As has been said, an expert player will scout what other guy is doing. The only way for him to be "surprised by a scout rush" is if he lost scout to the other's TC. Even in this case, the expert will have a minimum sense of judgement and the moment he realises enemy is going land he will take the precautions.Player A is an expert player and Player B is only a barely decent player.
A and B decide to play 1v1 Continental. A decides to go for a grush. B predicts the grush and ups earlier and does a scout rush and defeats A. In this situation, who is the better player?
In any case, sea control is crucial, sea eco overpowers land eco in aoc.