Fighting Scots defeated at home by Marlboro County

LAURINBURG —The Fighting Scots football team was defeated on Friday night by the Marlboro County Bulldogs at Pate Stadium in a 40-28 final. An action filled affair saw Scotland simply unable to keep up with Marlboro County throughout the night as they fell to 1-2 with the loss while the Bulldogs improved to 3-0 with the win.

Head Coach Richard Bailey gave a lot of praise to Marlboro County after the game. He was certainly disappointed with the result but knows the quality of opponent the Scots faced was very high.

“Hats off to Marlboro, they got a very good football team and were well prepared with a good scheme,” Bailey said. “It’s a great collection of athletes they got right now, they’re probably going to win the state championship in South Carolina.”

The Scots seemed to grab some momentum right out of the gate as a fumble on Marlboro County’s first offensive snap was recovered by Shylan Harrell deep into Bulldogs territory at their 25 yard line. Scotland failed to capitalize on the golden opportunity however as they decided to go for it on 4th and 5 and failed to convert. The Bulldogs then got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 79-yard touchdown by Donavan Pauling-Outlaw on an end around. After the teams traded three and outs, the Scots joined the party on a punt return touchdown by Dajuan Gibson to even the score at seven. Pauling-Outlaw then brought the Bulldogs all the way down to the Scotland three on their next offensive possession before they punched the ball into the end zone on a quarterback sneak from Nydarion Blackwell. A three and out on the Scots’ next possession gave Marlboro County a chance to extend the lead, which they did thanks to a 33-yard touchdown run by Josiah Robinson and a couple of Scotland penalties. All told the Bulldogs held a 21-7 advantage after 12 minutes.

The second quarter was a little less hectic but didn’t go any better for the Scots. The defense did finally made an important stop by forcing a turnover on downs early in the quarter to get the ball back to a struggling offense but just when they seemed to be making progress, they turned the ball back over to the Bulldogs on a big run and fumble by Tyjurian White, which was recovered by Curtis Jackson. Scotland’s defense nearly forced another important turnover on downs but instead allowed a 17-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 13 from Blackwell to Damon Short. A missed extra point resulted in a 27-7 Marlboro County lead at the break. Bailey simply admitted the Scots failed to capitalize on opportunities they had and made some miscues that hurt them in the long run.

“We made some mistakes, had some chances and missed a few blocks early,” Bailey said. “Defensively we just have to play better defense, we’re not good enough on defense right now to win a game like this against an unbelievable collection of players.”

The second half started off slow for the Scots but did see some positives later on. Their first drive flamed out despite some big plays from Gibson and White before Pauling-Outlaw once again had his way with the Scotland defense, getting a gain of 31 on a reverse and then a 33 yard touchdown on an end around to put the Bulldogs firmly in the driver seat up 33-7. The Scots would finally get something going on offense during their next drive thanks to good starting field position (their 45 yard line) and the rushing attack. They would get their first offensive touchdown of the night on a five-yard run by Bryson Powell. Marlboro County then turned the ball over on downs, which Scotland capitalized on immediately with a 59-yard touchdown pass from Ji’San McPhatter to Quatavius Everette. All of a sudden we had ourselves a game as the Bulldogs lead was down to 33-21 by the end of the quarter.

Bailey was happy with the way his team didn’t give up and continued to fight throughout the game despite the struggles. He stated that the better results were a combination of a few adjustments made during the break and simply better execution.

“We made some adjustments at halftime, I think it showed and we got a little better,” Bailey said. “I’m proud of the way we fought back.”

Unfortunately for the Scots, the adjustments could only carry them so far. Their defense had a big chance to get a suddenly hot offense the ball back but couldn’t stop Blackwell from picking up a first down on 3rd and 24 from deep inside their own territory. Marlboro County then ran the ball at will and seemed to put the game away for good on a 33-yard touchdown by Justin Purvis. By this point the Bulldogs were up 40-21 with just 8:10 remaining. A fumble recovery in the end zone by Marlin Moore with 1:59 left made the final score look a bit better but didn’t ultimately affect the outcome.

Scotland will have their last non-conference game of the season next Friday on the road at Jack Britt for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. They will then begin a stretch of six straight games to close out the regular season against conference opponents, starting with Hoke County at home on Sept. 20. Bailey made clear that moving forward, particularly for their next game against Jack Britt, that they will be looking at all options on how to improve defensively.

“We got to get better on defense, look for us to make some changes schematically and positionally,” Bailey said. “We’re going to play some different guys.”