The high school football season’s final stretch is upon us. And while it’s hard to believe there’s just two weeks left in the regular season, its dwindling number of days mean the playoffs are quickly approaching.

For four of Robeson County’s five teams, the question of whether or not they’ll make the playoffs provides a pretty clear answer. St. Pauls will definitely be in; Red Springs, Purnell Swett and Lumberton will definitely be out, barring a substantial shift — likely an unrealistic one — over the final two weeks.

St. Pauls (6-0) is currently leading the Southeastern Athletic Conference; winning the conference title would provide an automatic bid. They’re also ranked sixth in the state’s RPI rankings for 2A East, new for this school year, which will help determine playoff seeding.

Red Springs (1-4) is 45th in 2A East, with the top 32 in projected spots to make the playoffs.

Purnell Swett (0-4) is 46th and Lumberton (1-6) is 51st in 4A East.

The one team whose status is a lot more uncertain is Fairmont (2-5), who sits at 34th entering Week 10. The Golden Tornadoes earned their second win of the season just Friday, but a strong strength of schedule — part of the RPI formula — has the team on the playoffs’ doorstep with two games left. They host St. Pauls Friday.

“I think we’ve played some really good opponents, and even though we’re 2-5, I think those five losses have really helped us grow up and mature,” Fairmont coach Lonnie Cox said after Friday’s win over Red Springs. “I think that we’re going to be competitive in these final two games. St. Pauls is going to be very well-coached, physical, athletic across the board; Midway has an unbelievable quarterback in Wyatt Holland.

“But all we can do is continue to focus on ourselves and continue to get better in all three phases of the game, and I believe we’ll have as good a chance as anybody to get into the playoffs.”

The Golden Tornadoes will be underdogs in each of their last two games, likely needing to win at least one to make the playoff field.

“(We’ll) give it our all,” Fairmont quarterback Cameron Sweat said. “We’re going to try to win these last two games; we’ll go at it in practice, focused every day, and come out on Friday nights and play hard and try to get the win.”

And while the next two weeks provide a tough two games for the Golden Tornadoes, they enter with a two-game winning streak and appear to be peaking at the right time.

While we’re here, other sports are in their stretch runs as well.

In volleyball, entering play Monday, Lumberton (4-12) is ranked 35th in 4A East and Purnell Swett (3-17) is 48th; the schools are playing in the United-8 Conference Tournament this week. Fairmont (9-10) is ranked 22nd in 2A East, with St. Pauls (7-9) near the bubble at 34th and Red Springs (1-13) at 45th, as the Southeastern Athletic Conference finishes up its regular season this week, with no conference tournament.

In boys soccer, Lumberton (14-1-1) is seventh in 4A East entering play Monday as it nears a conference title and automatic bid and Purnell Swett (11-5) is 35th; the schools meet Wednesday in the final week of the regular season before next week’s United-8 Tournament. There will not be a conference tournament in the Southeastern, and with two regular-season weeks remaining Red Springs (6-3-1) is eighth and St. Pauls (6-6) is 12th, with both positioned behind Clinton in the conference standings but in good standing to earn an at-large berth.

Pirates, Rams playing towards their own goals

While the Lumberton and Purnell Swett football teams will not be part of that late-season push to make the postseason. But that doesn’t mean the Pirates and Rams can’t have their own goals in these final weeks.

Lumberton accomplished something Friday it hadn’t in over two years, earning its first win since Sept. 13, 2019 to snap a 16-game losing streak.

While a win Friday against United-8 leader Seventy-First is unlikely, the Pirates still have a realistic chance to win two of their last three games, as they’ll host Purnell Swett in the season finale on Oct. 29.

The Rams, who are 0-4 after not playing until Week 7 due to COVID-19 protocols, may have a chance to end their season on a two-game winning streak. Purnell Swett faces Douglas Byrd Friday, who Lumberton beat 26-0 on Friday and is ranked dead last in the 3A East RPI rankings, ahead of next week’s rivalry game against the Pirates.

It may not seem like much, but if either of these teams can end the season on that kind of small hot streak, it could provide some momentum and energy going into the offseason, leading to better workouts and putting them in a better position for next season. I’ve seen it happen.