A Scotland captain and a Jack Britt captain stand at the center of the field before a game on Sep. 9, 2022.
File photo
LAURINBURG — The Scotland Fighting Scots and Jack Britt Buccaneers have had very different starts three weeks into the season.
The Scots are 3-0 with wins over Southern Durham, Terry Sanford, and Marlboro County (S.C.) and have averaged 38 points per game; for the Bucs, however, they’re 0-2 with losses to Hoke County and East Forsyth and have yet to score a single point.
The two teams will match up Friday night at Pate Stadium in the nonconference closer for both.
“I do think Jack Britt’s better offensively than what they’ve shown,” Scotland head coach Richard Bailey said. “They also had a bye week last week, so they’re going to have two weeks to come up with a scheme to beat us. And I think you’ve got to be careful comparing scores because a lot of times, it’s just about matchups. They played one of the best teams in the state in East Forsyth. The Hoke County game could have gone either way. And Jack Britt actually had success moving the ball in that game, but they shot themselves in the foot in the red zone.”
While Scotland has started strong, they haven’t been perfect. The defense has allowed 28 points per game, albeit against “very good offenses,” Bailey said. Bailey hopes his defense can join in on keeping Jack Britt to zero points.
“We’re going to have to play better than what we’ve been playing,” Bailey said. “We discuss shutouts every week; that’s our goal. I give them a pizza party if we get a shutout so we always discuss that. That’s not just a Jack Britt thing. But our goal is to just keep them to one less point than we score, whatever that number is. We like to try to keep people under 17 points. We think that’s realistic in modern offenses. When I first started out, if you could keep people under 10 (points), you felt like that was realistic. But over the last 20 years, that’s become almost an unrealistic goal on most Friday nights. We’re playing hard. When we do it the right way, we’ve been successful.”
To be more successful this week, the Scots defense has to contain some of the Bucs’ playmakers on offense.
Quarterback Jackson Powell has gotten off to a slow start but is an experienced player with several showings of over 150 passing yards in the past. Running back Amir Jackson has led the Jack Britt backfield with 16 carries for 82 yards so far, but the Bucs have also used RBs Keith Tillett II and Cameron Williams and two-way player Jabari Lee, a defensive back and wide receiver, to run the ball, too.
Lee has yet to record a reception, but WRs Javonte Brooks, Kevin Jones, and Darcy Davis Jr. have, combining for 12 catches and 60 yards. Tight end Jabari Rone leads the team with 12.5 yards per catch, though, on two receptions for 25 yards.
Last year’s top tackler, linebacker Bryce Bennett, leads a Jack Britt defense that played well against Hoke but struggled mightily against East Forsyth. The defense is constructed of several impactful sophomores, which include Kevin Jones, linebackers Jaleel Parker and Derrick Jones, defensive back Emorrian Towns, and defensive tackle Donnell Williams, who will help lead a stout Bucs D-line.
“Their front seven is as good as any front seven that we’ve faced,” Bailey said. “I know people may scoff at that, but I saw where, against East Forsyth, East Forsyth had like (47) yards rushing on 16 carries. East Forsyth is one of the best teams in the state; didn’t run the ball against them, they scored passing the football. And so, their front has traditionally been tough for us. Last year, we did move the ball between the 20s, but we fumbled twice going into the end zone and shot ourselves in the foot that way. But they’ve always been pretty difficult to run the football on.”
Scotland has run the ball 132 times this season compared to just 37 passing attempts by QB Ji’San McPhatter. But, according to Bailey, passing the ball more isn’t out of the question against the Bucs — something he doesn’t do often.
“Our plan A every week is to run the football. But in this game in particular, we definitely have a built-in plan B, and that involves throwing the football a little bit more than we have on some Friday nights,” Bailey said. “When we need to do it, we’re more than capable of doing it. But we go into every game thinking we’re going to run the football. You’re going to have to prove it to us that you can stop the run. And everything we do, whether it’s the RPOs, the play action passes, whatever, builds off our running game.”
The series against Jack Britt has been one that’s been dominated by Scotland in recent years, with the Scots winning the previous 11 contests, including a 28-27 win last year that came down to an extra point in the final minute. And with Jack Britt being Bailey’s first school that he coached at, the game is one that he always appreciates when Scotland gets to play them.
“There’s always a lot of emotions in the Jack Britt game because it’s where I came from, although none of these kids know me that play there now,” Bailey said. “So, it’s a little less (of a) rivalry, but I think for the coaches at Jack Britt, I’m sure they want to get off that side of the slate, so to speak.”
Kickoff for Friday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m.
Reach Brandon Hodge at 910-506-3171 or by email at bhodge@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @BrandonHSports.