Luke Davey's pick-six sealed the win for Sacred Heart as they rallied back to beat Lumberton 17-7 to improve to a perfect 8-0.
The eight victories tie the most wins for the program, and it also marked the first time in Sacred Heart history that the Crusaders had beaten the Panthers.
Davey's came with less than a minute left in the game as he intercepted the ball at the 48-yard line and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.
"One receiver came inside, Chris Posey called out the wheel route, and I saw the ball coming," Davey said. "It was right there, and I took it back to the house."
It was a defensive-led game by both teams from the start, with each side going three-and-out on their opening drives of the game. On the second possession for Sacred Heart, the Crusaders took advantage of a short field yielded by a short punt by the Panthers and drove down the field into the red zone. However, Lumberton's defense held firm and forced Sacred Heart (8-0, 3-0) to a chip shot field gal inside the 10-yard line to give the Crusaders a 3-0 lead.
The Panthers tried to respond on their next drive, with Panther quarterback Lathen Bowens leading his team into the red zone. But the Crusader defense held strong and forced a turnover on downs after Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner elected not to kick a chip shot field goal to tie the game at three.
The decision not to kick and the stop proved pivotal later in the game.
"We have said this since the beginning of the year; when our defense plays, they will give us a chance to win," Sacred Heart head coach Ed Smith said.
Even with the solid defensive effort by the Crusaders, the offense struggled to find its life after the field goal. They went three-and-out at the goal line to give Lumberton a short field.
The Panthers made the Crusaders pay when Bowens picked his way through tacklers on his way to the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown run late in the first half to put Lumberton up 7-3. Bowens had an excellent first half for the Panthers. He was 5 of 8 with 24 yards passing and 49 yards rushing with a touchdown in the first half.
Micah Sayles picked off Crusader quarterback Kyron Murphy off the endzone with a minute to go in the second quarter. The interception denied Sacred Heart any points before halftime, giving the Panthers a 7-3 halftime lead. Murphy was just 1 of 7 with 18 yards and one interception.
The second half started with Sacred Heart recovering a fumble on the kickoff by Lumberton, which set up the Crusaders with a short field.
Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, the Crusaders could not do anything with the fumble because Murphy threw an interception three plays later to Tylan Sibley to give the ball right back to the Panthers.
The Panthers gave the ball right back to the Crusaders when they fumbled it three plays later.
Murphy led his squad on a 12-play drive down to the five-yard line after relying heavily on Crusader running back DJ Booth, who handed the ball to him eight times on the drive.
Booth had a solid outing for the Crusaders tonight, totaling 96 yards on 26 carries. But Sacred Heart failed to convert again in the red zone, marking the second time they came away with zero points after Murphy's fourth-down pass was incomplete late in the third quarter.
But Sacred Heart's defense forced another punt by Lumberton to give the ball back to their offense. The punt was short, and Sacred Heart got the ball on the Lumberton 42 with five minutes left to try and drive to take the lead.
This time, Murphy came through. After a big rush by Booth down to the red zone, Murphy found Gary Duckworth for a 16-yard go-ahead touchdown pass on third and three to give the Crusaders a 10-7 lead with just over two minutes to play.
"[Murphy] made the plays when he had to make him," Smith said. "This is really his first year of playing. We are eight games into it, and that's by far the fastest team and biggest team he's seen. I thought he did a great job of adjusting to it."
Murphy finished the day going 4 of 13 with 45 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Lumberton (4-4, 2-1) got the ball back with just over two minutes to go down 10-7. Bowens got a first down with his legs to move the ball past midfield.
A critical holding call moved the ball back across the 50-yard line, and Bowens had to try something fancy with the ball, which led to Davey's interception.
Had Lumberton kicked that field goal earlier in the game, they would not have had urgency to move the ball and try and force passes like the one that had gotten picked.
"We still had chances," Ladner said. "They held on to the ball offensively, got first downs. We stopped them a lot; I'm proud of our defense effort tonight. Sacred Heart kept it close and took advantage of late opportunities.
For Sacred Heart, this win moves them into a solid first place in the division with a comfortable cushion.
"These guys just play together," Smith said. "It's a different guy every week who's making the plays at the right time. I've never been around a group of guys that love each other, and play for each other, and play together as a team as much as these guys do."
Sacred Heart will return home to face Resurrection Catholic next week, while Lumberton travels to face Salem.
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