LUMBERTON — While the Lumberton football team has shown great improvement through the first three weeks of the season, the Pirates’ 3-0 start has come against three programs yet to win a game.

A win to continue the streak this week, though, would get everyone’s attention around the Sandhills and Border Belt.

Lumberton welcomes Cape Fear to Alton G. Brooks Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday, with both teams entering at 3-0 as they each begin United-8 Conference play.

“They’re a very good team this year,” Lumberton’s first-year head coach Taurius Baker said. “Very good coaching program, good program altogether. We’ve got to come with our A-game. We’re ready to go Friday night.”

The Pirates have outscored the opposition 125-14 through three games, beating Fairmont and Clinton before last week’s 49-14 triumph at Red Springs. This marks the first time Lumberton has scored 125 points or more in any three-game span since 2011, and the first time they’ve allowed 14 points or less in any three-game span since 1986.

Now, as the Pirates begin their league slate, they’re seeking their first 4-0 start to a season since 2011. Lumberton hasn’t won a conference opener since 2017.

“For us there’s really no mental shift; we take every game seriously and we want to win them all, they’re all equally important,” Baker said. “The way we practice, the way we coach has been the same. Each game we want to increase our intensity of what we do as coaches and players, we’re never satisfied, but we’re ready for this, conference or nonconference, we’re ready for it.

Cape Fear comes to Lumberton after a 30-14 home win over Laney last week; the Colts also have one-sided wins on the road at Pine Forest and Terry Sanford.

King Faison has run for 282 yards and four touchdowns, while quarterback Geronimo Sanchez has thrown for 284 yards and two touchdowns and run for four touchdowns for the Colts.

“They’ve got great athletes, a great running back, a good quarterback,” Baker said. “They’re well disciplined. They play hard, obviously they’re 3-0 as well. Obviously we’ve got our work cut out for us, and we’ll go out there and practice the way we need to practice and be disciplined with our fundamentals and our game plan, and that’s our focus this week.”

Cape Fear’s defense has allowed just 21 total points through three games. Bryan Charles leads the Colts with 26 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss, but five defensive players have 22 tackles or more; this includes Will Wicklin, who also has three sacks.

“Obviously we want to put a dent into that (21-point total) and score points like we’ve been doing,” Baker said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, they’re a good defense, well-coached, very disciplined, got good players on that side of the ball. We think we match up well as well, and we want to go out and execute and hopefully come out on the right side of this on Friday night.”

As the Pirates face their toughest test yet, Baker says the Pirates are going into the game with an expectation that they’ll continue their strong play from during their nonconference schedule.

“It’s us going in with a game plan to win. It’s got to be a great week of practice and then Friday night we’ve got to execute and I think that’s what’s going to get us to be on the right side of that scoreboard. We believe in ourselves, what we do, and our expectation is to go out there and win.”

Cape Fear beat the Pirates 42-0 last year in Fayetteville and also won the previous two matchups after the United-8 Conference was formed prior to the fall 2021 season, all in shutouts. The Colts lead the all-time series 19-17, including an combined 8-3 mark as conference opponents in both the United-8 and previous conference alignments.

Purnell Swett at Gray’s Creek

Gray’s Creek has had little trouble scoring points but hasn’t been quite as effective defensively through three games this season. The Bears will now host Purnell Swett at 7:30 p.m. Friday to open United-8 play.

The Bears (2-1) have scored 49 points or more in all three games they’ve played, averaging 53.3 per contest. Gray’s Creek lost its last outing on Sept. 6, a 61-49 defeat to Pine Forest, after previously beating E.E. Smith and Red Springs.

Friday’s matchup will pit two run-heavy teams against each other; Gray’s Creek has thrown just 15 passes all season, while boasting three strong running backs in Ezekiel Reed (463 rushing yards, eight touchdowns), Alphonso Myers (432 rushing yards, seven touchdowns) and Dequan Anthony (226 rushing yards, three touchdowns). Senior linebacker Kaleb Caraway, one of the best defensive players in the area, has 39 tackles.

Purnell Swett (2-1) also comes off its bye week; the Rams beat Red Springs 21-7 on Sept. 6. Purnell Swett has allowed just 26 points defensively through its last five halves of football, dating back to the second half at St. Pauls in Week 1.

Purnell Swett won 42-39 last year when both teams entered as undefeated teams. Gray’s Creek won the previous two seasons; these are the only three previous meetings between the programs.

St. Pauls at Charlotte Latin

St. Pauls will face travel to the Queen City to face undefeated Charlotte Latin on Friday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Charlotte Latin (5-0) has averaged 40.6 points per game and allowed just 16.6 per contest; the Hawks, who compete in the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association, have compiled their record largely against non-NCHSAA competition, though they did defeat Mitchell 28-14 on Aug. 23. Their last game was a 58-6 win over Carolina Bearcats last week.

Sophomore Troy Logan is throwing for nearly 250 yards per game, with 1,191 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, with four receivers over 200 yards apiece led by Hudson Shoup, who has six touchdown receptions. Carson Clutter is the team’s leading rusher with 202 yards and has four scores. The Hawks have three defenders with 33 or more tackles and three others with 10 or more tackles for loss.

St. Pauls (3-1) has won its last two games since an Aug. 30 loss to Lee County, rebounding with a win over South Brunswick before last week’s 55-0 drubbing of West Columbus. The Bulldogs have a bye next week before hosting West Bladen Oct. 4 to open their Southeastern Athletic Conference slate.

The teams met for the first time last year when St. Pauls earned a 20-13 win at G.S. Kinlaw Stadium.

Lakewood at Red Springs

Lakewood will bring an offense that’s been strong this season down south to Robeson County as the Leopards travel to Red Springs for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday.

Lakewood (3-1) has scored 33 points or more in all four games it has played this season, including 60 against Spring Creek on Aug. 23, and is averaging 42.5 per contest. The Leopards beat Spring Creek, KIPP Pride and Lejeune in their first three games before a 37-34 loss to Midway, Red Springs’ fellow Southeastern member, last week.

Sophomore Calvin Lacewell is the feature back for the Leopards, rushing for 498 yards and eight touchdowns this season, with three more backs having scored three times or more. Dashaun Carr leads Lakewood’s defensive efforts with 39 tackles thus far.

Red Springs (0-4) has faced four straight United-8 Conference opponents from the 3A and 4A classifications to open the season, including last week’s 49-14 home loss to Lumberton. The Red Devils have a bye next week before beginning Southeastern play the following week at Fairmont.

The teams last met in 2016, when Red Springs won 12-7, and the Red Devils have won three straight meetings, with Lakewood’s last coming in 2007. Lakewood leads the all-time series 7-5, including a 4-0 mark in meetings as conference opponents from 1997-2000.