Thursday was a very good day for the Pinecrest football program.

In an afternoon contest held at Memorial Park in Southern Pines, the Patriot freshmen team opened the season by defeating Scotland County 14-12 in overtime. Later at the John Williams Athletic Complex, the Patriot jayvee squad improved to 3-0 with a 38-12 win over Southern Lee.

With the Freshmen Gold team's game at Hoke County postponed, the Green and Gold squads combined against Scotland. The Patriots trailed 6-0 at the half, but an end zone interception by the Pats' Steven Kennedy may have saved six more points.

The Patriots caught up in the second half when Trevon Perkins turned a post pass from quarterback Travis Scales into a 50-yard scoring play. Tied at 6-6, the Patriots got the ball first in overtime and scored on a short run by Scales. Scales then passed to Kirk Wohlrab for the two-point conversion.

Scotland also scored on its overtime possession, but the Patriot defense stopped the two-point conversion attempt, sewing up the victory.

Quarterback Kyle Ocheltree scored on a couple of short runs, and Raphael Alston returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown as the Patriot jayvee team took a 22-0 halftime lead against Southern Lee.

The home team added to its advantage early in the third period on a 25-yard pass touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Patti to wide receiver Harrison Deen. The Cavs finally scored with 9:30 left in the game to make it 30-6. Damian Pride went 15 yards for the final Pinecrest touchdown, and the Cavs scored again in the closing minute.