ROCKINGHAM — The state of North Carolina, or more specifically its constituents on Twitter, have spoken. The Richmond Senior High School and Scotland High School football rivalry reigns as the best in the state.
The long-standing association between the Raiders and Fighting Scots is usually one of ferocity and sides taken, but the two schools find themselves in unfamiliar territory — united together on the gridiron as the best of the best.
Friday Nights in Carolina, an online media outlet that produces high school football coverage from across the state, held its “Best Rivalry in North Carolina” contest for the second straight year. The final round consisted of the No. 1 Raiders and Fighting Scots facing off against Union County high schools No. 2 Porter Ridge and Sun Valley.
Using a Twitter poll that ran for five days starting on April 4, the Sandhills Athletic Conference duo emerged victorious. Richmond and Scotland edged the Southwestern Conference rivals by a final vote of 53 percent to 47 percent.
There were 2,036 votes cast, with Richmond and Scotland taking roughly 1,080 of them. For much of the voting, the margin of difference was only two percentage points (51-49 percent).
Friday Nights in Carolina tweeted out the final results shortly after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, writing “passionate fan bases & tons of instant classics from both games, but there can only be one winner … & bragging rights on the line.”
“I think winning this competition speaks to the fact that this competition matters on every level to our communities,” Richmond head coach Bryan Till said. “This was just a voted poll but our folks wanted to win it on both sides to let people know how important this is to us.”
The Richmond-Scotland rivalry dates back to Richmond’s inception in 1972, with the two teams meeting 52 times in regular season and postseason play. Following the 2018 season, the Raiders hold a 36-15-1 all-time record against the Fighting Scots.
Scotland and current head coach Richard Bailey (who began his tenure in 2012) have owned the rivalry for the better part of the last decade, winnings seven-straight contests from 2011-2017. The Fighting Scots also put together a 38-0 record against conference opponents during that span, winning seven consecutive conference titles.
Prior to that run, the Raiders had won the previous 18 matchups (16 regular season, two playoffs) dating back to the 1995 season.
Till and the Raiders ended Scotland’s run in 2018, holding off a tough Fighting Scots team at home in the second-to-last regular season game. Following traditional smashmouth football, Richmond took the game 23-8 to win its first conference title since 2010, which came under former coach Paul Hoggard.
To many North Carolina high school football fans, near and far, the annual iconic clash of green and gold and blue and white serves as an emblem of gridiron toughness outside the limits of the state’s metropolitan areas.
“This rivalry is unique in several ways,” Till noted. “In North Carolina, there are not a lot of whole county schools anymore. When you have two of those types of schools right next to each other, and both communities are passionate about football, it makes for a great rivalry.
“Add to that the fact that you are in rural communities where many families have lived and made their living for generations, the bragging rights last a long time,” he added.
The crowd during the 2018 Scotland-Richmond game in Rockingham.
The feeling is mutual just 21 miles down US Highway 74 East, where Bailey echoed Till’s sentiments. The Fighting Scots’ head coach added that the roots of the rivalry and tradition run deep.
“The thing that makes it special is the proximity of the two schools and the fact that many of the families involved work together and go to church together,” Bailey said in a message to ROSports. “Most of our populations went to school at these two schools. All of my players’ uncles, brothers, cousins and grandparents went to Scotland and played in this rivalry.”
Bailey added that a shared “tremendous amount of success on the field” and “many great players” are other components that make the rivalry so compelling.
Friday Nights in Carolina made a 24-team bracket at the onset of the competition in early March after taking suggestions from followers and the public. Richmond and Scotland earned the No. 1 seed and were rewarded with a first-round bye.
In round two, the SAC teams powered past No. 17 Tarboro and Southwest Edgecombe high schools 72 percent to 28 percent (312 votes out of 433). The elite eight round saw Richmond and Scotland take another commanding win over No. 24 Anson and Forest Hills high schools (73 percent to 27 percent) after 534 total votes were cast.
The final four round on Richmond and Scotland’s half of the bracket featured No. 5 Butler and Independence high schools, a 66 percent (360 votes) to 34 percent (185 votes) victory for the eventual champions.
Porter Ridge and Sun Valley edged A.L. Brown and Concord high schools 51 percent to 49 percent to make it to the finals.
While the online Twitter battle lasted just over a month in the weeks leading up to the first official spring practices, the rivalry between the Raiders and Fighting Scots has long since permeated itself into the Sandhills of North Carolina.
“Stories of past games and players are passed down year after year until they are legendary,” Till said. “I’ve only been (at Richmond) two years and I know the names of Mike Thomas, Flip Ellerbe, Rabbit Waddell, Oscar Sturgis, Perry Williams, Melvin Ingram, Dannell Ellerbe and tons of others.
“All of this passion also leads to great attendance, which helps fund the rivalry in all sports,” he concluded. “When you have tons of people in the stands who feel like they have blood and sweat in the game, which many have, it makes for something special year after year.”
The next installment of the Richmond-Scotland rivalry will take place on Friday, Nov. 8, in Laurinburg. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
And if one were to bet, it’s going to be an intense battle with bragging rights on the line.
