No. 10 Scotland loses 58-55 off Hail Mary by No. 7 Terry Sanford in second round of playoffs

Nov. 11—FAYETTEVILLE — When it rains, it pours.

A wet and muggy Thursday night at Bill Yeager Field in Fayetteville, was where the No. 10 Fighting Scots (7-5) would lose 58-55 off a 35-yard Hail Mary pass by the Terry Sanford Bulldogs (10-2), ending the Scots' season in the second round of the NCHSAA 3A playoffs.

With two seconds remaining in the game, Terry Sanford quarterback Jaylen Wright threw the ball to the end zone, but the pass would be tipped by two Scots defenders, before being hauled in by Terry Sanford receiver Patrick Shook.

"It's tough to lose like that on the last play of the game," Scots head coach Richard Bailey said, after the game. "Two seconds (left), you (wonder), why couldn't it run out on the play before that? You know, the ball kind of goes through our hands right then. It's just, we couldn't stop them."

With 2:17 left in the game, Scots running back Zay Jones (30 carries, 323 yards) rushed in for one of his five touchdowns on the night, but Bailey felt too much time was left for the Bulldogs to score.

"I knew as soon as Zay scored, we left too much time." Bailey said. "I was like, gosh, we left too much time on the clock. I've seen it too many times, and I thought we had them on fourth down. They had their backup quarterback in, he threw a heck of a ball. But, that kid made a great play. We put "Duke" (Izeem Graham) in there for one play, and granted, he was the cornerback, the ball was in the middle of the field, but he got over there and actually, kind of, had a chance; kind of tipped it and the ball went right to the other guy."

The Scots started the game with momentum from back-to-back touchdown plays; a 57-yard run by Jones and an 80-yard touchdown from receiver Cadyn Graves (four catches, 140 yards, two touchdowns).

However, when Terry Sanford returned the ensuing kickoff from Graves' touchdown, Scotland kicker Charlie Gross would go down on the field, in what was described as a "lower leg injury."

He was transported to a local area hospital and is set to have surgery Friday morning, according to the "Scots Football" Twitter account.

From there, the Bulldogs would score back-to-back scores of their own to give them a one-point lead at 15-14, after a two-point conversion off their first touchdown.

Jones scored twice more to give the Scots a 28-15 lead, but the Bulldogs continued to battle back, going up 29-28.

Right before halftime, however, Scotland quarterback Carter Revelle (5 of 8, 191 yards, three touchdowns) would find Graves for another score. A two-point attempt afterwards would be no good, however, putting the Scots up 34-29 at the half.

The second half featured much of the same offensive firepower from the first half, but didn't start well for the Scots.

An onside kick by Scotland to open the third quarter would be recovered by Terry Sanford.

"We just ran away from it," Bailey said. "We talked about it all week."

And, even though the Scots defense would be able to hold the Bulldogs to a rare punt on the night, the Scots offense would start their next drive pinned at their own goal line after a miscue on special teams. A bad snap, then, forced Jones to catch the ball and try to make a play, but he would be brought down in the end zone for a safety.

Although the Scots didn't turn the ball over throughout the game, Bailey feels the safety counts for one.

"To me, that's a turnover," Bailey said. "That was a killer. One, we put two people deep on punts so that wouldn't happen, then, nobody got it, and the ball goes down at the one-yard line. We get two consecutive bad snaps that are high, there's nothing we can do. Just unfortunate."

The Scots and Bulldogs exchanged scores back-and-forth six more times in the second half, before the eventual game-winner by Terry Sanford.

The Scots finished with 48 offensive plays for 550 total yards. Jones rushed for 1,001 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in the final four games of the season for the Scots.

Bailey praised the Bulldogs after the game, explaining how they gave his team a battle.

"Hats go off to Terry Sanford, they did a great job," Bailey said. "They had a great game-plan, great offense; we knew that coming in. They did a great job executing."

Terry Sanford's 58 points are the most scored against the Scots since 1974, when Reid Ross put up 53 points on the Scots.

Scotland finishes their season with a 7-5 overall record and a 4-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference mark. And, after a devastating finish to the season, Bailey felt for his team.

"It's heartbreaking," Bailey said. "These guys have put a lot of time and effort into this football program. A lot of running, lifting in the off-season. You feel for these guys. It's tough. I just hurt for all of the seniors."

A season recap article will be in the Laurinburg Exchange within the coming days on the Scots' season.

Additional reporting from Deon Cranford