First Posted: 1/15/2009

LUMBERTON — Mike Brill wants to be clear about Friday’s opponent South View — the Tigers’ 2-3 record doesn’t mean anything.
“They’re not down,” Brill said. “I got three game films on the them. They’re the best team we’ve faced. They’re South View. They’re the South view of old. They’ll be the best team we face without a shadow of a doubt.”
The Priates’ offense, led by running backs Larry Parker, Craig Stephens and Maurice Lewis has averaged 43.6 points per game in its last three contests.
“They’re doing a good job for me,” Brill said. They compliment each other very well. They can’t do it without each other, because they have to block for each other. All three guys are blocking and that’s the big key for what we do. I can’t complain with them. They’re doing a good job.”
Brill said that South View doesn’t have any weaknesses.
“They got all their running backs back from last year — they’re just good,” he said. “There ain’t nothing bad to say about them. Their offensive line is fantastic, they’re just a good ball team. They don’t change, they have a program.”
Instead of worrying about the Tigers tradition and at times intimidating home venue, Brill wants his team to instead focus on themselves.
“We ain’t got nothing to lose,” he said. “Everyone is going to pick them to win by 20. We’re just going to out and have fun. Believe me when I say this — we work on us every week. We’re just going to focus on us.”

Red Springs (3-2) at South Robeson (1-3)

After five weeks of what Red Springs head coach Jonathan Harper called “no more than scrimmages,” the Red Devils travel to Rowland for Harper and South Robeson head coach Larcoy McRae’s first Southeastern conference games on Friday.
The Red Devils blew out East Montgomery last week, 36-12, but Harper expects improvement from his team.
“Right now, I think we’re an average team,” he said. “We have turnovers, we have about five fumbles a game and we don’t throw the ball very well. We just need to keep improving on our offensive line and get some kind of passing game, so that people don’t put nine in the box and take the run away from us. We could very easily be 0-4.”
Harper says the Mustangs’ big-play ability will test his defense.
they have good athletes and they fly around the field. They throw a lot of fade routes and take a lot of chances deep with the deep ball. They have a real good quarterback and they definitely could be 4-1 as easily as we could be 0-4. It’s definitely a tough game to start the conference.”

East Bladen (5-1) at St. Pauls (1-4)

St. Pauls coach Trey Sasser and his Bulldogs are happy to have their first win of the season.
However, Sasser is well aware of how quickly the mood at St. Pauls could turn sour with Southeastern Conference power East Bladen coming to town.
“Yeah, it feels good to get that first one under your belt,” the first-year coach said. “But we need to get ready for some speed and a good team. Their the class of our conference. If you want to win the conference, you’ve got to go through them. They don’t give you any overwhelming tendencies. There isn’t going to be a whole lot of trickery. They’ll tell you what they’re gonna do and then we have to stop it. That’s their style.”
Sasser believes that more than anything, his team will have to overcome East Bladen’s will.
“We need to raise our level of play,” Sasser said. “I always say we have to match or exceed our opponent. Its not that they’re size-wise all that big. But they have a tradition in our conference. They thoroughly think they’re going to win, and that’s in their favor. They believe it. It’s been passed down, that’s the culture there.”

Purnell Swett (3-2) vs. E.E. Smith (0-5)

Purnell Swett has had a rocky season. With the suspension and injury of running back Marlin Locklear, and linebacker JoJo Blanks’ ankle injury, Rams coach Mark Heil has had to fight for a 3-2 record.
With all the injuries facing his team, Heil doesn’t want spectacular