-Blanks, a junior who recorded stats at quarterback, running back, and receiver last year, is also listed on Southern Lee’s roster for the 2023 season.
The Scots defeated the Cavaliers 63-34 in last year’s contest at Pate Stadium.
The Cavaliers finished the 2022 season with a 1-9 mark with their only win of the year coming in a 41-22 decision against Fairmont.
9) Union Pines Vikings
Union Pines showed some improvement last year, going 3-7 overall with wins against Montgomery Central, Western Harnett, and Southern Lee; the mark was one win better than their 2022 record when the Vikings finished 2-8.
But, despite having running back Ethan Biggs, a senior who led Union Pines in rushing and receiving years in 2022, return this year, the Vikings graduated a lot of productive players, which include starting quarterback Ben Finkelstein, backup quarterback Owen St. John, receiver Brendan Ortega, and linebackers Christopher Gilbert and Damon Bremer.
This game does fall on the Friday before Scotland’s bye week, however, which means this could be a trap game for the Scots if they look too far ahead in their schedule.
It will be the second time ever that the Scots and the Vikings have met against one another. Last season, Scotland defeated Union Pines 49-14 in Cameron in a game that was moved up to a Thursday night due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Ian.
8) Hoke County Bucks
The Bucks surprised many, including myself, last season when they went 5-5 during the regular season and made it into the NCHSAA 4A East playoffs, where they lost 49-18 in the first round to Hillside.
However, much of their offensive production relied on recent graduates running back Ethan Wallace and receiver Warren Avery. Hoke County does get starting quarterback Brandon Saunders back though after he had 1,675 passing yards and 11 touchdowns in his sophomore campaign, but he will need someone to step up at receiver with their best-returning player at the position, senior Seriyon Wilson, accumulating just 225 yards last year. Who replaces Wallace at running back is also a question mark for the Bucks on offense.
Defensively, Hoke County also graduated three of their best defenders in linebacker Emmanuel Bratcher and defensive backs Travis Bronson and Te’john Darden. Each of them were top three in total tackles last season for the Bucks.
Last season, the Scots fell to the Bucks 52-35 at home.
7) Marlboro County Bulldogs
The Bulldogs went 5-6 overall in 2022 and were not ranked in the High School Sports Report preseason top 20 list for AAA and have graduated starting quarterback Timoun Byrd, which leaves a lot of uncertainty for Marlboro County this season.
The Scots have not played well against Marlboro County in recent years and will play in Bennettsville, S.C. this year, making for what could be a mental hump the Scots will have to climb over.
Stats were not available for the Bulldogs from last season on MaxPreps.
Scotland fell to Marlboro County 27-24 last year in a game that featured four interceptions by the Scots in the first half.
6) Lee County Yellow Jackets
The Yellow Jackets are expected to be a tough team this year but will be without arguably their biggest contributor.
Running back B.J. Brown, who ran for 2,139 yards and 21 touchdowns last year, will not play his senior year due to him committing to play college baseball at UNC Wilmington. Starting quarterback Mark Schlesinger and Dayreon Jennings, who played running back and linebacker for Lee County, both graduated, which won’t help either. The Yellow Jackets will get their top receiver back though with Jayden Hill returning for his junior year. He produced 445 receiving yards and six touchdowns last season for Lee County.
The Yellow Jackets will get five of their top nine leading tacklers back on defense but lose their top tackler in Jennings. Defensive back Anthony Battle, who had six interceptions last year, is also returning for his senior year to lead the Yellow Jackets’ secondary.
Lee County went 8-4 last year with a 53-34 second-round loss against North Brunswick in the NCHSAA 3A East playoffs.
5) Jack Britt Buccaneers
Jack Britt brings back a ton of production from last season but, just like Lee County, graduated maybe their biggest part of that.
Running back Sincere Baines will play football at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke next month after leading the Buccaneers backfield in 2022 with 2,167 rushing yards and 25 scores on the ground; he was also their top receiver with 411 yards and four touchdowns.
What Jack Britt does bring back this season is starting quarterback Jackson Powell, who threw for 1,042 yards, nine touchdowns, and only two interceptions last year, senior linebackers Bryce Bennett, who had 92 total tackles (50 solo), 21 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries last season, and Zach Pickel, the team’s leading tackler last year with 94 (58 solo), and defensive lineman Elijah Evans, a junior who had 67 total tackles (32 solo), 20 tackles for loss, five sacks, and a forced fumble a year ago.
With Jack Britt being Scotland head coach Richard Bailey’s old stomping grounds in coaching, it’s always an emotional game for him and the team, although this year’s game will be played at Scotland.
The Buccaneers posted a 7-4 overall mark last year with a 23-20 loss in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A East playoffs to Jordan.
4) Richmond Raiders
It was a below-average season for the Raiders in 2022, and even if it remains that way this year, the Scotland vs. Richmond rivalry game is one that will always be near the top of my list.
