The Lumberton Panthers did what they had to do last week to advance to the second round of the 1A playoffs.
Senior Jared Tribett had two passing touchdowns, sophomore Robert Henry and junior Davion Edwards had big days rushing the ball, and the Panthers’ defense held Leake County to just six points in the 38-6 win.
Henry had a career night, too, rushing for 271 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, and Edwards added 137 yards on the ground and a score on seven attempts.
“I thought (Henry) ran like a grown man Friday night,” Lumberton coach Zach Jones said. “Him and Davion both just split it up. We were very efficient offensively. I thought we played well, I thought we ran well and I was really happy with how we played.”
Now, the Panthers face familiar foe East Marion Friday night in Lumberton. The Eagles will get another crack at Lumberton after losing 34-8 in late September. There are positives and negatives to playing a team twice in one season, according to Jones.
Lumberton has played a region opponent in the second round the last two years, too. It defeated Stringer in 2016 and lost to Resurrection a year ago.
The second-round contest with East Marion is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kick.
“I think it’s beneficial on both sides because you’re familiar with each other,” Jones said. “We beat them the first time, but that game doesn’t really matter. It’s out the window. They’re a different team than they were then and we’re a different team than we were then. There are some familiar things with it, but they’re much improved and we feel like we’re improved, too, so I think it’ll be a different ballgame.”
Since the loss to Lumberton, the Eagles have won five of the last six games, only losing to Stringer 30-18 three weeks after the loss to the Panthers. East Marion is scoring nearly 40 points per game, too, and the defense is holding opponents to 14 points with three shutouts pitched.
“They’ve kind of changed things up defensively,” Jones said. “They’ve kind of found their rhythm, so to speak, offensively. They have some confidence and I think they’re a dangerous football team.”
Defensively, East Marion switched to a four-man front compared to a five-man front it was running earlier this season, Jones said. As a team, the Eagles have 28 tackles for a loss, 32 sacks, 14 interceptions and 16 fumble recoveries.
“To me, they’re tackling better and I think that fits them a little better,” Jones said. “The defensive line and linebackers play downhill and they cover well, so it’ll be a challenge for us.”
On offense, senior Wanya Cook leads the offense with 13 touchdowns and 804 rushing yards on 82 carries, and junior quarterback Devin Daniels adds 571 rushing yards and 12 scores on 93 attempts. Daniels also has 1,656 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 60 percent passing.
“They throw it and run it, but you have to gang tackle the big running back,” Jones said. “They have a couple of other backs besides him who are a little faster, so it’s a good 1-2 punch for them. The quarterback can throw it and he can also run it, so you have to account for him at all times.”
