It’s been a rough second half of the season for Lumberton. The Panthers, at one point, had only one of their nine returning starters on defense.
However, Lumberton has now six of them entering the playoffs as the Panthers are without Blake Walters, Shavante Toney and Jonathan Edwards.
“We are still not all the way back healthy,” Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner said. “We started getting a few guys back but still have some question marks.
“We are back where we started. We are back in the playoffs. Everybody is 0-0. We still have a good football team. If we have a good week of preparation, then I like our chances. It’s a chance to take a deep breath and start over.”
In the opening round of the 1A playoffs, Lumberton takes on Sebastopol, who was a regional rival in the last two seasons.
“They do a lot of things similar to us,” Ladner said. “They run the power, the counter and the sweep. With having played them in our division the last couple of years, we are pretty familiar with them.
“It’s going to be fun to line up against somebody that we know well. Whoever executes Friday is going to be the team that wins.”
This year, Sebastopol holds a 7-4 record, having won their last three games. The Bobcats’ offense is fueled by the rushing attack duo of quarterback Makarios Michaels and running back David Williams.
“They are very similar to what they have been the last couple of years,” Ladner said. “They have two good running backs. They are playing one of them at quarterback. Michaels is playing quarterback and Williams is playing more running back.”
Michaels has thrown for just 679 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions but has rushed for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns off 171 carries. Williams has run for 158 carries on 1,325 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Sebastopol has held teams to 19 points per game while forcing 14 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries this season. Sebastopol’s defense is led by linebacker Jacob Williams, who has racked up 71 tackles, nine tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries.
“The linebacking unit is probably the heartbeat of their defense,” Ladner said. Williams is their bell cow on defense. They are bigger at linebacker than they have been the last couple of years. They kind of rally around him. We have to make sure we have him blocked every play because he is a good ballplayer.
“We can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Everything at this point, the good, bad, and mistakes, have all happened for a reason. We are at this point now that they have made us who we are, but I think at the same time we have learned some valuable lessons.”
