Fighting Scots bounce back in delayed home opener

LAURINBURG —The Fighting Scots football team bounced back from their season opening loss at Dillon last week with a 42-41 win over the Terry Sanford Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in their home opener at Pate Stadium. The Scots improve to 1-1 with the win while Terry Sanford falls to 1-1 with the loss in a game that was delayed from Friday night due to the threat of an incoming storm.

Scotland seemed like they could do no wrong in the first quarter, immediately scoring on the first drive of the game with a one-yard touchdown run by Samier Pate. They then quickly forced a three and out on Terry Sanford’s first offensive possession thanks to a sack by Dylan Tilson before immediately scoring on their first play of the next drive on a touchdown pass from Ji’san Mcphatter to Dajuan Gibson. The defense again forced a three and out which the offense took advantage of on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Mcphatter to Gibson to put the Scots up 21-0 by the end of the first 12 minutes.

However, the Bulldogs came out with a sense of purpose in the second quarter with a touchdown drive that included a 3rd and 14 conversion as well as a fourth down conversion and was capped off on a 22-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jacob Moore. After forcing a three and out on Scotland’s next possession, they got into the endzone again on a quarterback sneak by Moore to suddenly make it a one possession game at 21-14. Thankfully for the Scots, Gibson could not be stopped in the first half as he took a handoff 54 yards to the house to give Scotland some breathing room and score his third touchdown of the afternoon. Nasiah Mclean picked off Moore on the Bulldogs last possession of the first half as Scotland headed into halftime up 28-14.

Head Coach Richard Bailey was very pleased with the offensive performance overall. Especially with the team struggling to get anything going until the second half in their season opener last week, it was a refreshing sight to see them come out of the gate on a mission.

“Offensively it was a big turnaround from last week, we ran the ball much better,” Bailey said. “We hit some big pass plays and only punted twice the entire game, much better offensively without a doubt.”

However, Terry Sanford never went away in the second half and turned this game into a track meet by scoring another touchdown on their first offensive possession thanks to Moore’s scrambling abilities on a 3rd and 6 inside their own territory and an eventual nine-yard touchdown run by Sebastian O’Keefe. A big kickoff return gave the Scots’ offense the ball at midfield, an opportunity they would capitalize on thanks to a conversion on 4th and 3 and an 11-yard touchdown run by Pate, his second of the game. However, as if according to script, the Bulldogs answered on their next drive as they converted a 4th and 6 and eventually found the endzone on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Jourdan Browning. Thankfully for Scotland their offense couldn’t be stopped all day either as their next drive was highlighted by a big run from Pate and a 27-yard touchdown run by Mcphatter on a quarterback keeper with 42 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Scots up 42-28 heading into the final 12 minutes.

The fourth quarter wasn’t Scotland’s best as they never scored and allowed two more touchdown drives but made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the victory. Terry Sanford cut into the Scots’ lead almost immediately on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Izaiah Willams with 10:30 left on the clock. After quickly forcing a Scotland punt, they drove the length of the field and scored a touchdown on 3rd and 13 with a quarterback scramble by Moore. Instead of opting for the extra point that would’ve tied the game at 42, the Bulldogs aggressively went for two to take the lead but could not convert. They then curiously decided to attempt an onside kick despite 5:41 still remaining on the clock, which the Scots recovered. Scotland never gave Terry Sanford another opportunity to possess the ball, milking the entire clock away with three rushing first downs to hold on for the victory.

Bailey wasn’t happy with the Scots’ inability to make defensive stops on a consistent basis throughout the afternoon. He pointed out a lack of understanding by the players to adjustments the coaching staff was asking them to make as a key reason why.

“We just couldn’t stop them, they figured out something, credit to their OC Jordan Vann, he’s a really good OC,” Bailey said. “We tried to make some adjustments and were having a hard time communicating with the kids, we just did a poor job adjusting, we still have a lot to work on.”

The Scots will stay at home next week for another nonconference tilt with the Marlboro County Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night. They will enter the matchup with Scotland at 2-0 after dominating Lake Marion and Cheraw by a combined score of 103-13. With less than a full week to prepare due to the delay, Bailey is aware of the work cut out for his group heading into next week.

“Short turnaround against a very, very good football team that’s gotten a lot better from last year,” Bailey said. “They’ve had an influx of talent and they got some good players, it’s going to be a difficult challenge for us, we’re going to have to be ready.”