Lumberton continues to roll through region play after the Panthers won their third straight game after beating Mount Olive 36-24 last week.
In the win, quarterback Chase Toney was 14-for-20 and tossed for 162 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while also running for a touchdown. Running back Da’Byron Conerly accounted for two touchdowns and ran for 131 yards. Notably, five different Lumberton receivers recorded two or more catches.
“The major thing I was pleased with last week was how we started the ball game and how we finished the ball game,” Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner said. “We’ve got to tighten up in the second and third quarter and figure out how to play for four quarters. I thought we threw the ball really well.
“I thought we did a good job of spreading it around. I thought our defense did a really good job early of tackling and being in the right position.”
However, Lumberton (3-4, 3-0) faces a test this week as the Panthers take on Taylorsville (4-3, 3-0).
“Any time you play Taylorsville, whether it’s a region matchup or if you’re playing them in a non-division game, it’s always a big game just because of the tradition and history at that school,” Ladner said. “They have a bunch of state championships and have played for it a bunch of times. They’re always really athletic. They’re always well-coached. They have great community support.
“Whoever wins this game is going to have an inside track on playing Bay Springs for probably the division title, so whoever wins this could be either one or two in the division. You really want to win this because it sets you up to host a home playoff game for the first round.”
Like Lumberton, the Tartars overcame a slow to the year after starting 1-3, but since the start of region play, they have won three straight and most recently came away with a 48-8 win over Salem. In the last three games, Taylorsville has averaged 47 points.
On offense, Taylorsville quarterback Laza Beavers has thrown for 963 yards, six touchdowns and an interception and has rushed for two touchdowns. But the critical piece of the offense is running back Cobey Craft, who has run for 649 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
“(Craft) is a really good player,” Ladner said. “The kid runs hard, and they have built that system around him. You can tell the quarterback is a year older than when we played him last year. He’s a lot more comfortable with the system. He makes intelligent reads and gets the ball to his guys in space. They have three really good receivers that are good at catching the ball.
Like the offense, Taylorsville’s defense has also stepped up its play, as the Tartars have held teams to 9.3 points in the last three games.
“They play really hard on defense,” Ladner said. “Taylorsville is one of those places that when you say defense, that means something to those kids there. They base out of a 4-3 (front). They are gap sound, and that’s the big thing. They don’t try to do too much on defense. They are sound at what they do, and they turn their kids loose and let them play.
“The key for us this week is the line of scrimmage. When you look at skill guy to skill guy, there is not much of a difference between Lumberton and Taylorsville, but when you look at the line of scrimmage on offense and defense, we’re going to have win that battle. If we can win the line of scrimmage this week, I think that increases our chances of being in the ballgame and possibly winning the ball game if we can win the line of scrimmage.”
Lumberton goes on the road to face Taylorsville with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Friday.
