Scots Shred Patriots

Traivon Williams goes high to snag this pass in Pinecrest's loss to Scotland High Friday. Photo by Philip Taylor

As of Sunday, October 9, 2011

On the same field two years ago, Pinecrest coach Chris Metzger predicted the ascension in 2011 of a then-young Scotland High team the Patriots defeated 31-13.

The first half of Friday night’s football game in Laurinburg was a perfect storm of all the things that couldn’t happen for the Patriots to have a chance to upset a Scot squad that is now a consensus top-five team in the state.

The homecoming night celebrants, now 7-0, broke big plays and took advantage of Patriot turnovers on the way to a 34-10 halftime advantage. The final outcome was a 41-17 defeat for a Patriot squad that turned the ball over five times in all.

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Pinecrest Football at Scotland

The Patriots were defeated 41-17 by No.3 ranked Scotland Friday in an Southeastern Conference contest Friday in Laurinburg. With the loss, Pincrest's record moved to 0-3 in SEC action and 3-5 on the season. Photos by Philip Taylor.

A silver lining for the Patriots, 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the Southeastern Conference, was a defense that turned the Scots away two of three times inside their 10-yard line in the third quarter and allowed only seven second-half points.

“They’re just a very good ball club and we made a lot of mistakes,” Metzger said. “We’ve got to really get a lot better on offense and all the way around.”

The Patriots stayed within the same area code of the Scots for one quarter.

A 23-yard scamper by quarterback Kwashaun Quick capped a 53-yard scoring drive for the Scots on the first possession of the game. An outstanding catch by wide receiver Traivon Williams on a pass from Travis Scales for a 26-yard gain helped set the Patriots up for a 40-yard field goal by Jackson Maples, making it 7-3.

That accomplishment was quickly countered by a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Isaiah Robinson and the conversion by Aaron Stevens that increased the Scot lead to 14-3. But on the next Patriot possession, Williams went high for a grab on another throw from Scales and turned it into a 46-yard gain to the Scot 22.

The progress ended there with a fumble (recovered by the offense), a false start and a sack. Maples struck the ball solidly on a 42-yard field goal attempt, but it went wide.

The Pats turned the ball over the next two times they had the ball. The Scots took advantage, turning both into touchdowns and a 27-3 lead. An 80-yard kickoff return down the right sideline for a touchdown by Tavis Pearson made it 27-10 with less than a minute remaining until the intermission.

The Patriot elation was quickly undone by the talented Quick. Scrambling from the Scot 37, the Patriot pass defense was sucked in by the threat of the run. That left running back Caison Murphy wide-open downfield and Quick connected with him on a 63-yard scoring play.

A fumble and an interception put the Scots in business at the Patriot 10- and 13-yard lines, respectively, at the start of the third quarter. They got inside the five both times, but the Patriot defense held on downs. The next time the Scots had the ball, Zayrick Boyd recovered a fumble for the Patriots.

“We told them before we went out for the first goal-line stand that this is where you find out who are the players,” defensive coordinator Jason Sparks said. “Not playmakers, just guys who are going to buck up and get the job done. And we did. We found out.”

A fumble off a high snap gave the Scots a start from the Patriot 18, leading to the third touchdown pass of the game thrown by Quick. On a rough night for Scales, he was about to be sacked for a 10-yard loss in the fourth quarter before escaping to score the final touchdown of the contest.

The Patriot running attack was stopped for the first time this season. Scales accounted for 37 of the team’s 80 yards gained on the ground. He and Aaron Reimer combined to complete 12 of 24 passes for 169 yards, with Williams hauling in four of them for 86.

The Patriots entertain Purnell Swett (3-4, 0-2) on homecoming night this coming Friday. The Rams lost 42-41 to Richmond Senior when a two-point conversion attempt failed. In the other league game, Lumberton remained undefeated after a 30-20 victory over Hoke County.

Pinecrest 3 7 0 7 — 17

Scotland 14 20 7 0 — 41

Scoring: (S) Quick 23-run (Stevens kick); (P) Maples 40-FG; (S) Robinson 95-kickoff return (Stevens kick); (S) McRae 10-run (kick blocked); Murphy 34-pass from Quick (Stevens kick); (P) Pearson 80-kickoff return (Maples kick); (S) Murphy 63-pass from Quick (Stevens kick); (S) Pegues 2-pass from Quick (Stevens kick); (P) Scales 9-run (Maples kick)

Team stats: First downs – (P) 11 (S) 10; Rushing – (P) 33-80 (S) 30-136; Passing – (P) 12-24, 169 yds. 2 int. (S) 9-15, 134 yds., 3 tds., int.; Penalties – (P) 5-36 (S) 8-80; Fumbles - (P) 4-3 (S) 1-1

Individual stat leaders: Rushing – (P) Scales 19-37, Dw. Simpson 6-20, Strickland 3-21, Pearson 4-13 (S) Quick 6-57, McRae 10-57; Passing – (P) Scales 6-13, 117 yds., 2 int., Reimer 6-11, 52 yds. (S) Quick 8-12, 133, 3 tds. , Davis 1-4, 1 yd., int.; Receiving – (P) Williams 4-86, Ray 3-28, White 2-32 (S) Murphy 4-104, Pegues 2-23

More like this story

RD28327 1 year, 7 months ago

Three losses in a row for the Patriots. Expect three more losses to add to that.

