Southern Lee – Union Pines Preview
The Southern Lee Cavaliers (5-2, 2-0) will go on the road this Friday night to face Union Pines (5-3, 1-1) in a Tri-County 3A Conference matchup. The Cavaliers come into the Friday night game 2nd in league scoring at 30.6 ppg and 3rd in league scoring defense at 17.7 ppg. Union Pines is scoring 22.1 ppg and gives up 27.3 ppg defensively. Southern Lee is ranked 41st among the 109 3A teams in the state while Union Pines is ranked 66th by Maxpreps.
When Union Pines Has the Ball
Tyreek McKoy is the best Viking weapon on the ground and will challenge the Cavalier run defense this Friday. McKoy is a 200-pound back that will be the focus of Southern Lee rushing defense. QB Rory Board has proven he can move the Vikings through the air and will look for top receiver Jacob Bowbliss as his #1 target. The Vikings are improved at the line of scrimmage and it should be a good battle up front in this one.
When Southern Lee Has the Ball
Deandre McAllister is off to a good start in replacing injured QB Thomas Harrington and will need to continue to provide quality play to help Southern Lee. Tanoah Lockley is the Cavaliers best offensive option, although Rodney Ingram, Keshaun Mays and cast will provide hard running for Southern Lee. Southern Lee has been opportunistic with a +14 turnover margin and that has provided additional scoring opportunities for Southern Lee.
Intangibles
Although both teams could and should make the playoffs, this could well be a game that will determine a playoff spot for one of these two teams. Union Pines will be at home, which is always an advantage and the Vikings seems poised to position themselves to play postseason. This is the best offensive and defensive lines the Vikings have had in a while which makes this game interesting. Southern Lee has been tremendous defensively for the last 5 games and have made it tough for opponents to run the ball. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage the best will win this one – barring turnovers – and this could go either way. Daniel Pisano gives Southern Lee an advantage in the kicking game which could prove to be the difference in Friday’s game.