Scotland football sees season end at Havelock | Laurinburg Exchange

HAVELOCK —The Fighting Scots football team was eliminated from the 3A NCHSAA state playoffs on Friday night with a 57-21 loss at the hands of top seeded Havelock. Scotland ends their 2024 season with a 7-6 overall record while the Rams march on in the postseason with a 12-1 mark on the year.

The game started as a shootout with the Scots finding the endzone on their opening series to take an early 7-0 lead. Havelock wasted no time, answering right back with a 78-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen Hewitt to Jonathan Williams before the pair connected again on their next possession for another touchdown pass from 31 yards out to go up 14-7. Ji’San McPhatter then threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 14 after one quarter.

The next score didn’t come until about four minutes remained in the half with Jalen Morgan getting a short touchdown run to give Havelock the lead back before the Scots quickly responded with a 60-yard touchdown run of their own. Morgan got another short touchdown run right before the break to put the Rams up 27-21 at the break.

Havelock then blew the game open in the third frame, scoring 23 total points. Lebron Sharpe had two touchdowns himself with a safety thrown into the mix. Morgan got his third rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to put the cherry on top of a convincing Rams victory.

This was the second consecutive season the Scots have made it to the third round of the state playoffs, having been eliminated by Northern Nash a season ago. It was a matter of getting hot at the right time for Scotland as they went 5-5 in the regular season, obtained the No. 24 seed in the east region of the bracket and then beat a pair of familiar opponents in the first two rounds in the form of conference rival Union Pines and Terry Sanford.

For Havelock, they continue their dominant season that hasn’t seen them lose a game since Sept. 20 as they stretch their winning streak to nine with the victory. They have outscored Westover, Western Alamance and Scotland by a combined score of 169-42 in their three playoff games. The Rams will now meet No. 12 seeded Jacksonville, who advanced with a 28-14 win over No. 13 Cape Fear, in the fourth round of the tournament next week.