PEMBROKE — The gauntlet continues for Purnell Swett this week.
After consecutive losses to Richmond, ranked No. 1 in the 4A Adjusted MaxPreps Rankings, No. 3 Scotland and No. 12 Pinecrest, the Rams host No. 11 Jack Britt at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The Buccaneers (5-2, 1-2 Sandhills Athletic Conference) come to Pembroke coming off a 59-28 loss to top-ranked Richmond and are two weeks removed from a 48-7 win at Lumberton. The Rams enter the game winless on the season (0-7, 0-3 SAC).
“The challenge is week to week,” Purnell Swett coach Robbie Brown said. “Our opponent this week is Jack Britt; they’re one of the better teams in the conference. They’re up there with Scotland and Richmond — haven’t beaten them, but played with them for a while and played them as good as anybody’s played them. So that’s the challenge — if we can play with them we can play with anybody. So it’s a week to week thing for us.”
Jack Britt senior quarterback Kevin Sentell is passing for over 200 yards per game this season and has completed 60 percent of his passes, with 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Senior receiver Anthony Fiffie has caught 13 of those touchdowns, with 44 catches for 662 yards on the year.
The passing game is the key cog for the Buccaneers offense, who rushes for just 115.9 yards per game.
“The biggest thing with the passing game is we’ve got to keep everything in front of us and not let anything behind us; that’s kind of a basic rule,” Brown said. “It’s something that we need to pay close attention to, obviously.”
Offensively, the Rams have struggled throughout the season, averaging 3.6 points per game with four shutouts. They’ll be facing a Buccaneers defense that has struggled against some of the top offenses in the state but has been otherwise solid.
“We’ve done some things a little different this week, some things they haven’t seen on film,” Brown said. “The bottom line is we’ve got to execute. I think that’s been one of our problems in the past is execution. You can have the best scheme in the world, but if you don’t execute it, it’s no good. So execution is our biggest thing, and obviously no turnovers offensively.”
Brown concedes that the Buccaneers will have the size advantage over the Rams, only adding to the challenge of facing them.
“They’re really stout on both sides of the ball, which is a concern, because we’re outweighed on both sides of the ball, so we’ve got to contend with that,” Brown said.
In addition to facing a top-15 team, the Rams have additional motivation to make a good showing in Friday’s game, as it is Purnell Swett’s homecoming game.
“The kids want to make a good showing on homecoming, obviously, and of course we do too,” Brown said. “That’s one of the motivating factors; it’s homecoming and we want to give the crowd a good show.”
Friday marks the fifth all-time meeting with the schools. Jack Britt has won three of the previous four meetings, including a 20-10 victory last year. Purnell Swett’s lone win in the series came in 2016.
