What would be the effect on their will to continue working hard after losses by scores of 55-18 to Terry Sanford and 57-0 to Scotland County the last two Friday nights?
“That’s something that amazed us,” Adams said after Wednesday’s practice. “After two games of being pounded into the ground, we came out Monday expecting to drag people out of a state of depression. We had better attendance, better attention and better application to detail. This has been the best week of practice we’ve had all year long.”
Who can figure, especially considering that tonight’s 7:30 p.m. opponent at home is Richmond County (5-0), the second-ranked 4-A team in the state. Union Pines (0-6) has an open date, while in another 7:30 p.m. contest North Moore (4-1) travels to Chatham Central (3-3) in a Yadkin Valley Conference tilt.
The Patriots (1-3) have lost three straight since defeating Union Pines in their opener.
Adding to the mix of the Mid-Southeastern Conference affair is the fact that Adams and offensive line coach James Gandy were assistant coaches at Richmond last year. Five other Patriot assistants are former Raider players.
“At least on the surface,” Adams said, “our players are anxious to play this game. Maybe it’s like some of the people that fought Muhammad Ali. If I can show you I can go four rounds, it shows I’m made of something. If that’s what it is, that’s a growth thing. It means they aren’t afraid.
“I think they’ve kind of gotten on the same page as us. If we can go out and play two or two and a half good quarters, it will show them that we’re on the rise, that we’re getting better. It’s almost like right now, we’re where we’d like to be if we were starting the year.”
The Patriot coach has told his players not to expect anybody to call off the dogs if the going gets rough against the Raiders.
“There are all kinds of reasons for them to pound us and put us back in our place,” Adams said. “But I don’t think they can beat us bad enough to break our spirit.”
The Patriots are led by the running of senior Dereck Wike with 676 yards on 81 carries and eight touchdowns. Norman Whitley leads the Raiders in those departments with 617 yards on 71 attempts and six touchdowns.
North Moore returned to its MO of winning close games last Friday after suffering its only loss to South Stanly two weeks ago.
The Mustangs overcame a 19-6 deficit in the 20-19 Homecoming win over South Davidson, as Will Latham and C.T. Montjoy hooked up for two second-half touchdown passes.
