Lumberton coach Zach Jones has a difficult challenge this week. After taking down North Forrest 44-7, and only allowing a touchdown on special teams, the Panthers’ defense essentially has to prepare for two completely different types of offenses.
The Bay High Tigers used a wing-t offense early in their loss to West Harrison, then they switched to more of a spread offense with a different quarterback.
“I think it gives people problems because you’re prepared to stop the run then all of sudden they spread out. Defensively, it’s going to be hard to prepare for,” Jones said.
The Lumberton defense forced three turnovers last week while pitching the shutout. Sophomore Danarius Edwards led the defense with seven tackles and a fumble recovery, and the team collected four tackles for a loss in the win.
Despite the dominant win, Jones did see some things he wanted to be cleaned up.
“Defensively, I thought we missed some tackles that we had a chance to really put them in some binds,” he said. “We let them get a couple of first downs that we should have stopped. We played hard defensively, but I think there are some things we can coach up that will make us even better.”
It’ll be tough this week, though. Bay High, a 4A team, has numbers on the Panthers, but that didn’t stop them from beating the bigger school in 2017, 33-13. But, the Tigers have a couple of new faces on the field in this season, and it starts with the quarterback position.
They used two sophomores, Sama’j Robertson and Josh Peters, at quarterback, and both ran completely different offenses. Bay High started the game with Peters and the wing-t offense, then switched to the more athletic Robertson to get into the spread.
Neither quarterback passed for more than 70 yards, as Peters was 3-for-5 for 68 yards and an interception, but Robertson picked up 68 rushing yards on seven carries.
“I think they can use them both effectively to give people problems,” Jones said.
The Tigers had seven players record a rushing attempt, but senior Dominic Anderson led the team with 10 carries and only 28 yards. Senior Maxwell Lewis led the team in yards per carry, adding 62 yards on just three attempts.
For Lumberton’s offense, it couldn’t have had a better performance against North Forrest. Led by sophomore Robert Henry’s 180 yards, the team totaled 406 rushing yards behind eight ball carries.
“We have things to shore up, but I thought we played hard on the line of scrimmage,” Jones said. “I have to give props to those guys because I thought they played extremely hard. Our fullback Kavoris Howard blocked well, and our backs ran hard. When they got the football and there was a hole, they got in it. I think that’s the formula for a successful night.”
Lumberton is known for its running ability, but Jones has said he wants to throw it more in 2018. Due to several factors, the Panthers didn’t have to pass it last week, but Jones believes his team will have to throw it effectually this week.
“They have some big strong kids on the offensive and defensive lines and at linebacker who will be a test for us,” Jones said. “We’ll have to block well. We’re going to have to throw the football, and we feel confident in that, we just didn’t have to Friday night. Especially with it being wet, we didn’t want to turn the ball over.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Bay St. Louis.
