<p>Stiles</p>

Stiles

Every Friday night, those brave young men who take to the high school football gridiron leave it all out on the field. But this week, it will be especially true.

Four of Robeson County’s five programs appear to have no tomorrow to save any energy or effort for, with the playoffs either a long shot or a certain miss for all of them. So when they play their respective opponents on Friday, there’s nothing to hold back. It’s especially bittersweet for the seniors, who finish the struggle of a tough season with the slightest consolation of knowing full and well that it’s their last game, and getting to play their tails off one more time for their brothers.

For Lumberton and Purnell Swett, playing a rivalry game in their finale, there’s all the more urgency to play their best and produce a strong finish.

While St. Pauls does have a postseason future regardless of Friday’s result, the Bulldogs will also be taking the mentality of leaving everything on the field; they’re playing a trophy game against Midway, a winner-take-all battle for the Southeastern Athletic Conference title. With their next game still two weeks away — as the playoffs were postponed one week by the NCHSAA to allow more time for western North Carolina areas affected by Hurricane Helene to make up games — that gives the Bulldogs that much more license to give it all they’ve got.

As each team gives their all one more time, here’s a look at who may end the regular season in the win column:

Last week: 4-1

Season: 31-5

Midway at St. Pauls

These two teams have been on a collision course since the start of the season with this Week 11 matchup looming throughout. Now it’s here, with both at 4-0 in the Southeastern Athletic Conference. In addition to the conference title, there’s major postseason seeding implications at stake with the 2A state playoffs set to begin on Nov. 15.

St. Pauls (7-2, 4-0 Southeastern) has proven over the last three years that it can score a lot of points against Midway (8-1, 4-0 Southeastern), scoring 51 or more in each of the last three seasons when facing the Raiders. While this Midway defense is better than those teams were, this St. Pauls offense has also improved, and you know Theophilus Setzer and the other Bulldog seniors will want to play a good game on senior night.

Even against a strong St. Pauls defense, Midway will put some points on the board; the wing-T is hard to stop when run as well as the Raiders do it. But the Bulldogs can match score for score and get some big stops when they need them to win this game and return to the top of the Southeastern Athletic Conference, bookending the four years of this conference alignment with titles after last winning in 2021.

St. Pauls 42, Midway 28

Lumberton at Purnell Swett

As has often been the case in recent years, there’s nothing on the line except pride as Lumberton (3-6, 0-6 United-8 Conference) meets Purnell Swett (3-6, 1-5 United-8) — and that’s reason enough to go all out in this rivalry game. The Pirates enter with a six-game losing streak, while the Rams snapped a five-game skid with last week’s win over Douglas Byrd, and still has an outside chance at a state playoff bid, though it’d require a win here and plenty of help.

It was in that game against Douglas Byrd where the Rams showed some life, outscoring the Eagles 22-0 in the second half after they had been outplayed in the first half to come from behind and earn the win. The momentum from that victory, coupled with the fact Lumberton lost to the same Douglas Byrd team the previous week, could give the Rams an edge.

Purnell Swett found itself again in the run game last week, while Lumberton is still searching for more execution on the offensive end in recent weeks. It’ll be close — Lumberton-Purnell Swett games always are — but the Rams will have the slight edge and get over the finish line for their fourth win of the season.

Purnell Swett 21, Lumberton 17

Red Springs at West Bladen

A season that I personally thought had a lot of promise for Red Springs (2-7, 2-2 Southeastern) hasn’t quite turned out that way, with the Red Devils set to fall short of a postseason berth. But a win Friday would give them a third-place finish in the Southeastern, a winning record in the league and wins in three of their last five games, something to build on into the offseason.

West Bladen (2-6, 1-3 Southeastern) is coming off its first conference win, a 40-20 victory at Fairmont, but has otherwise struggled, even falling to Clinton in the Dark Horses’ only win. The offense had a good night against Fairmont, but so has just about everyone else this fall, and they’ll find it more difficult to move the ball against Red Springs.

The Red Devils, meanwhile, will showcase their weapons one more time, with Jakelsin Mack playing his final high school game and T.J. Ellerbe looking to put a big cap on an exceptional season.

Red Springs 36, West Bladen 18

Fairmont at Clinton

In previous years, Fairmont facing Clinton for the regular-season finale saw an overmatched Golden Tornadoes team going up against a Clinton team gearing up for a state playoff run. This year, as Fairmont (0-9, 0-4 Southeastern) looks to avoid its first winless season since 2003, it comes with a comparatively easier matchup against a rebuilding Clinton (1-8, 1-3 Southeastern) which has only beaten West Bladen this fall.

The motivation factor honestly may favor Fairmont here — wanting to avoid the season-long goose egg, while the Clinton program is in an unusual position of playing games that have no standings meaning or playoff implications this time of year.

But facing a Dark Horses team that won by 28 against West Bladen, who just beat Fairmont by 20, there is still a gap between these two teams, even as it’s been a big struggle for both of them this season. The one thing Clinton didn’t do last year was win its last game — a 2A state championship game loss — but this time they’ll do so as both teams head into the winter.

Clinton 32, Fairmont 20

Sports editor Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on X at @StilesOnSports.