Swagg 1 year, 7 months ago

Could be true... But the season isn't over yet can't count the boys out. Not the season they wanted but you just have to watch and see

TheMissingLink 1 year, 7 months ago

The Patriots football program will never be as good as the high end programs in the state until they find a Coach who can not only teach kids football but also Coach them in the games. In the past 4 years I have watched all the teams have great seasons and yet there was always something lacking. That something is the ability to change week in week out, or mid game to overcome adversity from a better coached team. Yes Pinecrest is better then it was 5 years ago because the kids are a group and play together. However, they cant hold a candle to some of the top football programs because of coach-ability. When you Coach a team you should be able to see what is going wrong and fix it. Not just do the same play over and over and watch your kids fail because you arent giving them the opportunity to fix the problem. I have heard parents time and again say things like "We could win if we had more then 3 offensive plays". I am not the only person seeing this problem. A team is only as good as its coach, and this team will never be more then mediocre with a man who prides himself on "life lessons" more then coaching a football team. Its time to step up and do the job you were hired for, that is winning not life lessons.

CC85 1 year, 7 months ago

Nothing could be further from the truth. Coach Metzger is the best thing to happen to Pinecrest Football since Burgin Beale walked the sidelines in the 80's. He's doing things the right way and Pinecrest has had historic success during his tenure, including winning 10 games in a season.

I can only hope that by the time my son's are old enough to play, they will be fortunate enough to have someone like Coach Metzger. At the HS and college level, it's a good thing to have a coach that cares about the kid's beyond the football field. This is what you want in a coach, not someone that simply uses these kid's to pad his resume in order to get a promotion. The system he's put in place treats these kid's like human beings. The truth is 95% of them will never play another down of football after high school is over.

The win's will come, they already have. Unlike the Richmond's and Scotland's of the world, we can't simply reload every year, it takes time to build the team back after losing a strong senior class.

gardak 1 year, 7 months ago

Pinecrest continues to live in a fantasy world of state and conference championships that will never come to pass. Unfortunately being competitive week in and week out is all they ever have or ever will be. Coach Metzger is a fine coach but a wise man once told me a head coach is only as good as the assistants he puts around him. Metzger seems to have a "me" complex and rarely lets his other coaches have much input during gametime. He needs to have more confidence in the men around him and perhaps they can all celebrate the fruits of their labors, whether it be a 10 win season (not likely to happen again unless going back to the old scheduling) or 5 win season (which is more likely to be the norm).

Pinecrest and Union Pines both need to stop living the fantasy and realize there are other good sports at both schools that deserve more attention.

DaveyNC 1 year, 7 months ago

So, MissingLink, I take it your son isn't playing as much as you think he should? You seem to forget that before Metzger, Pinehurst nearly abandoned football altogether. He's an excellent coach, pure and simple.

Swagg 1 year, 7 months ago

To be honest its not all on the coach. You can have a perfect game plan but its up to the team to leave it all on the field. If you fumble the ball every time you have the ball in striking distance especially against good teams what do you expect is going to happen?

RD28327 1 year, 7 months ago

Players win games, coaches lose games. I think even Stevie Wonder can spot who to blame here.

Patriot fans better not get too enamored with Saint Metzger. He'll jump at the first school that throws more $$$ in his face, take his pre-programmed robot assistant coaches with him, and sell PC fans and supporters down the river..

member 1 year, 7 months ago

There have been many times lately that I have wanted a "like" button, similar to the one found on Facebook to show my approval. Some of the comments on this story REALLY make me wish The Pilot had that option. There is something to be said when the coaches on a staff seem to be riding a merry-go-round. Since Coach Metzger arrived, how many of his coaches have stayed on for more than a year? Two? It seems there is always a new face on the sidelines. Maybe that has something to do with the downward spiral Patriot football seems to be on.

gardak 1 year, 7 months ago

Funny you should mention that RD. Word from some of the coaches is that Metzger has already told his staff that he could be leaving soon and they should all explore their options after the season. Seems the Sandhills Optimist Club is having a hard time explaining all of the large "donations" it has been making to the Ironman Football Club over the past five years.