ROCKINGHAM — Another Southeastern Conference team got into the win column, one remained winless and the top three stayed undefeated.
Purnell Swett earned its first win of the season and the first in the Jon Sherman era by downing South Robeson Saturday. The game was postponed because of Friday’s storm. Hoke continues to struggle with its difficult non-conference schedule, falling to Seventy-First to drop to 0-3 on the year. South View took down Lumberton in the Pirates’ first home game.
Pinecrest and Richmond breezed to victories in rain-delayed contests Friday night to improve to 3-0. Scotland need a late defensive stand to turn back Marlboro County (S.C.) to remain unbeaten.
PURNELL SWETT 21, SOUTH ROBESON 8
ROWLAND — Purnell Swett’s Desmond Davis made his first varsity start at quarterback — replacing the injured Lucas Oxendine — and made it memorable.
Davis rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Purnell Swett downed South Robeson 21-8 Saturday.
Davis scored on runs of 5 and 1 yards. He added a 42-yard touchdown strike to Luke Brooks for the game’s first touchdown, that was actually scored on Friday before the postponement. Davis tacked on the 2-point conversion following Brooks’ reception.
Even though it was the first win for Jon Sherman as the coach of the Rams (1-2), he wasn’t on the field to celebrate. He was ejected in the fourth quarter after arguing with the officials.
“I wish it happened under different circumstances,” Sherman said to The Robesonian. “But our kids played hard. I saw some good stuff out there.”
SCOTLAND 21, MARLBORO COUNTY 20
BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. — Zamir White’s 63-yard touchdown run put Scotland up by two touchdowns with just over six mintues left in the game and it seemed the victory was in the bag.
Except Marlboro County (S.C.) had other ideas.
The Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the final 3:14 but Hunter Tindal missed the extra-point to tie the game that allowed the Scots (3-0) to escape with a 21-20 victory Friday night.
White finished the game with 222 yards and three touchdowns, but had a fumble in the final moments of the game that allow Marlboro (1-1) to score its final touchdown of the night. Scotland’s Jonathan Smith intercepted a pass as time expired to seal the game.
“You have to give credit to Marlboro, they obviously understood the significance of this game and they came out ready,” Scotland coach Richard Bailey said to the Laurinburg Exchange. “I take my hat off to those coaches and their players. It was one of those games where we did enough to win. I’m never going to be disappointed in a win, but we’re a lot beter than that and we have to play better.”
PINECREST 49, CUTHBERTSON 14
MONROE — Pinecrest quarterback Christian Ledbetter had gotten off to a slow start even though his team was undefeated this season.
Ledbetter more than made up for it in his team’s 49-14 victory over Cuthbertson Friday in the opening game of the Union County Gridiron Clash at Monroe High School.
Ledbetter rushed for four touchdowns and threw for two more for the Patriots (3-0). Both of Ledbetter’s touchdown tosses were to Chris Owens. The first was for 83 yards following a lightning delay of more than an hour. The second was for 80 yards after the Cavaliers had pulled within 13-7.
Pinecrest’s defense was able to contain Austin Kendall, a University of Oklahoma commit, in the game. Kendall finished the game with 229 passing yards and two touchdowns, but three interceptions. He rushed for another 40 yards.
“We truly felt like we could be physical and that was going to be our MO tonight,” Pinecrest coach Chris Metzger said to The Pilot.
SOUTH VIEW 19, LUMBERTON 14
LUMBERTON — For the third consecutive week, Lumberton fell behind to its opponent before attempting a fourth-quarter rally.
Just like in its opening game loss to Hunt, Lumberton was unable to complete the comeback and fell to South View 19-14. The Pirates (1-2) scored all of their points in the final 12 minutes.
The Tigers led 19-7 before Brandon Norris scored on a 28-yard scamper with just over three minutes in the game for the Pirates to trim the deficit to five.
On the ensuing possession, South View marched the ball from deep in its own territory to midfield. Facing a fourth-and-five, the Tigers were able to coax the Pirates to jump offside to earn a first down and ice the game.
SEVENTY-FIRST 55, HOKE 26
RAEFORD — Hoke didn’t have an answer for Seventy-First’s Paul Underwood.
Underwood rushed for 315 yards and four touchdowns as Seventy-First rolled to a 55-26 victory.
Lahmi Lesane added seven receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons.
Hoke’s Jacob Rushing tried to match Underwood’s big night with one of his own. Rushing finished the game with 288 yards and three touchdowns for the Bucks (0-3).
Reach managing editor Shawn Stinson at 910-817-2671 and follow him on Twitter @scgolfer.