LUMBERTON — As the football season comes to an end, The Robesonian will look back at moments that stood out, as well as give general impressions from the 2018 season as fall sports season bridges over to basketball season around the Thanksgiving holiday.
When it was available, a weekly Robeson County football power rankings was published, and to tie a bow on the football season, it would be fitting to give one final power ranking of the six high schools in the county, as well as give out grades as to how the team finishes the season.
1. St. Pauls
St. Pauls was the most dominant team in the county from start to finish. After starting the season 3-0, St. Pauls was unable to finish games against the top three in the Three Rivers Conference, but did what it needed to against the rest of the pack, including a perfect record against in-county teams. Through their work in the regular season, the Bulldogs were awarded a playoff berth, but fell in overtime to Cummings.
The Bulldogs’ grade for this season was an A. Overcoming a late coaching change and coming a two-point conversion away from making the second round of the state playoffs was a good showing from a team that returns a lot of talent for next season.
2. Fairmont
A midseason change to the quarterback position proved to be the biggest difference in turning around the Golden Tornadoes season. Jordan Waters was a force for Fairmont on both sides of the ball, and his play helped it win four of its final five games.
The Golden Tornadoes’ grade for this season was a B. Fairmont underachieved early, but proved late they were deserving of making the state playoffs.
3. Red Springs
With losses to Fairmont and St. Pauls to close out the year, Red Springs went from the best team in the county to a middle of the road team real quick, but injuries proved to be the difference in their season. The Red Devils’ five losses this season came by a combined 22 points as close games put a halt to a potentially great season.
The Red Devils’ grade for this season was C. A year that looked to be something special turned out to be anything but as Red Springs limped to the finish line and missed out on what seemed to be a definite playoff berth.
4. Lumberton
Thanks to a late win over Purnell Swett, the Pirates’ made a slight jump up the postseason power rankings. There was no doubt that Lumberton was a different team with Braylan Grice on the field, and his absence was felt in the Richmond and Scotland losses, but he also was a big part of the win over Purnell Swett and the one-point loss to Hoke to end the season.
The Pirates’ grade for the season was a D. Close calls and lots of turmoil characterized the season for Lumberton as it did enough to stay out of the bottom spot by beating Purnell Swett.
5. Purnell Swett
Conference play proved to be a tough task for the Rams, winning one game against Hoke in seven tries. Even with a rough stretch to open conference play, the Rams had one job to do late in the year to possibly make the playoffs, but couldn’t get it done.
The Rams’ grade for the season was a C. Despite the loss to Lumberton, Purnell Swett did exactly what many thought they would do this season after losing a large portion of its team from a year ago.
6. South Robeson
The Mustangs started conference play right, and had chances to tack on other wins throughout the season, but couldn’t piece together what was needed.
The Mustangs’ grade for the season was a D. One win was the lowest total for the program since 2011.
