A dominant rushing attack lifted North Forrest past Lumberton 52-21 in a statement road victory on Friday as the Eagles moved to 2-0 for the first time since 2010.
North Forrest fell 7-0 early but scored 30 unanswered points to pave their path to victory.
"I'm just really proud of our guys," North Forrest coach Todd Lowery said. "They came out with fight and started the game being physical. That's what I have been asking of them, and they did it this week, and they did it tonight. Had some bad things go away from us early. We got down. But that's the one thing I have been waiting on (which) is to see how we would handle adversity."
Adversity struck almost immediately for the Eagles when they fumbled the opening kickoff. Lumberton capitalized instantly on a 4-play, 28-yard drive. The Panthers capped off the drive when quarterback Chase Toney found Corderi Burnett for a 29-yard touchdown pass, which made the score 7-0 in the game's opening minute. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for Lumberton to seize control of the early momentum but that proved to not be the case.
"We came out the gate started hot," Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner said. "I kind of thought that was going to help us ride a little bit of momentum early. Maybe get some stops and keep scoring. Then, I don't know what happened. It's like the lightbulb went off, and we couldn't find a way to turn it back on."
The Eagles responded by scoring 30 unanswered points and ultimately controlled the game. Running back Cephus Pruitt scored the first of his three touchdowns in the first quarter on a 19-yard run. The Eagles took the lead 8-7 on the successful two-point try and never looked back for the rest of the game.
After forcing a punt, North Forrest scored on a 38-yard touchdown run by Davion Young. Young bounced off three tackles before barreling his way into the endzone. The two-point try was good, making the score 16-7. After a three and out by Lumberton, North Forrest quarterback Dalton Watson found Jaydan Varnado for a 49-yard gain down to the one, followed by a second touchdown run by Pruitt to push the lead to 22-7.
The Eagles scored once more in the first half on an 8-yard touchdown run by Barry Martin Jr. to extend the lead to 30-7 at halftime.
"Last year, my first year here, anytime we were down, their whole attitude was beat," Lowery said. "And to see them not hang their head and just trust what we are doing, trust the process, their coaches and everything that we have been preaching, That's huge for this program because we're such a young group.
"I'm just really proud to see that growth from Week 1 to Week 2."
The second half had the same flow. Lumberton's Lathen Bowens returned the kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown to open the second half. The Panthers also converted the two-point conversion to make the score 30-15 to suddenly make it a two-possession game.
North Forrest did not blink as it took them two plays to answer on a 48-yard touchdown run by Martin to put the Eagles back on the scoreboard at 38-15
Pruitt, who finished the night with 82 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries, scored on the ensuing drive, this time from 57 yards to make the score 44-15.
"He's just a heck of an athlete," Lowery said. "The awesome thing about it is that he's a hard worker. He's gifted, obviously, but he works hard and shows up every day. I'm so proud of him."
Overall, North Forrest had 285 rushing yards, with all their touchdowns coming from the ground.
North Forrest will return home to host Purvis next week, while Lumberton will host West Marion.
