For the second straight season, the Lumberton Panthers will travel to a region opponent after winning the region championship. Last season it was Stringer, and this season it’s the Resurrection Catholic Eagles.
The Panthers beat the Eagles 28-22 at home in October, but now a road trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast stands in-between the Region 4-1A champs and a third straight 1A South State Championship game.
“Do I think the rules are fair? No, I don’t,” Lumberton coach Zach Jones. “Like I told the kids, we can’t control that. I’m going to say the same thing I said about Stringer. We’ll play in a cow field in the middle of nowhere, as long as we’re playing at this time. We’re just happy to be playing, and we can’t control it. It is what it is and we just have to make sure we take care of us.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Gautier high school’s football field, which is located at the high school. The winner will play the winner between Nanih Waiya and Stringer. If Lumberton wins Friday, it would host Stringer but travel to Nanih Waiya for the 1A South State Championship.
The Eagles (6-6) scored 12 points in the first quarter against Lumberton (10-2), but they only scored 10 points in the final three frames. Resurrection recorded 34 rushing yards on 31 attempts but threw for 213 yards on 14-of-32 attempts.
Vardaman, Lumberton’s first-round opponent, had only 16 rushing yards on 24 attempts, and had 189 passing yards on 13-for-35 passing. Jones was happy with his team’s defense, even with the Rams scoring in the first quarter.
“We gave up probably 55 or 60 yards on plays right before halftime,” he said. “We were kind of in a prevent defense, but no excuse. We just had to keep them out of the end zone. Overall, I was satisfied with our effort defensively. We stopped the run and made them have to throw, and nobody has really stopped them throwing the ball this year. I was proud of that.”
The trick for stopping Resurrection is the same formula the Panthers have been using all season – stop the run and make teams pass the ball, which makes the offense one-dimensional.
Senior quarterback Blake Porter has passed for 2,170 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 62 percent passing. His season-high came in a 45-39 loss to Stringer, but his second-highest total passing yards was a 288-yard performance in the loss to Lumberton.
“I think we buckled down on our pass defense,” Jones said of his team’s game against the Eagles. “We spotted them two touchdowns early, and we have to try to keep them from doing that this time. We have some things we think we can go back and change and do better, and we have to make sure we do it for four quarters and not three.”
Senior Jerry Johnson leads the offense with 770 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 134 carries, but his 50-yard game against the Panthers in October was his second least productive game of the season.
Since that game, he rushed for 185 yards against East Marion and 141 in last week’s first-round win over French Camp Academy. When the Eagles are running the ball effectively, it makes their offense hard to stop.
“We kind of held them in check running the ball last time, and we’ll have to do the same this time,” Jones said. “If we do that, we kind of know what’s coming at that point. We have to make sure we cover them for four quarters instead of three.”
Johnson’s two 100-yard performances in the last two games doubled his season total. He only had that achievement once this season – a 140-yard night against Sacred Heart – and he averaged 63 yards per game prior to the last two weeks.
“They’re running the ball a little more, which makes their pass game more effectively,” Jones said. “When they’re able to establish the run, it makes their passing game more effective.”
