Lumberton sophomore Marquez North will play his first game against Purnell Swett Friday.
Gaping holes in a defense he intently constructed. Uncharacteristic mistakes that obliterated a game plan he'd been working on for weeks.
Before he knew it, the Lumberton Pirates trailed 24-0 early in the second quarter to Purnell Swett in Pembroke and were left gasping for air as the Rams were driving again.
Members of Brill’s starting secondary weren’t happy. Nor were the 1,000 or so fans that made the trip from Lumberton.
"We weren’t focused,” senior Brent Bristow said. “Our defense needed to step it up and (we) didn’t.”
Another veteran defensive back chimed in.
“Some of our guys were scared to tackle Jock (Clark) and Ethan (Clark),” Kendrick McGill said, who also handles return duties for the Pirates. “Jock would just run up the middle right at us. We couldn’t stop him.”
The miserable first-half effort ultimately led to the Pirates' sixth loss in their last seven games against their rival, a 32-30 setback that ended after Maurice Lewis was stopped short on a 2-point conversion try late in the contest.
As a team focused on defense, Lumberton's unit was exposed by the sheer amount of blown coverages and missed tackles that highlighted the loss. Not to mention two fumbles in the first five minutes that put Lumberton in an early, 12-0 hole.
"The offense and defense needed to get better,” running back Larry Parker said. “We didn’t make the plays necessary to win. It was frustrating.”
Parker, the Pirates’ second leading rusher, missed last year’s game with the Rams after breaking his hand earlier in the season. As a senior, Parker has some unfinished business to carry out during his last chance against a rival Friday at Lumberton.
“I just want revenge. I think we all do,” Parker said. “After what happened at Swett, we’re ready to beat them this year.”
For the Pirates (8-2, 3-1) a win this week coupled with a Richmond loss to Scotland would create a three-way tie for first place in the Southeastern Conference. For playoff seeding purposes, the tiebreaker would be decided by a blind drawing shortly after Friday's games.
No doubt there will be some scoreboard watching in the second half against the Rams.
"I would mean everything if we won,” McGill said. “Everyone wants a piece of the championship. I think our team is ready to play.”
A win over the Rams would also eliminate Swett from playoff contention if Hoke wins at Pinecrest.
Lumberton practiced for two hours Tuesday afternoon, led by Mackie Register and several other assistant coaches. Register said the Pirates needed to “clean up” a few things on offense before their regular-season finale.
This is the way it works:
1. They will seed all the #1 teams first. Then they will seed all the #2 teams. Then they will seed all the #3 teams.
2. Next, (a team needs at least four wins to qualify for this round of seeding) they will seed all the teams that have the most overall wins that did not finish in the top 3. They will then seed all the teams that had the next most wins and so on.
3. If after the first two criteria there is not enough teams then they move to the conference winning percentage.
According to the NCHSAA on how teams qualify for the 4A, 3A and 2A playoffs:
1. A team must finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the conference to qualify. In a split conference a team must finish 1st or 2nd in their division, OR
2. A team must have 4 wins overall if they do not finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in conference play (1st or 2nd in split conferences) OR
3. If not enough teams qualify using the criteria in #1 and #2 above, we would take the teams with the highest conference winning percentage next (split conferences use all conference games), OR
4. If too many teams qualify using the criteria in #1 and #2 above, we would use the highest conference winning percentage to determine the qualifiers.
5. All classifications will field a full complement of 64 teams, 32 in each sub-division. There will be no byes.
6. If ties exist at any level the tie(s) will be broken by a draw
If Swett falls at Lumberton, the Rams would have a .200 winning percentage in SEC play. If Hoke beats Pinecrest, the Bucks have a .400 winning percentage in conference play.
If two or more teams tie for a playoff position (Hoke, Swett) the approved tie-breaking procedure shall be used. Hoke beat Swett head-to-head. That's the first tie-breaker.
In the updated ADM numbers, Hoke is 54th and Purnell Swett is 62nd.
We are not saying the Rams are completely out of the playoff picture, but they are still very much on the bubble. If only four teams are needed from the conference, Hoke would get nod over Swett. If five teams are needed, Swett is in. But the number of teams needed has yet to be determined.
Thanks for reading Freightweigh.
It doesn't matter if Lumberton wins or Hoke wins.
I repeat: they are already in.