Patriots run past Vikings
The Vikings are having a great season under coach Bryan Till, who is in his first season at Union Pines. The Vikings Went to Southern Pines to take on the Patriots looking for their first Battle of the Pines win since 2006. The Patriots are having a great season of their own coming into Friday’s game 8-1 overall.
The Patriots and Vikings both have losses to Richmond. Until last Friday’s loss, the Vikings had been sitting in second place in the conference for most of the season with the Patriots right behind them. Union Pines were upset on the road 26-23 last week against Southern Lee dropping them to the third place. The Patriots were coming off a big win in Hoke County 46-26.
The Vikings secondary has been outstanding taking the passing game away from teams this season. We knew coming in that the Patriots would need to run the ball more, and that they did with Zymire Spencer rushing for 283 yards. Two of his touchdowns were for long runs, breaking multiple tackles on the way to the end-zone.
The Patriots defense forced a punt on the Vikings first drive, but the Vikings recovered the punt. The recovery gave them great field position in Patriot territory. They would strike first with a touchdown pass. Spencer and the Patriots didn’t take long to respond back with a long touchdown run to tie it. From then on, it was all Patriots scoring 50 unanswered points.
The Patriots finish the regular season 9-1 overall and will have a home playoff game in two weeks.
“9-1 you would think like it’s been pretty Rosy, but it’s been a little bit up and down. We started off 4-0 and we had a slip up against Richmond and just didn’t play real well. We played bad at the wrong time. I preached to them about their backs being up against the wall. That’s how they played from that game on for the last five weeks,” said Patriot Coach Eddins. “They’ve done an unbelievable job of coming out of the corner fighting and I’m just proud of them.”
The Vikings finish the regular season 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference. They will be in the playoffs and should be at home at least for the first round. The brackets will be released on the 10th.
“You saw the crowd here tonight. Our crowd shows up on game night for our boys. We have a great community. We want to play every game here if we can, but it’s definitely important for us to be here week one,” said Eddins.
And in Chatham County North Moore took a short trip to Bear Creek to take on Chatham Central for their final regular season game. They finished the season .500 at 5-5 overall with a 49-0 shutout win.
They too should get a home playoff game in the first round. Their brackets will also be released on the Sundaythe 10th.
Check back for updated rankings and brackets. Brackets and schedules can be found at mooredailysports.com
Article is sponsored by Moore County news. For news in the Sandhills, visit morecountynews.com. Written, by Curtis self. Photos and video by Curtis self. Current itself can be reached at 910-691-8394 or by mooredailysports@gmail.com
