Deon Cranford breaks down all Sandhills Athletic Conference high school football games and chooses winners for Week 3.
Marlboro at Scotland
Even though the Richmond fans may object, this is a huge rivalry game for the Scots. The Bulldogs struggled a bit last season ending with a 3-7 record. The Scots on the other hand advanced all the way to the 4A state title game. Marlboro has shown some big improvements while Coach Richard Bailey is doing everything he can to remedy the injury bug that is plaguing his Scots.
One team has improved while the other team has declined a little. It’s just a simple matter of figuring out which team has shifted the most. I’m going with the Scots in this one. Despite the losses to their roster, they just have too many good athletes to count them out.
Pick: Scotland 28, Marlboro 21
Purnell Swett at Douglas Byrd
Douglas Byrd snapped a 25-game losing streak with a season opening victory over Fairmont. They followed that win up with a close 21-14 loss to a pretty good South Columbus team. I think they carry all of the momentum going into this game with Purnell Swett. Not to mention it’s a home game for the Eagles.
Pick: Douglas Byrd 27, Purnell Swett 13
Jack Britt at Gray’s Creek
When Gray’s Creek scored 50 points against Parkwood in Week 1, nobody really paid attention. Parkwood has been struggling to find itself for several seasons, so the score did not really surprise anyone. However, when the Bears shut out Pinecrest in the second half of their 24-21 home loss to the Patriots, people noticed.
Gray’s Creek may not be a top-tier team this year, but right now, they are playing better than Jack Britt.
Pick: Gray’s Creek 21, Jack Britt 14
Lumberton at South View
Looking ahead at South View’s schedule, they are in pretty good shape. The undefeated Tigers have nearly two months of less than stellar opponents on their schedule and a bye week sandwiched in their as well. The seven-week run of what I predict to be relatively easy victories begins with a winless Lumberton team on Friday night.
On paper, this one should be over by halftime.
Pick: South View 42, Lumberton 13
Westover at Hoke
Westover is a difficult team to figure out. Last week I predicted their game with Lumberton to be a tossup and literally used a quarter to decide it. On one hand, I was correct because it was a close one. The final score was 26-25. Unfortunately, the quarter landed on the wrong side and I went with the Pirates and it was Westover who came away with the win.
Nearly breaking even with Lumberton isn’t going to turn too many heads, but I still believe that they are better than a struggling Hoke team. Hoke has only won two of its last 38 games. This will be one of few chances to get back into the win column this season.
Pick: Westover 27, Hoke 20
Pinecrest at Hillside
Last week, an injury-plagued Scotland team managed a 28-12 victory over Hillside. Friday night’s matchup in Durham between Hillside and Pinecrest will tell us a lot about the Patriots. Pinecrest is often ridiculed about their weak strength of schedule, but back-to-back wins over Hillside and Providence could send them into SAC play with enough momentum to make so noise.
Pinecrest managed to slip past the Hornets 42-39 in Southern Pines last year. Look for them to sneak out of Durham with another close victory.
Pick: Pinecrest 27, Hillside 21
E.E. Smith at Seventy First
Last season, the Falcons managed two first-quarter touchdowns against E.E. Smith, but the Golden Bulls were able to stymie the high-powered Seventy-First offense from that point on. Unfortunately for EE Smith, those two touchdowns were all that Seventy-First needed and the Falcons held on to win 19-6.
This year’s Golden Bulls team is much more inexperienced than the team that finished second in the Patriot 3A/4A conference last season. That inexperience has been evident in their season opening losses to St Pauls and Durham Jordan, both of which they defeated in 2017.
On Saturday morning, the Falcons will still be undefeated and the Golden Bulls will still be winless.
Pick: Seventy-First 49, E.E. Smith 13
Pine Forest at Richmond
In Pine Forest’s season opener against Purnell Swett, the Trojans coughed up the opening kickoff deep in their own territory allowing Swett to strike quickly. Since then, Pine Forest’s starting defense has not given up a single score.
The Trojans come to Richmond with a 2-0 record after dominating Swett and Concord. However, the Pine Forest defense now has to line up against a Richmond offense that recorded over 300 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Wake Forest who has arguably the best defense in the state.
DJ Jones rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans in each of their first two games and quarterback Richard McEachern is pretty accurate with his passing. I do not predict a shutout, but this game will most likely be a blowout.
Pick: Richmond 49, Pine Forest 13
