HATTIESBURG – Lumberton coach Zach Jones was unhappy with his team’s start to Friday’s game with Sacred Heart, and he said that’s an understatement.
In fact, he wouldn’t say what was said in the locker room at halftime, but whatever it was, it worked because Lumberton finished strong to take down Sacred Heart 44-7.
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“I haven’t been happy all year with how we’ve started ballgames,” Jones said. “I don’t think we’ve been consistent, I don’t think we’ve been focused and that’s on me. That’s my job as head coach to get that fixed.
“We went into halftime, and I’m not going to say we made adjustments, but we had an attitude check. We had a good heart to heart and I thought in the second half we played how we’re supposed to play.”
Sacred Heart scored the game’s first points after Jackson Allen intercepted a Lumberton pass in the first quarter, then the Crusaders moved the ball 58 yards on seven plays to take a 7-0 lead.
Sacred Heart used the wildcat formation with Joseph Bishop as the quarterback to run the ball effectively. He had gains of 3,4 and 4 on the first three plays of the series to set up the pass, then junior quarterback Zach Weatherell went back behind center to complete passes of 9 and 36 to senior Paul Rowell. The latter was for a touchdown.
“We just had to find a way to get the ball in Joe’s hands,” Sacred Heart coach Lonny Schraeder said. “It worked pretty good for awhile there.”
Sacred Heart wouldn’t score for the rest of the game, but the defense held strong to keep Lumberton down to an 8-7 advantage at the break. Lumberton’s first points came midway through the second quarter when quarterback Jared Tribett found senior Donnell Buckner for a 26-yard score.
When asked what it was like in the Lumberton locker room, Jones replied, “Pretty intense.”
The Panthers started the second half with a quick three-and-out on offense, then Sacred Heart drove to the Lumberton 47 before having to punt the ball away. Once Lumberton got the ball, it never looked back.
“We played three quarters inspired,” Schraeder said. “They played their hearts out. Things happened, then it just steamed rolled and it got out of control.”
Panthers’ freshman running back Robert Henry had gains of 17 and 12 on the ensuing Lumberton possession, then after a 15-yard gain through the air to Buckner, the bruising running back Davion Edwards bowled his way through the Crusaders’ defense to score from 16 yards out. That gave Lumberton a 14-7 lead.
It wasn’t a career night for the freshman running back, but he led the offense with 86 rushing yards on 11 carries while Edwards added 45 yards and the touchdown on seven attempts.
“They’re all different, they all have things they do better and like I’ve said, we’re just going to keep rotating,” Jones said. “That’s the only thing I know to do. We’re going to keep rotating them, and if one of them gets hot one Friday night, we’ll ride him. They’re all starting to understand that role, and I think it’s going to pay off for us.”
Later in the quarter with the same score, Lumberton’s Jaden Galloway intercepted a pass and returned it for the 14-yard pick-6. On the next offensive play for Sacred Heart, Galloway forced a quarterback fumble and Jaylon Smith scooped and scored to push the lead to 30-7 quickly.
“Jaylon is the heart and soul of our team,” Jones said. “We feed off his emotion, and I thought we showed that in the second half. I thought we really got after it in the second half and played how we’re supposed to play defensively, and offensively, for that matter.”
The Panthers added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter off runs by senior Rodriqus Coleman and freshman Trevon Jessie. The scores were from 3 and 7 yards, respectively, to make it a 44-7 game.
Sacred Heart (3-5, 0-3 in Region 4-1A) will travel to Mount Olive (2-7, 1-3) Friday at 7 p.m., and Lumberton (6-2, 3-0) will host Resurrection (4-5, 3-1).
Lumberton 44,
Sacred Heart 7
Score by Quarter
Brandon 0 8 22 14—44
Petal 7 0 0 7—7
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
SH —Rowell 36 pass from Weatherell, (kick good), 6:14.
Second Quarter
L —Buckner 26 pass from Tribett, (2-point successful), 4:15.
Third Quarter
L —Edwards 16 run, (2-point unsuccessful), 3:57.
L —Galloway 14 interception return, (2-point successful), 1:24.
L —Smith 30 fumble return, (2-point successful), 1:08.
Fourth Quarter
L —Coleman 3 run, (2-point successful), 10:05.
L —Jessie 7 run, (2-point unsuccessful), 7:20.
TEAM STATISTICS
L SH
First Downs 13 9
Rushes-Yards 31-161 23-(-4)
Att-Comp-Int. 18-5-2 29-11-3
Passing Yards 88 134
Total Plays-Yards 49-249 52-130
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Punts-Avg. 3-26.3 6-22.5
Penalties 9-65 7-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Lumberton: Henry 11-86; Edwards 7-45 TD; Coleman 6-23 TD; Howard 1-9; Jessie 1-7 TD; O’banner 2-(3); Tribett 3-(-6).
Sacred Heart: Joseph Bishop 13-23; Thomas 5-8; Weatherell 6-(-35).
Passing
Lumberton: Tribett 5-for-18; 88 yds.; TD, 2 INTs.
Sacred Heart: Weatherell 11-for-29, 134 yds., TD, 3 INTs.
Receiving
Lumberton: Buckner 3-61 TD; Thomas 1-23; Young 1-4.
Sacred Heart: Rowell 4-69; Bishop 3-27; Smith 2-25; Allen 2-13.
