EATONVILLE – Lumberton head football coach Zach Jones had no doubt in his mind who he was going to count on to win Friday night’s season opener at North Forrest.
The Panthers were leading 12-8 with less than two minutes to play in the game and facing fourth-and-4 at the Eagles’ 39-yard line. Giving up the ball to North Forrest near midfield was not an option for Jones.
“I told the seniors on our offensive line – tight end Ahmad Dalton and (left tackle) Tyler Ezell on the left side – ‘We’re coming behind you. It’s up to you to win the ballgame for us,’” he said. “They pushed open a big hole there, Davion (Edwards) made a good run, got the first down, we were able to run out the clock and get out of here with the win.”
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Jones said there was never a question.
“Without a doubt, I knew who that was going to be on,” he said. “There was going to be a big hole there and Davion made a great run.”
Although Lumberton counted on its relentless running game to keep North Forrest off balance, the defense produced the numbers. Or for the Eagles, the lack of numbers. The North Forrest running game was grounded as the Panthers held the home team to minus-19 yards rushing on 18 attempts.
Meanwhile, Lumberton was pounding the Eagles’ defense with 257 yards rushing on 46 attempts, led by Edwards, who rushed 15 times for 132 yards and a TD.
North Forrest head coach Anthony Dillon said his defense felt the brunt of the Panthers’ ground game.
“They just wore us down,” he said. “We knew they were going to be a physical team. They just ran down on us. They alternated three different backs and just kind of got us worn down. I take my hat off to them; they are probably going to make another run for a state championship.”
Jones also complimented the North Forrest team on its effort.
“The good thing is that we are 1-0; that’s the best thing,” he said. “We got 12 (points) and they got 8. Tip your hat to Coach Dillon; he does a great job. Their numbers are a little bit low, but, man, those kids play so hard. They fought back and they gave us everything we wanted tonight.”
Lumberton took a 6-0 lead in the first half on an 11-yard pass from quarterback Jared Tribett with 4:10 before intermission. Then the Panthers added another six point with1:55 left in the third quarter when Edwards went 9 yards around left end for the score.
However, penalties stifled the Lumberton offense at crucial times.
“There were a lot of things we’ve got to fix,” Jones said. “The good thing about it is that we won and we still have things we’ve got to fix. We know we’re not perfect. I made some stupid calls tonight; a lot of it is on me. We’re going to go back and we’re going to work Monday and we’re going to fix those things. When you run the football like we do, you can’t play behind the chains. We put ourselves in a couple of bad positions. Even when we got into good positions, we got a couple of penalties that put us back.”
North Forrest’s lone score came on the biggest play of the game, when quarterback Daylyn Croom connected with Ryhen Brisco for a 63-yard scoring pass with 7:42 to play in the game.
Lumberton (1-0) hosts Bay High of Bay St. Louis next Friday at 7 p.m., while North Forrest travels to Magee.
Lumberton 12,
North Forrest 8
Score by Quarter
Lumberton 0 6 6 0—12
North Forrest 0 0 0 8— 8
SCORING SUMMARY
Second Quarter
L—Young, 11 pass from Tribett, (2-point unsuccessful), 4:10.
Third Quarter
L—Edwards, 9 run, (2-point unsuccessful), 1:55.
Fourth Quarter
NF— Brisco, 63 pass from Croom (2-point successful), 7:42.
TEAM STATISTICS
L NF
First Downs 12 7
Rushes-Yards 46-257 18-(-19)
Att-Comp-Int. 18-8-0 23-13-0
Passing Yards 58 176
Total Plays-Yards 64-315 41-157
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Punts-Avg. 4-25.5 6-38.5
Penalties 12-93 10-85
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
North Forrest: Jackson 2-13, Earl 2-(-2), Croom 12-(-30).
Lumberton: Edwards 15-132, TD; Tribett 7-44, Galloway 11-36, Fairley 9-35, Henry 2-12, Walters 2-(-2).
Passing
North Forrest: Croom 13-of-23, 176 yards, TD.
Lumberton: Tribett 8-of-18, 58 yds.
Receiving
North Forrest: 5-89, TD; Jones 2-31, Brown 2-24 Walters 1-16, Anderson 2-15, Hogan 1-12, Earl 1-1.
Lumberton: Young 6-39, TD; Buckner 1-13, Thomas 1-6.
