Historically, Richmond’s football team has the upper hand on Scotland. The Raiders lead the all-time series with their rivals, 36-15-1.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise to long-time football fans on both sides. Scotland snapped a 17-year losing streak to the Raiders in 2011, the same year Scotland won its first state title under Chip Williams, who was in his final season with the program. That triumph started a resurgence by the Scots. After Richard Bailey became Scotland’s coach in 2012, Scotland won the rivalry game for six straight years.

That streak ended last year when Scotland lost in Rockingham, despite a 200-yard effort by running back Syheam McQueen. The inexperienced Scots entered the game as clear underdogs with four losses already on their record. Scotland stayed within striking distance, trailing 10-8 after the third quarter. But Richmond’s Caleb Hood and Jahiem Covington ultimately helped power the Raiders to a 23-8 victory.

The 52nd meeting between the Scots and Raiders is set to take place on Friday at Pate Stadium. The Raiders still have not won in Laurinburg with Bailey as Scotland’s coach. The Scots’ drought-ending win in 2017, a 41-7 win over the Raiders, happened on Scotland’s home field.

The rivalry’s roots

Hundreds of years ago, today’s Richmond County was a part of Anson County. That changed in 1779, when the section of Anson County that was east of the Pee Dee River at the time became Richmond County.

Richmond County was named for Charles Lennox, the 3rd Duke of Richmond, who criticized the policy of the British toward the American colonies.

In 1899, an act was introduced by Hector McLean to the General Assembly to split Richmond into two counties. There were several reasons why that split was desired, some of them political, but a big factor was that Richmond’s county seat, Rockingham, was a considerable distance from the eastern part of the county. A resident of eastern Richmond County would need an entire day to travel to Rockingham for any business needs.

McLean’s act was how Scotland County was formally conceptualized. Laurinburg was designated as the county seat, and Scotland County began to function in December 1900. The earliest settlers of the region were the Highland Scots, hence the new county’s name.

Laurinburg High School, which was built in 1924, was the city’s high school until Scotland High began operating in 1967. Two other schools in Laurinburg — Laurinburg Insitute (private) and I. Ellis Johnson School (public) — were operating at that time as well. The new Scotland High School was the result of the integration and consolidation of Scotland County’s schools.

Prior to that, Laurinburg High competed against Richmond County’s Rockingham and Hamlet high schools. Those same opponents lined up against Scotland High. Scotland’s football team could usually handle Hamlet, but it had trouble competing with Rockingham.

In 1972, Rockingham and Hamlet’s high schools consolidated to create Richmond Senior High School.

The Scotland-Richmond rivalry mostly went the Raiders’ way early on. The Raiders asserted their dominance in the 1990s. In 1993, Scotland and Richmond were named co-conference champions after Scotland won the head-to-head matchup between the two teams. Scotland won the conference crown again in 1994, but Richmond then proceeded to win five-straight conference titles.

In 2001, there was a three-way tie between Richmond, Scotland and Douglas Byrd for the conference championship, but Richmond won the head-to-head matchup with Scotland. Richmond retained the title each year from 2002 to 2010.

Leon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal file photo Richmond’s Taveon Ellerbe (10) strips the ball away from Scotland’s Syheam McQueen (5) in last year’s 28-7 decision. The two teams renew their rivalry in Laurinburg on Friday.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_taveon.jpgLeon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal file photo Richmond’s Taveon Ellerbe (10) strips the ball away from Scotland’s Syheam McQueen (5) in last year’s 28-7 decision. The two teams renew their rivalry in Laurinburg on Friday.

Brandon Tester

Sports editor

Brandon Tester can be reached at [email protected] or 910-506-3170. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonTester.