The off week didn’t slow down the Lumberton Panthers last week in a dominant 52-12 win over Mount Olive. The win gave the Panthers a good start to region play, but things get a little harder this week when East Marion comes to town.
“I was proud of our kids,” Lumberton coach Zach Jones said. “We went out and took care of our business. We didn’t mess around and we got the job done. We gave a lot of guys some playing time, so in that aspect, it was a good game.”
As Jones said all offseason, Lumberton can throw the ball successfully. It didn’t have to through the first few games, but senior quarterback Jared Tribett is completing 68 percent (15-for-22) of his passes for 264 yards, and thrown three touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last two games.
Friday, Tribett was effective. He completed 6-of-8 passes for two scores. Senior Daylan Young is benefiting the most, too. He has eight receptions for 253 yards and two touchdowns through fives games, but he has five grabs for 160 yards with the two touchdowns.
“I told you we could throw when we had to, and it’s something we’ve been working on,” Jones said. “We feel like we had to get better at it. Really, the last two ballgames we’ve thrown and caught the ball better. If we keep doing that, it makes us harder to stop on offense.”
This week, East Marion comes to town for Lumberton’s homecoming game. It’s not a distraction for Jones and his coaches, but he did say there’s “hoopla” of spirit week and his players can’t lose focus because it’s not a typical “homecoming week” team coming to play in the game.
“We have a big division game Friday night that we have to get ready for, whether it’s homecoming or not. It’s not a successful homecoming if you don’t win,” Jones added.
The Eagles roll into town with a less-than-impressive 2-3 overall record, but they’ve played a tough schedule. Their three losses came from teams with a combined 14-2 overall record, but the two wins have come against a winless Amite County team and a 1-5 Salem squad.
Jones says East Marion’s record is deceiving, though.
“They have played some good teams and they have some good players,” Jones said. “Their quarterback is one of the best players in this district. He was a handful for us last year and everything kind of revolves around him. We’re going to have to be sure we keep a check on him, because he can throw it and run it."
Junior Devin Daniels is a dual-threat quarterback who’s second on the team in rushing, and he has 842 passing yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions on 54 percent passing.
The Eagles are throwing the ball more this year, too, which is different than prior seasons, with 98 passing attempts to 126 rushing attempts. Senior Wanya Cook leads the offense with 230 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, and senior Flenard McLin II has six touchdowns and 315 receiving yards on 16 receptions.
“Everything kind of goes through (Daniels),” Jones said. “They have some run-pass option stuff and they have some guys who can catch it and run when they catch it. They have a big back they can hand it to, and he’s also one of their big guys on defense. They are balanced and that’s going to present some problems. Not only do we have to stop the run, but we have to stop the pass, too.”
Defensively, East Marion has only given up two points in the two wins, but it’s allowed an average of 35 points in the three losses.
