LUMBERTON — Other than copying and pasting the top two teams in the Robeson County power rankings over and over each week, the shuffling going on in the other four spots has been entertaining to follow.
Outside of the one swap the teams had two weeks ago, Red Springs and St. Pauls have gone one-two in every power ranking since the season started.
With blowout losses to three of the bottom four teams, there have been more mix-ups in this week’s rankings.
1. Red Springs
Staying on top this week is Red Springs coming off its convincing win over South Robeson on Friday. The Red Devils now hit a tough stretch this season that includes Whiteville, Fairmont, East Bladen all in a 15-day period.
There is no arguing that since the hurricane, Red Springs has done what it has needed to do against teams it couldn’t afford a slip-up against. The South Robeson game posed as a tricky matchup, but the Red Devils showed no problem dismantling the Mustangs on both sides of the ball.
2. St. Pauls
The Bulldogs rebounded well after their first loss of the season, and got its offense back up and running quickly against West Columbus with three first-quarter touchdowns.
Three Rivers Conference-leading East Bladen awaits St. Pauls on Friday in a big week for the conference with this meeting and the Red Springs meeting. Establishing its run game like St. Pauls did on Friday could go a long way in this game against the Eagles.
3. Fairmont
St. Pauls could use a showing that Fairmont put up in the second half against East Bladen this week. The 28-27 loss to the conference co-leaders bumps Fairmont from the basement to the top of the bottom four due to its ability to showcase the talented skill positions and come a missed field goal away from possibly winning the contest.
The games for the next three weeks don’t get easier for the Golden Tornadoes, but they are looking more capable now to take on those opponents.
4. Purnell Swett
The second half was something the Rams wish to erase from their memory going forward through Sandhills Athletic Conference play. Down one spot this week, Purnell Swett’s offense has had a rough go the first two weeks back from the Florence break, and now takes on a tough Jack Britt defense this week.
5. Lumberton
Frustration is mounting in Lumberton as the Pirates lost by their widest margin since the first week of the year to Seventy-First last week. The Pirates tried to alleviate the problem by switching up its quarterback situation by putting Braylan Grice on the bench, but that didn’t seem to solve much. With games against Hoke and Purnell Swett on the horizon, solving some of the problems has to happen for Lumberton soon if it wants to add to the win column.
6. South Robeson
The Mustangs had a rough week last week with a close loss to a winless West Bladen team and then a blowout loss to in-county rival Red Springs. Through it all, the running game has produced solid individual outputs, but the result hasn’t ended with a victory. This week the Mustangs can claim a playoff berth with a win over East Columbus.
