Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original version to reflect games being rescheduled for Thursday night.

RED SPRINGS — One team is undefeated, one team hasn’t yet won a game. But as Lumberton and Red Springs prepare to meet on Friday both coaches feel their team will have to play well to win.

The Pirates and Red Devils will meet on the gridiron for the second time on Thursday, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Red Springs, marking the first time Red Springs has hosted Lumberton. The game was moved from Friday to Thursday due to the threat of inclement weather.

“They’re 2-0 for a reason,” Red Springs coach Tim Ray said. “Coach (Taurius) Baker’s been doing a good job over there, so we’re not trying to go in there and think that, you know, the competition they’ve played, nothing — they’re 2-0, they’ve played good ball, so we’ve got to go out there and play their best ball as well.”

“They’re a very good team, a well-coached team with Coach Ray over there, and they’ve got some great athletes over that way,” Baker said. “They came out on the right side of it last year, so obviously we’re coming out here and respecting their game and what they’ve got going on, and hopefully it comes out in our favor.”

That game last year was a 19-18 Red Springs win, which came down to a Lumberton two-point attempt after a touchdown in the closing seconds. The Red Devils got the stop to seal the outcome.

“I don’t know anything about that game last year, as far as that’s concerned, but hearing it, the kids obviously know about it, so with that in their mindset we’ll use that as motivation,” Baker said. “Hopefully it won’t be that close, but if it is we’ll execute and do what we’ve got to do on our side of the ball, however that may be.”

Lumberton was in the midst of a long losing streak at that time last season, but has now won four of its last five games including the first two of the 2024 season; the Pirates beat Fairmont 35-0 in Week 1, and after a bye defeated Clinton 41-0 last Friday. The Pirates are 2-0 for the first time since 2014; a 3-0 start, should they win Friday, would also be the first since that same 2014 season.

“The kids are excited about it, they should be,” Baker said. “(We’re) 2-0, won their first two games, but they’re definitely not satisfied, we’re not satisfied with it. Just two games into our ultimate goal of everything and we’re just going to keep practicing, game planning, taking it game by game and see what Friday’s give us.”

Red Springs (0-3) will play its fourth straight United-8 Conference opponent to start the season, coming off a 21-7 loss Friday at Purnell Swett.

“We see a lot of good things that we’re doing, it’s just that we ain’t put it all together at one time yet,” Ray said. “Two turnovers Friday night, gave up two early touchdowns; after that, the next 3 1/2 quarters we played good ball, 7-all. That is what it is, the game is what it was, but there’s flashes of moments where we’re there and we’ve just got to put it all together.”

After allowing over 300 rushing yards in their first two games, Red Springs held Purnell Swett to 97 rushing yards last week. They’ll now face a Pirates team that has ran the ball well in its first two outings.

“They’re very disciplined and sound in their game, which is really good, and we look forward to going in there and competing against it,” Ray said. “We put these teams in the nonconference for a reason, because 2A football is run-heavy and we’ve got to learn to stop the run if we’re going to get where we want to go, hopefully in the playoffs.

“I think they’ll be ready for the challenge,” Baker said. “Obviously we’ll do what we know to do and what we’re all about, but we don’t take them lightly at all, so I think it’s going to be a game where we’ve got to go and put our best foot and do our best and execute on.”

The Lumberton defense has yet to allow a point through two games; Red Springs will look to change that behind offensive weapons T.J. Ellerbe and Jakelsin Mack.

“A shutout-type of thing that happened the last two games, we thank God for, but we’re not going there thinking that they’re just going to roll over for us and that shutouts are just given to us,” Baker said. “We obviously play hard on the defensive end; there’s been some stoppages, some red-zone opportunities for the teams we’ve played so far.”

“I think if we go out there and we sustain our drives the way we know we can and we play to the level we can, we shouldn’t have too much of an issue,” Ray said. “I think it’s going to be a good, competitive ballgame and Coach Baker and his group do a really good job coaching them up well, and I think we’re doing the same thing here, so I’m interested to see how it’s going to go Friday night.”

St. Pauls at West Columbus

St. Pauls’ varsity game at West Columbus will be played at 7:30 p.m. Thursday due to the threat of inclement weather on Friday; that also bumps the Bulldogs’ JV game against Douglas Byrd up to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

West Columbus (1-1) enters the contest coming off a 42-8 win over West Bladen, the Vikings’ first victory of the season. They also have a 48-8 loss at Lake Norman Charter on the schedule.

West Columbus reached the fourth round of the state playoffs last year before losing to Tarboro; the Vikings’ only other loss in 2023 came in a 14-12 defeat at St. Pauls. The Vikings have seen quite a bit of roster turnover from last year, however, with numerous seniors on that team.

St. Pauls (2-1) beat South Brunswick 48-23 on Friday, getting back in the win column after a loss at Lee County the previous week. Yoshua McBryde ran for 257 yards and three touchdowns against South Brunswick, and now has 575 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season, while Theophilus Setzer threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns last week and has 446 passing yards and five touchdowns this season.

The Bulldogs’ win over West Columbus last year gave them a 17-4 lead in the all-time series, which mostly consists of annual meetings as conference foes from 2003-19, with St. Pauls holding a 13-4 advantage in those games. Last year was the first meeting since.

Southern Lee at Fairmont

A pair of teams looking to get back on the right track will meet Thursday at Fairmont when Southern Lee visits the Golden Tornadoes for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The game was moved up to Thursday from its original Friday kickoff due to the possibility of inclement weather.

Southern Lee (1-1) was shut out at home last week in a 22-0 decision against Eastern Randolph. The Cavaliers previous beat Western Harnett 41-6 to open the season.

Robert Sims and Johnnie Jones are the leading rushing threats for the Cavaliers’ offense; Sims scored four touchdowns in the win over Western Harnett.

Fairmont (0-3) has lost all three contests to open the 2024 season and has lost 11 of its last 12 dating back to 2023. The Golden Tornadoes lost 50-20 last week at Westover, posting season highs in both points scored and points allowed.

Southern Lee won 38-12 over the Golden Tornadoes last year and 41-22 in 2022, the only two previous meetings between the schools on the football field.