Something has to give Friday in Robbins as North Moore entertains Union Pines in a cross-county football clash at 7:30 p.m.

Coming into the tilt each school is riding a significant losing streak. Dating back to last season, the Vikings have dropped their previous eight games. Meanwhile, North Moore is officially riding a seven-game losing streak.

Including a win by forfeit — which came last season when West Montgomery had to forfeit a 63-0 win over North Moore — the Mustangs have amassed two victories in their previous 26 games.

Union Pines’ record over the same stretch has not been much better.

Over the past three-plus seasons, the Vikings are 8-25, with three of those victories coming against North Moore. In 2008, the Vikings topped the Mustangs 47-8 in Cameron. The next season, Union Pines claimed a 48-12 victory in Robbins.

Last year Union Pines defeated North Moore on its home field to notch a 35-12 win. It marked the last time the Vikings have left the field victorious under third-year head coach Ryan Riggan.

Vikes Work on Fundamentals

“This is a big game for us,” Riggan said. “They are a county rival and whenever two teams who live so close get together it’s a big deal. Our guys really want to win this game and it would be a good win for our team moving forward.”

Last week Union Pines fell 34-14 to 3-A Southwestern Randolph, as the visiting Cougars scored three straight touchdowns to take control of the tilt in the third quarter.

Riggan cited poor execution, a lapse in focus and mental mistakes as a reason for the collapse. He feels that three things must happen for his team to have success.

“We need to limit penalties, have good first-contact tackling and (make) no turnovers,” he said. “Also we need to run our offense well and really do some positive things and just generally play with more confidence.

“We have spent a lot of time this week working on form tackling and open field tackling. We added emphasis to those areas in practice, as well as spent a lot of time talking to our guys about limiting mistakes and playing smart. We have to play smarter and eliminate mistakes — if we can do those two things, we can be a better football team.”

Riggan did say that his team was able to build on some aspects of the game with a combo of watching video tape and working reps in practice.

“Our film sessions have been great this week,” said Riggan. “We have really focused on getting the (running) backs to hit the holes and explode through the line of scrimmage.

“The coaching staff has shown the players multiple times this week where the drills we practice come true in the game. We just want to continue to stress that better practice and film study will lead to better playing come Friday night.”

Mustangs Look to Rebound

Last week was a rough way to start for the Mustangs and head coach Greg Simmons, as North Moore was dismantled 51-0 by Union Academy (a charter school) from the 2-A/1-A Rocky River Conference.

After that game, Simmons referred to it as the “first chapter” of a book he and his team are writing. The second chapter began Monday at practice as the Mustangs started preparing for tonight’s test.

“We have had a good week of practice,” Simmons said. “We have a couple of new faces that we hope to have ready to go in the next couple of weeks, and the kids are working at it hard and giving their all.

“Primarily our focus has really been on us this week. We have to minimize our mistakes and try to get better at what we do.”

One bright spot for the Mustangs last week was Darius Green, who gained 63 yards on 17 carries. Simmons will be looking for him to help give North Moore a lift tonight.

“Darius is a powerful kid,” said Simmons. “He worked hard this offseason and we are expecting great things from him. We need him to stay healthy and play the way he is capable of playing. He loves football and our O-line did a great job opening up some things last week, and I expect that they will continue to improve, and as they do so will Darius.”

North Moore junior Landon Auman will be noticeably missing from the Mustangs’ defensive unit tonight.

“Landon suffered a shoulder injury making a tackle last week,” said Simmons. “He will be missed and it (looks like) we will be without his services for several weeks.”

When discussing the importance of tonight’s football game, Simmons slightly downplayed the rivalry aspect.

“For a young team and a young program every game is a big game,” Simmons said, “and this one is no different. Obviously, Union Pines is a team our players know pretty well.

“The kids know each other, the coaches know each other, and I just want to see the kids play well with an injury-free game for both sides.”