On the Monday of the week when Tropical Storm Debby was about to hit the area with gobs of rainfall, sports activities in Robeson County had been canceled for the coming days, and I heard an assistant coach from one local high school football program tell his team to get accustomed to the flexibility required to navigate weeks like that.

There will be weeks during the season when games are moved to Thursday or Saturday because of weather or another reason, he said; learn to be flexible so navigating those weeks during the season won’t be so hard.

For that team’s sake, I hope those players were listening, because this is such a week.

The threat of rain Friday night has moved every game involving a Robeson County program up to a Thursday kickoff. So, with those games just hours away now, I guess I had better get going with the weekly matter of making my predictions.

Last week: 4-0

Season: 8-2

Lumberton at Red Springs

There’s momentum around the Lumberton program unlike any other time I’ve seen since coming to Robeson County in 2019; it’s been 10 years, in fact, since the Pirates started 2-0. Yes, people will point to the fact that the Fairmont and Clinton teams that Lumberton has defeated have combined for zero wins, but the Pirates haven’t just snuck past those teams but have dominated them, plain and simple. This week, though, would appear to be their toughest test so far, even as they face another winless team in Red Springs.

The Red Devils have yet to play a school their own size, losing to three straight United-8 Conference opponents, but played their best game so far, particularly on the defensive end, last week at Purnell Swett. After struggling to stop the run the first two games, the Red Devils showed great improvement in that facet against the Rams; that will now be put to another test against a Pirates team that has moved the ball at will through its first two games.

I fully expect Lumberton to allow points this time after two shutouts, and even Pirates coach Taurius Baker seemed to subtly agree that that streak isn’t likely to keep going with Red Springs’ offensive weapons including T.J. Ellerbe out wide and Jakelsin Mack in the backfield. But the Pirates have shown they have weapons of their own, including Week 1 standout Reggie Bush and Week 3 star Lonnie Porter. I don’t expect Red Springs’ defense to allow hundreds of rushing yards like it did to start the season, but I also expect Lumberton to be effective and balanced offensively and make enough plays defensively, adding up to a 3-0 start for the Pirates.

Lumberton 28, Red Springs 20

St. Pauls at West Columbus

St. Pauls entered last year’s game against West Columbus at 0-3 and struggling for offensive consistency. The Bulldogs only put up 14 in that game against the Vikings, but it was enough to win by two points at G.S. Kinlaw Stadium. This year they’ll hit the road to Cerro Gordo in better shape, at 2-1 after an explosive night on the offensive end last week against South Brunswick.

The Bulldogs were one of only two teams to beat the Vikings last year, as West Columbus reached the East Regional final of the 1A state playoffs before a loss to Tarboro. But the Vikings have a different look this year with changed personnel after losing key players to graduation, while the Bulldogs, particularly offensively, return a lot of the team that beat the Vikings.

While West Columbus isn’t likely to be as strong as a season ago, entering the game at 1-1, they should still be a decent test for the Bulldogs. But the St. Pauls offense, fresh off a 561-yard output last week, will be too much for the Vikings.

St. Pauls 35, West Columbus 20

Southern Lee at Fairmont

Southern Lee has earned 26- and 19-point wins in this series the last two seasons, and as the Cavaliers come to Hal S. Floyd Stadium it’s tough to see a drastic change in that trend based on what Fairmont has shown in its first three games.

While the Golden Tornadoes have improved offensively, scoring more points each week than in the previous game, they’ve also allowed more points in each successive game as well, with a 50 on the scoreboard for the opposition last week at Westover. Losing most of the production from last year’s 2-8 squad was always going to mean a young team, and there’s definitely been some growing pains for this bunch of Tornadoes, especially as the 2A program has played a 3A or 4A team every week, a fact that remains true against the Cavaliers.

Southern Lee likes to run the ball, and Fairmont has had a hard time showing they can consistently stop the run over 48 minutes. This game has the looks of another lesson learned.

Southern Lee 34, Fairmont 16