Things are finally getting on track for Lumberton as the Panthers picked up their first win in a 32-30 victory over Resurrection.
More importantly, Lumberton is off to a 1-0 start in region play and has the potential to rattle off five straight wins.
“Everything from before the Resurrection game, all of that was in the past, and you can’t go back and undo it,” Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner said. “Our young guys toughed that early schedule out, and I think it paid off because it was a tough ball game on Friday night. We ended up being the one on the winning side. Being 1-0 in the division is always a good thing.”
Looking at the next five games, opponents have a combined record of 6-17. That includes Richton, Mount Olive, Taylorsville, Enterprise and Salem, with only one team having a winning record, which is Mount Olive.
It’s worth pointing out that Mt. Olive’s record is somewhat deceiving, with their three wins coming against teams that have a combined record of 0-15. The same could be said for Taylorsville, whose three loses were to Magee, Lawrence County and Raleigh.
Regardless, Ladner is aware that his team could turn things around before having to face undefeated Bay Springs at the end of the regular season.
“It’s kind of hard not to look down the road a little bit,” Ladner said. “But you never want to get caught tiptoeing and overlooking somebody because I think we have a really tough division. I think anybody in our division is capable of pulling off an upset any week.”
The Panthers (1-4, 1-0) will now face Richton (1-4, 0-1), who lost 46-0 to Bay Springs last week.
“If we get caught overlooking Richton this week, Richton is good enough to beat us,” Ladner said. “As the coach, I’m telling our guys to focus on what’s in front of you. But behind the scenes, if we can get hot and win some two, three, or four ball games in a row, that sets us up for a favorable spot in the division.”
The Rebels’ success stems from its dual-threat quarterback Dakota Amos. Amos has tossed for 266 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, posts a 42% completion rate, and has run for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Amos’ top target is Seth Mills, who has hauled in 11 catches for 161 yards and three touchdowns.
“Watching (Amos) on film, he is a tall, lengthy kid,” Ladner said. “He’s rangy. Everything kind of runs through him. He does a really good job of distributing it around as far as the passing game. He has a very live arm. He throws the deep ball really well. He’s very much the definition of a dual-threat kid. He has wheels, and he’s got a couple of guys he can throw it to that can make plays.
“Defensively, they are kind of multiple on defense. They’ll line up in a 5-2 and 4-3 (scheme). They bounce around, so we have to understand offensively our blocking assignments, our blocking rules and our blocking scheme. They get after it and play hard. If we can get lined up right and match them, I think we have a chance to be in the ball game.”
Lumberton will host Richton, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
