The last two Friday nights have been long ones for the Marlboro County High football squad.  Due to several coaches and players testing positive for COVID-19, the Bulldogs have been in quarantine since August 23.
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 33-0 victory over Latta but just returned to the practice field on Monday.
“We are glad to be back at it.  The kids are resilient and have really missed playing, so they hit the ground running,” said head coach Bobby Collins.
While the Bulldogs might have hated sitting at home on Friday night, they were hardly alone.  Teams throughout the state are having to cancel games due to infections.
The coaches whose teams have not been hit are left scrambling to find games to play.
“I have never talked to so many different coaches during the middle of the season.  Every day I get five or six calls from schools needing games and coaches that just want another coach to help talk them off the ledge,” said Collins.
For example, the Bulldogs were supposed to open the season with Hartsville.  That game was wiped out due to the Red Foxes having to cancel.  Latta, who was available due to Cheraw having to quarantine, took the slot on the schedule.
The Bulldogs then had to cancel the Cheraw and Scotland games.  During their pause, Region 6-AAA members voted to move all region contests up in the schedule.  Marlboro County would face Manning at home on September 10.
Last week, the Monarchs went into quarantine, so that game had to be moved to the end of the region games.  However, Scotland County was available because their scheduled opponent would not be able to play.
So, the Bulldogs will return to action Friday against their old border rival.  They will open region play next Friday at Crestwood, then host Lakewood for homecoming.
“That is the plan, at least.  I’d write it on the calendar with a pencil, though,” said Collins.

Scouting the Scots
Scotland County is off to a 2-1 start to the 2021 season.  They opened the year by blowing out Northern Durham, 52-0.
The Scots struggled offensively in a 24-7 loss to Wilmington area power Hoggard but rebounded for a 40-6 victory over Cary High School last Thursday night.
Senior running backs R.J. Nicholson and Jatavious McKayhan are the focus of the offense.  Nickolson rushed for 110 yards and pair of TDs against Cary.  McKayhan gained 60 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore Carter Revelle is still settling in at the varsity starting quarterback.  He had his best game of the year last week, passing for 194 yards and three scores on 12 of 16 passing.
The Scots like to utilize the run-pass option play to drive their offense.
The Scotland County defense is tough, led by senior end Nick Hough and linebackers Ladarrius McNeil and Messiah Revels.  McNeil had one of the three interceptions the Scots registered last week.

The series
The Bulldogs and Scots battled evenly for years but as the enrollment at Marlboro County High has fallen, so has the success against the Scots.
The Scots have an overall 16-12 advantage in the series, but have won 7 of the last 8 meetings.  The most recent Marlboro win was a 41-25 triumph in 2018.  Due to the pandemic, the teams did not play last year.

Tee it up
The teams will face off Friday night at McAlpine Stadium.  Kick off is set for 7:30.