On Friday night the Union Spartans hosted the North Duplin Rebels in a much-anticipated matchup, but the result was not what the Spartans had hoped. North Duplin rolled to a 49-20 victory.
The Rebels’ ground game was dominant. Senior Carnell Phillips ran for 292 yards and four touchdowns, averaging more than 14 yards per carry. North Duplin finished the night with 483 yards on the ground.
For Union, the bright spot came from senior back Tobias Cromartie, who picked up 120 rushing yards and a touchdown, marking his fourth straight game with at least 110 yards.
“We’ve got what it takes physically… now it’s mental,” Union’s head coach Mark Oates said in an interview Monday.
Oates reflected on the performance, saying he’s still searching for consistency from his group.
“Well, it sounds like a broken record,” Oates said. “Like I told you after the Lakewood game, we showed that we can play with these teams we’re playing, but we don’t do it on a consistent basis and, therefore, we keep going on with the L instead of the W. We have what it takes physically. The kids have just got to mentally buy in and believe in themselves completely and believe in the team and believe in what we’re doing and then take that next step.”
He was direct about his expectations for the group.
“As I’ve told them, we’re not into moral victories. Moral victories mean you lost the game, and we’re 2 and 6 right now, so much for moral victories.”
When asked about his team’s effort, Oates credited his offensive line and the players’ fight, but again pointed to the mental hurdle that remains.
“With the offensive line we worked the same plan the last two weeks,” Oates said. “Lakewood has some quality defensive linemen as well, and what we’ve stressed the past two weeks was getting low, just old school football, firing out low, bear crawling. I think against North Duplin we did some of it, but we didn’t do it on the level that I want the guys to do it. But as far as the fight, my guys have fight. I don’t think our guys are afraid of anybody. But like I said earlier, we just have to believe in ourselves and believe in what we’re being coached to do and actually go out and do it. We have the guys to get it done. I just think we’re at that place where we are a little bit afraid of success. We’ve got to get over that hump.”
Oates said he was proud of the physical effort his team showed, but knows the next step has to come from belief and execution.
Oates also discussed the challenge of changing a long-standing culture of losing within the program.
“For years, you know, Union has been losing,” Oates said. “When I got here two years ago, my seniors had never won a game in high school. So you have to get that out of the system.”
He said the losing streak had created a sense of complacency.
“People around them expected them to lose, and it’s taking us a couple of years to get them out of that mindset,” Oates said. “I don’t think they feel that way now. Every player on this team has come in under me with the exception of two, so for the most part these are my guys now. In the past I felt like I was coaching somebody else’s team, but I take full responsibility for these guys now, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Oates said the team’s next step is to win a game that no one expects them to win.
“If we ever win one of these type games, I don’t think anybody around here will be able to touch us. But we’ve got to prove it to ourselves that we can do it. Once we do it, we’ll keep it. That’s what we’re trying to do now, to win a game that the public doesn’t expect us to win.”
Union will look to bounce back Friday at home when they take on East Bladen. Game time 7 p.m.
For Oates, that game carries personal meaning.
“East Bladen is a quality team, a quality program. I have a lot of respect for them,” Oates said. “That’s where my coaching career began. The head coach over there and the offensive coordinator, both of them, I know very well. Robby [Priest], the head coach, was the first kid I met when I started. Coach [Lenon] Fisher was my high school position coach and my fifth-grade teacher. I love him like a father.”
Oates said he will keep those emotions out of the locker room, but knows the magnitude of the matchup.
“There will be a lot of personal emotion for me, but that’s something I will not bring to my players because they have nothing to do with that,” he said. “If we win this game, it would be one of those games I’ve been talking about that we need to win to get over the hump. It would be very special because I respect those people over there so much, so to do it against them would be special.”
The Spartans fell to 2 and 6 overall with last Friday’s loss. The defeat underscored the gap that still exists between where Union is and where they want to be, but the message from Oates was clear: belief must meet effort.