It’s been 16 years since Lumberton last hosted its rival Purvis.
“There’s a little buzz around town that we’ll actually get to play at home this year, and we’re excited,” Lumberton coach Jonathan Ladner said. “Our kids are excited, and our community is excited. It just feels like the way a rivalry is supposed to.”
However, the Panthers have lost three previous meetings, with Purvis leading the series with an all-time record of 35-45-6.
“Coach Ladner does a great job,” Purvis coach Brad Hankins said. “There is a lot of tradition down there. It’s going to be a dogfight, and I don’t care if it’s 1A, 4A, 6A. When you start rivalry games, you can throw everything out the door. It’s going to be a ballgame for sure, a barnburner.”
Last year, the Tornadoes emerged victorious with their star running back Moses Cummings rushing for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Cummings went on to rush for nearly 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns.
“The last couple years, I’ve kind of felt like we’ve been at church,” Ladner said. “The linemen are the Red Sea, and they part when Moses crosses on dry land. We’re hoping that we can stop them.
“I don’t know if you can say that you stop him. I think we have to limit him. I think the big thing is limiting his explosive plays. He’s going to get his. He’s just that good, but I think the thing that we have to focus on this year is that we can’t give up 10, 15, 20 or 30-plus yard plays. Moses is a special kid. We are going to focus on us this week and make sure our guys are in place.”
However, according to Hankins, one of the biggest problems that the Tornadoes had problems with their blocking in last week’s jamboree.
“We have to sustain blocks,” Hankins said. “That’s the big thing. We didn’t’ do very a good job of that on Friday night. We have to sustain the blocks and stay with those blocks so we can give Moses some gaps that he can run through. He is our cash cow. Everybody that is going to show up the ball game knows he is going to get the ball.”
Although Lumberton returns plenty of starters from last year, the Panthers are different since Lathen Bowens took over as the team’s quarterback midway through the season. Bowens threw for 1,010 yards and 10 touchdowns and ran for 1,126 yards and five touchdowns.
“You’re going to have to make sure that you are responsible for his legs, but when you get to loading the box in there, he throws the football well enough that they can get by you in a heartbeat,” Hankins said. “It’s definitely going to be a test for us to keep him contained and then try to cover the pass with the skill guys that they have.”
At the same time, Ladner emphasized that his team will need to take advantage of its opportunities on offense.
“(Purvis) is one of those places that’s always going to be tough against the run just because they have hard-nosed kids,” Ladner said. “We are going to have to do a better job of taking what they give us. They are unique because they are so multiple on defense.
“If we get the guys that are our playmakers the ball in space, but that’ll be tough.”
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