Rams take their turn with Cape Fear

FAYETTEVILLE — As United-8 Conference play on the gridiron began last week, it was Lumberton who had its chance against Cape Fear, with the Colts winning a matchup that pitted two teams that entered at 3-0.

It’s Purnell Swett’s turn this week to take on the Colts. The game will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday, moved up from Friday with rain in in the forecast, with all other games involving Robeson County schools also moved to Thursday.

“Cape Fear is a very talented football team,” Purnell Swett coach Josh Deese said. “What they do, they do well. They’re not changing much. They’re going to run counter until we stop counter, and then they’re going to run counter again. They’re coached well.”

The teams now have one less day of preparation after the game was rescheduled a day earlier.

“It definitely affects preparation, but I told our boys we have to treat it like it’s a Friday,” Deese said. “Nothing changes but the day. Everything else is going to remain the same. So our preparation leading up stays the same, we just have to come ready to perform Thursday.”

Purnell Swett (2-2, 0-1 United-8) comes off a 38-7 loss in its conference opener last week at Gray’s Creek. Cape Fear (4-0, 1-0 United-8) beat Lumberton 42-6, backing up nonconference victories over Pine Forest, Terry Sanford and Laney.

Colts running back King Faison has run for 400 yards and quarterback Geronimo Sanchez has run for 253 yards, with both scoring six touchdowns. Sanchez has also thrown for 385 yards and three touchdowns.

They’ll face a Rams defense that allowed 423 rushing yards in the loss to Gray’s Creek.

“We definitely have seen counter, we’ve seen buck sweep, Gray’s Creek likes to run both of them,” Deese said. “We know what’s coming, now we’re just fine-tuning, putting boys in the right spot to make sure we make the play.”

Cape Fear’s defense has allowed 27 total points through four games this season, allowing seven points or less in three of its four outings. Linebackers Aydin Leonard (33 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks), Will Wicklin (32 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four sacks) and Bryan Charles (32 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks) lead the unit statistically.

They match up against a Rams offense seeking consistency after scoring only a late touchdown against Gray’s Creek last week.

“It’s definitely an uphill climb, because their defense flies around,” Deese said. “I told our boys, their defense gets their hands on every ball thrown, so we’re going to have to do everything the way it’s supposed to be. We can’t cut corners and expect to gain yards and expect to score points Thursday, so we’re just going to come out and we’re going to execute. We’ve changed the way we’re going to do a few things here, so we’ll be ready.”

Cape Fear beat the Rams 36-14 last year in Pembroke and 48-0 in 2022. Purnell Swett leads the all-time series 11-9 including a 7-3 mark when the schools have met as conference foes.

Lumberton at Jack Britt

As Lumberton rebounds from its first loss of the season last week, the Pirates head into another big matchup in the United-8 as they travel to Jack Britt this week. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Jack Britt (3-1, 1-0 United-8) won its league opener 43-13 at Douglas Byrd last week; the Buccaneers were 2-1 in their nonconference slate, with close wins over Hoke County and Scotland and a lopsided loss at Triad perennial power East Forsyth.

Jack Britt has just one rusher to total over 100 yards for the season thus far, Emorian Towns with 159 yards and four touchdowns, but has over 600 yards as a team with seven players each getting eight carries or more thus far. Gavin Stokes has thrown for 336 yards and three touchdowns, finding Javonte Brooks 12 times for 144 yards and two scores. Linebacker Derrick Jones (39 tackles, three tackles for loss) and linemen Elijah Evans (34 tackles, six tackles for loss, five sacks) and Xavier Johnson (30 tackles, six tackles for loss, six sacks) lead the Buccaneers’ defense.

Lumberton (3-1, 0-1 United-8) lost 42-6 to Cape Fear last week after nonconference wins over Fairmont, Clinton and Red Springs.

Jack Britt leads the all-time series 11-1 including a 49-8 win in Lumberton last year. Lumberton’s lone win over the Buccaneers came in 2011.

Fairmont at Northside-Pinetown

Fairmont will complete its nonconference slate with easily its longest road trip of the season, taking the nearly 3 1/2-hour bus ride to Northside-Pinetown for a 6 p.m. kickoff Thursday.

Northside-Pinetown (3-2) has won its last two games, with the Panthers beating Rosewood 31-14 last Friday and winning 25-22 at Perquimans the week before. They also beat Camden County in Week 1 before losses to North Duplin and Martin County. Like Fairmont, Friday will be the Panthers’ final nonconference game before beginning play in the Coastal Plains Conference.

Malachi Moore is the Panthers’ feature back, running for 315 yards and one touchdown this season. Chase Hewitt has thrown for 274 yards and three touchdowns, with three Panthers receivers each having six catches or more. Linebacker Trexler Gray has 43 tackles to lead the Northside-Pinetown defense.

Fairmont (0-4) has lost five straight games and 12 of its last 13, dating back to last season. The Golden Tornadoes are coming off a bye week and lost 50-14 to Southern Lee in their last game on Sept. 12.

Thursday’s game will mark the first meeting between the programs.