Deon Cranford breaks down all Sandhills Athletic Conference high school football games and chooses winners for Week 2.
Richmond at Wake Forest
Raider Nation has a history of travelling well, with one exception… road games in August. Some think it’s just the heat. Perhaps it’s the long distances. Maybe it is the financial injuries caused by vacations and back-to-school shopping.
Whatever the reason, early road games have produced some disappointing turnouts by the Raider faithful in recent years.
This needs to change Friday. Carpool, hitchhike or have someone fly you out of the Rockingham Airport. If you can find a way to be there, be there!
The Wake Forest Cougars will enter tonight’s game as the No. 1 team in the state, the defending 4AA champions and are riding a 32-game winning streak. In that time, Wake Forest has only allowed an average of 7 points per game.
Last week, they shut out a struggling Millbrook team 51-0, but scored 31 of those points late in the game when the Wildcats were tiring down. Like the Raiders, Wake Forest has some new players filling in some big shoes. They are extremely talented, but have a lot of kinks to work out.
Richmond’s offense has a lot of depth and seems to be firing on all cylinders early. If the Raiders can find some way to move the ball against this stingy Cougar defense, they will win this ball game.
I’m often criticized for picking against the Raiders if I think they are going to lose. I guess I’ll get to avoid the angry emails this week. Call me crazy, but I think all the stars are lining up just right for a little Raider Magic.
Pick: Richmond 27, Wake Forest 24
Cape Fear at Seventy-First
When the Falcons and the Colts met last year, Cape Fear was able to come away with a narrow 15-14 victory. Anytime you see an outcome like that, it makes you realize just how important PATs and two-point conversions are.
The bad news for Seventy-First is that kicker Raymond Grate went 3-of-6 in PAT attempts in last week’s season opening victory against Westover. The good news is that the Colts are not quite as explosive on offense as they have been in recent years, so the Seventy-First kicking struggles are likely to be a non-factor.
Pick: Seventy-First 28, Cape Fear 14
Pinecrest at Gray’s Creek
Gray’s Creek scored 50 points its Week 1 win over Parkwood. That seems impressive until you consider Parkwood and Gray’s Creek had a combined three victories last season and neither are really expected to make great strides in a positive direction this year. While there may be some improvement, the Bears just are not ready for Pinecrest.
Pick: Pinecrest 41, Gray’s Creek 13
Terry Sanford at Jack Britt
Last week, Jack Britt lost to its rival and Terry Sanford dropped a heartbreaker to Fuquay-Varina. The Bulldogs gave up a lot of points (36) in their loss to Fuquay-Varina and gave up the game-deciding touchdown to the Bengals with just seconds left on the clock; but they will not see as much fire power from Britt.
Pick: Terry Sanford 24, Jack Britt 21
Hoke at South View
Coach Small and his Hoke County Bucks still have a lot of growing pains ahead of them. South View, on the other hand, is coming into the game fired up after a big win over their rival Jack Britt. The Tigers should enter the second half of their home opener with Hoke holding a pretty comfortable lead.
Pick: South View 41, Hoke 13
Westover at Lumberton
Hang on a moment, I need to find a quarter. Okay, Lumberton is heads and Westover is tails. Heads it is.
Pick: Lumberton 28, Westover 14
Ashley at Purnell Swett
Ashley’s week one opponent, Southern Wayne, is currently on a 16-game losing streak that extends back to October of 2016. Still, Southern Wayne managed to carry a 6-0 advantage into halftime against the Eagles. Ashley did manage to outscore Southern Wayne 31-8 in the second half, but if it took an entire half to take control of a game against Southern Wayne, I like Swett’s chances against the Eagles.
I picked the Rams to defeat Pine Forest last week, and it was the only game I picked incorrectly. I’m going to give Swett a second chance here and pick them to defeat an Ashley program that has only had one winning season, ever.
Pick: Purnell Swett 34, Ashley 13
Hillside at Scotland
Scotland fans had a horrible day on Saturday. First, everyone received news that former Scotland running back Zamir White is going to miss his first year as a Georgia Bulldog after tearing his ACL. Then their week one game at Charlotte’s Memorial Stadium was delayed for over an hour because of lightning.
The woes continued when starting quarterback Bruce Wall was carted off of the field after sustaining an injury during a play, which was reported as an ACL tear. Finally, the Scots had to endure an embarrassing 47-19 loss to the Butler Bulldogs, their worst loss since 2009.
Hillside is still a bit of a mystery. They are coming off a ho-hum 2017 season and destroyed a struggling New Bern program 37-8 to kick off their 2018 campaign. I know the Scots have dropped off a little talent-wise this year, but I still think they are better than a very average Hillside team.
Pick: Scotland 35, Hillside 21
