Lumberton continues to head in the right direction after the Panthers picked up its second straight win after defeating Richton 20-13 last week.
Quarterback Chase Toney pulled together one of his most efficient games as he was 15-for-20 and threw for 143 yards and a touchdown, while running back Da’Byron Conerly ran for 6o yards and two touchdowns. However, Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner was most impressed with his defense as it recorded six sacks and forced three turnovers in the win.
“I thought our defense played as good of a game as they have played all year,” Ladner said. “They came up with some huge stops. Our offense sputtered a little bit but hats off to Richton. They schemed us well. Our kids were resilient and just played ball.
“Our guys are getting more consistent. Our guys are executing plays on a more consistent basis. We are blocking better up front. We are getting more comfortable on defense with our calls and with the roles guys are being asked to play. Consistency is the biggest thing from being 0-4 and winning the last two games.”
Lumberton (2-4, 2-0) will hope to stay unbeaten in region play as the Panthers take on Mount Olive. The Pirates (3-2, 1-1) suffered a 40-14 loss to Taylorsville last week.
“(Mount Olive) ran into a really good Taylorsville team last week,” Ladner said. “They are a Wing-T on offense and use the power run. They are going to come right at you, and they are going to be physical and hit you in the mouth. We just have to be ready to step up. If we don’t play well, we could look up and be in trouble.
“They are well coached and are always sound at what they do. Particularly on the defensive side of the ball.”
The Mt. Olive offense has averaged 22.8 points per game, while its defense has allowed an average of 21 points per game. Each side of the ball is centered around Malichi Mickel. The junior leads the team on offense as he has run for 557 yards and five touchdowns, while on defense, he leads the with 22 tackles and five tackles for loss.
“Their bell cow on both sides of the ball is no doubt Malichi,” Ladner said. “He’s the guy that gets them going on offense. They rally around him on defense. He is one of the better players in our division. He’s a guy that we are going to have our hands full on both sides of the ball on Friday night. We have to know where he is lined up. Is he at fullback, tailback, or is he at halfback? Defensively we have to know if he’s at inside linebacker or outside linebacker. We have to do a good job of making sure, I’m not going to say stop him, but we have to know where he is at. He is good enough to where he can keep them in any ball game.”
Lumberton goes on the road Friday to face Mt. Olive with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
