While Friday’s football games will be just the second in a 10-game season, their outcomes can go a long way towards determining a team’s trajectory for the rest of the season.
A Week 1 winner either solidifies that victory with another and stays undefeated, or drops its second game to sit at an even 1-1 record. A Week 1 loser can bounce back and regain some of the momentum lost if it can win and get to 1-1, or it falls to an 0-2 record that, while it’s still early, can be a difficult hole to crawl out of. No other game all season will be the difference between undefeated and .500, or between .500 and winless.
Teams that improve to 2-0 will start to really feel that confidence and swagger about themselves, something that can permeate through a team and give it additional belief in itself as the schedule continues to bigger games. And yes, sometimes those 0-2 teams start doubting themselves.
That’s not to say that anyone sitting at 2-0 after Friday’s games is guaranteed a conference championship — or even a third win. Or that 0-2 can’t make the playoffs or even come back to win the conference. But while trajectories can change over the course of a season, they’re set into motion now.
Here’s a look at some predictions for this week’s Robeson County games.
Last week/season: 2-1
Purnell Swett at Fairmont
Both of these teams are looking to avoid that dreaded 0-2 hole. Purnell Swett enters Friday off a 26-7 loss at St. Pauls, as it plays another in-county road game at Fairmont, which lost 35-0 to Lumberton in Week 1 and returns to Hal S. Floyd Stadium for its home opener.
Purnell Swett struggled to run the ball against St. Pauls, gaining just 90 yards on the ground. But the Bulldogs are the toughest defense they’ll face in nonconference play; they now take on a Fairmont unit that gave up 339 rushing yards to the Pirates last week.
The Rams defense, meanwhile, settled in at St. Pauls after a slow start, and didn’t allow an offensive point in the second half. That side of the ball will also be tough for Fairmont, who lost yards in the run game and didn’t score against Lumberton.
Expect Purnell Swett to establish its identity far better in this game, as the uphill climb continues for a young Fairmont squad.
Purnell Swett 42, Fairmont 6
St. Pauls at Lee County
The worst result that the current core of St. Pauls players has experienced was a 42-14 loss to Lee County last year, one that I imagine will be fresh in the Bulldogs’ minds as they take the trip to Sanford Friday. But that was in the midst of an 0-3 start by St. Pauls last year; they’ve now won seven of their last nine games, including a 26-7 win over Purnell Swett to open the season last week.
While St. Pauls’ offense has gained more consistency since that time 52 weeks ago, it’s the Bulldogs defense that’s improved the most. Holding Purnell Swett under 100 rushing yards last week is the latest proof.
Lee County quarterback Jack Martin was effective last year — St. Pauls coach Mike Setzer said this week “we made him look like Peyton Manning” — and the Yellow Jackets used both Martin and Aiden Poole effectively at quarterback last week against Northern Durham. But neither last year nor last week provides a viable comparison for the St. Pauls defense they’ll see Friday. I expect a back-and-forth game, but one that St. Pauls pulls out late.
St. Pauls 28, Lee County 26
Red Springs at Gray’s Creek
My one miss in last week’s picks was a big one, a 24-point spread favoring Red Springs in a game they lost to Douglas Byrd 40-14. The biggest reason why was Red Springs’ inability to stop the run against the Eagles, allowing 305 rushing yards in the game.
Gray’s Creek enters Week 2 coming off a 49-20 win over E.E. Smith in which the Bears had three players rush for 111 yards or more in Dequan Anthony, Zeek Reed and Alphonso Myers, all of whom scored at least one touchdown. The Bears also ran the ball extremely well the last time these two teams met, a 449-yard rushing performance in a 47-19 win over the Red Devils a year ago.
Red Springs’ offense should have some good moments in this game, but unless the run defense improves drastically for the Red Devils, it might be another long night.
Gray’s Creek 42, Red Springs 18
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