High school football predictions for Week 7

Helene upended and ultimately overshadowed Week 6 in high school football, though locally we were far more fortunate compared to many of our western neighbors, who remain in all of our thoughts and prayers as they are just beginning what will be, frankly, a years-long recovery — one that we in Robeson County can, unfortunately, relate to from experience.

While what happens on the football field seems secondary, we had a mixed scheduling bag last week, with a Thursday game, a Saturday game, a forfeited game and two more local teams on well-timed bye weeks.

Now, everyone is back on schedule to play under the Friday night lights in Week 7. Conference play begins in the Southeastern Athletic Conference, and the sixth of this season’s nine in-county matchups will take place at Hal S. Floyd Stadium.

Here’s a guess on what will happen as those games take place this week:

Last week: 2-0

Season: 16-3

Red Springs at Fairmont

Someone will pick up their first win of the season when Fairmont (0-5) hosts Red Springs (0-5) to start conference play. Red Springs had a bye last week; Fairmont forfeited its game against Northside-Pinetown rather than play on Monday, choosing to focus on this in-county and conference matchup, and will take the field for the first time in 22 days on Friday after having had a bye the week before the forfeit.

Fairmont has lost by 28 points ore more in each outing so far, while Red Springs has shown some gradual improvement with a 14-point loss to Purnell Swett and a one-point defeat in a tightly-contested game against Lakewood, their most recent contest.

Red Springs will take advantage of playing comparatively easier competition. While Fairmont should be able to put together some scoring drives, Red Springs’ athletes will create some big plays leading to the Red Devils’ first win of the season.

Red Springs 36, Fairmont 16

South View at Lumberton

Lumberton (3-2, 0-2 United-8 Conference) will look for a better start against South View after a couple of tough first quarters the last two weeks in losses to Cape Fear and Jack Britt, with South View (3-2, 1-1 United-8) visiting Alton G. Brooks Stadium Friday.

The Tigers boast a balanced offense, putting up 48 points or more twice this season and even scoring 22 points at Seventy-First, impressive in itself against the Falcons’ defense. Lumberton, meanwhile, has struggled to score since starting conference play, with six points through two games against the United-8.

With starting well a point of emphasis for the Pirates, I think they’ll keep this game closer early compared to recent weeks. But they’ll ultimately struggle to keep up blow-for-blow with the Tigers.

South View 34, Lumberton 21

Jack Britt at Purnell Swett

Purnell Swett (2-3, 0-2 United-8) returns to Pembroke for its first United-8 home game after losing at Gray’s Creek and Cape Fear by a combined total of 76-7. They’ll do so against a Jack Britt (4-1, 2-0 United-8) side whose only loss is to Piedmont Triad power East Forsyth, with wins in all their games against Sandhills-area competition, including a 28-0 win over Lumberton last week.

While Purnell Swett’s opposition has scored a lot of points, the Rams defense has been in a tough spot with an offense that has scored one touchdown in its last two games. They’ve moved the ball, coach Josh Deese says, but haven’t been able to finish.

Jack Britt won’t dominate the Purnell Swett defense. But against a Buccaneers defense that’s allowed 33 points in its last three games, the Rams may very well continue struggling to score, which will make for another tough night.

Jack Britt 30, Purnell Swett 14

West Bladen at St. Pauls

With a bye last week, St. Pauls (3-2) last played in a disappointing 19-14 loss at Charlotte Latin, with several scoring opportunities missed including a late goal-line fumble. The two weeks since have given the Bulldogs a chance to refine some of those problems, and they should be ready for the start of conference play against West Bladen (1-3).

St. Pauls has shown the capability to score half a hundred, doing it once and nearly twice, and to hold the opponent to single digits, doing that twice including one shutout. While West Bladen did win its last game, a 26-19 victory against East Columbus, that was three weeks ago and came against a winless Gators team.

St. Pauls has not only won eight straight meetings, but none have been close. And while the “transitive property” is sometimes overused — every game is different, after all — St. Pauls won by 55 against West Columbus, who beat West Bladen by 34. It’s hard to see the Knights making this game competitive.

St. Pauls 49, West Bladen 6