Last year’s starting quarterback Emoni McBride and running back Taye Spencer both graduated but the Raiders bring back plenty of depth pieces to build on a strong back-half of last season.
Senior quarterback Zaviar Lowry is the only quarterback on the roster that is not an underclassman, which could put him as the Raiders’ new starting signal-caller this year. Running back Jaliel Green averaged 8.1 yards per carry last year and had 423 yards on the ground, and should have a larger role this fall with the offense, as well.
Linebacker Joe Parsons will lead a Raiders defense that returns most of their top producers from a year ago. Parsons, a junior, had 78 total tackles (57 solo), seven tackles for loss, and three sacks last season.
Richmond will play at Scotland on Oct. 27; the game will also be senior night for the Fighting Scots. Scotland defeated Richmond in a nail biter last year 22-21 at Raider Stadium.
Richmond was 5-6 overall last year, falling to Holly Springs in double overtime 36-33 the first round of the NCHSAA 4A East playoffs.
3) Terry Sanford Bulldogs
While I’ve got this game at third on my list of toughest opponents for the Fighting Scots this season, this is almost undoubtedly the most anticipated game of 2023 for Scotland.
After going down 58-55 on a Hail Mary as the game clock hit all zeroes in the second round of the NCHSAA 3A East playoffs, the Fighting Scots will be looking for some payback as they head back to Bill Yeager Field in Fayetteville on Aug. 25 for a rematch against the Bulldogs.
Terry Sanford won’t have star quarterback Dante Garcia back after he graduated but will return senior quarterback Jaylen Wright, who threw up the game-winning Hail Mary against the Scots. Running backs Johnathan Higgins-Simmons, the Bulldogs’ leading rusher in 2022, and Kenyon Slaughter-Keen are also back for their senior seasons with the program this year. Senior receivers Kamal Thames and Rashid Jones combined for over 1,000 yards last season and return to help replace the production of Patrick Shook, a graduated receiver who had 1,046 yards for the Bulldogs last season.
Slaughter-Keen was one of the Bulldogs’ top defenders a year ago and will look to help replace eight of the team’s top 10 leading tacklers from last year that graduated. Thames will provide some much-needed help defensively too after totaling 60 tackles (34 solo) and three tackles for loss last season.
The Bulldogs ended up finishing last year with an 11-3 record with a 38-13 third-round loss in the NCHSAA 3A East playoffs to Seventy-First.
2) Pinecrest Patriots
The Patriots always seem to find a way.
Despite losing talent on both sides of the ball, Pinecrest always seems to replace it and be just as good, or better, the following year. Only this year, the Patriots have more notable guys returning than usual. After going a perfect 6-0 in the Sandhills Athletic Conference a year ago, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the SAC.
Pinecrest’s starting quarterback Mason Konen went for 1,637 yards through the air and 12 total touchdowns last season and is back to command the offense once again. The senior quarterback will be without weapons Hunter Neifert, Pinecrest’s top receiver in 2022, and Ilyas Kalila, a tight end who was second in receiving yards on last year’s team, but will have junior Eli Melton returning, however. Running back Nahjiir Seagraves graduating will put a dent in the offense but they’ll bring back junior Zymire Spencer, who rushed for 863 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago, and senior Jaylin Morgan, a 262-yard rusher last year who also had 12 touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Jadin Baptist will help lead a young but deep defensive unit for the Patriots this season. Baptist finished the 2022 season with 81 total tackles (62 solo), 20 1/2 tackles for loss, seven sacks, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a blocked field goal. The Patriots will also need to replace a number of guys along their defensive line after they graduated.
The Scots fell 30-21 to Pinecrest last year in Southern Pines.
1) Southern Durham Spartans
The Spartans will be contenders to win the 3A East this season after adding several key transfers this offseason.
Offensive lineman Mason Purcell, defensive back Tre Mittman, and defensive lineman K.J. Liles, all former Hillside Hornets players, as well as four-star* defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell, who played for Greene Central the last two years, have all made Southern Durham their new home. And that’s not including the talent they’ve also returned.
On offense, quarterback Jordan McClure, who passed for 3,403 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, and receivers Amir Hall and Justin Baskerville, who both topped 800 yards last season, have all returned for their senior years. On defense, linebackers Tyler Richmond, a junior who posted 42 total tackles (24 solo), 10 tackles for loss, and five sacks last year, and Kristopher Watson, a senior who recorded 152 total tackles (74 solo), 26 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, three sacks, and two interceptions in 2022, are back for the Spartans this season.
The last time the Fighting Scots played Southern Durham was in the first round of the 2021 NCHSAA 3A East playoffs when the Scots defeated the Spartans 35-21. Scotland will open the 2023 season on Aug. 18 against the Spartans at home.
Southern Durham finished 8-5 overall last season.
* = Ranked by Rivals.