By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
LUMBERTON – “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” is one of the oldest, most over-used clichés in the book, but it also happens to be true.
Friday night, Lumberton proved to be the tougher of the two teams on the field, as the Panthers squeezed out a 29-28 victory over Leflore County in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs at Lumberton Stadium.
Lumberton (11-3 overall) advanced to the South State finals, where it will host Region 4-1A rival Richton next Friday. Leflore County finished its season 8-4.
“I thought they were the best 1A we’ve played all year,” said Lumberton coach Zach Jones. “It’s a shame somebody had to lose this game.”
But the Panthers are still alive because they have junior standout Robert Henry on their team. Henry had a hand in all four of Lumberton’s touchdowns, scoring two rushing touchdowns and tossing two touchdown passes from the quarterback position.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Henry. “We had to come out to play hard and look where it got us. We knew we were going to have to tackle and run hard, and we did that.”
The Tigers came into Friday’s game with a streak of four consecutive shutouts. The Panthers brought that streak to an end with their first possession of the game.
The Panthers scored on their second play from scrimmage when Henry hit junior K’nylan Willis with a short pass to the left side and Willis did the rest, motoring down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown.
The Tigers, though, got their offense going via the air, after the Panthers were stopped on fourth down at the Leflore 39-yard-line early in the second quarter.
Three passes from Da’Quarionne Jones of 9 yards and 31 yards to Kerrick Ross preceded a 24-yard scoring pass to Kawique Swilley. Maurice Edwards powered in the two-point conversion for an 8-7 lead.
Henry got going on the ensuing possession, driving the Panthers 67 yards on 10 plays and getting the score on a 14-yard scamper, giving Lumberton a 14-8 lead.
That lasted all of 16 seconds, as Ross weaved through the Panthers’ kickoff coverage for what went into the books as a 77-yard touchdown. Jones passed to Emanuel Stanley to give Leflore County the lead again at 16-14.
Lumberton drove as far as the Tiger 5 late in the first half, but on third down, Henry was stopped for a 6-yard loss, and Jake Robinson was wide right on a 28-yard field goal attempt as the first-half horn sounded.
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half, but didn’t go anywhere, and the Tigers took the ensuing possession 94 yards in just five plays, the big one a 71-yard catch-and-run by Dekari Johnson for the score.
This time, though, Lumberton forced an incomplete pass on the PAT attempt to keep the score at 22-14, and that would loom big as the game went on.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” Jones said. “Every time they got down, they didn’t give up, but kept fighting, every play.”
Indeed, the Panthers got back on track after the ensuing kickoff, driving 52 yards on nine plays. Junior Trevon Jessie swept around right end for an 18-yard pickup to ignite the drive, then added runs of 6 and 5 yards to the Tiger 17.
Henry had an 8-yard run, plus a late hit put the ball at the Leflore 4-yard-line. The Tigers stopped Henry, then Jessie for no gain before Henry carried the ball inside the 1. On the fourth-down play, Henry dove over the top for the touchdown.
Lumberton went for two to get the tie, and nearly botched the play with a fumble on the snap. But senior Jayson Buckley picked up the loose ball and dashed around left end for the score that made it 22-22.
Henry gained 96 hard yards on 26 runs and completed 8 of 12 passes for 162 yards.
“He’s well now (after missing a few games with an injury late in the regular season),” said Jones of Henry. “He’s Mr. Football in 1A for a reason, and he played that way tonight.
“But our other backs – Shavante Toney, Trevon Jessie, Jayson Buckley – they had some good runs. We’ve got a lot of good skill players on this team.”
Leflore County, though, showed its mettle on the next series, taking advantage of a Panther mistake, a roughing the punter call that kept the drive alive. The Tigers cashed it in with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Ross.
But, again, the Panthers stepped up on the PAT, stopping Stanley a half-yard short on a running play.
The turning point of the game soon followed.
Buckley took the kickoff and appeared to score on a 75-yard return. But he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct – taunting, according to the officials – and assessed a 15-yard penalty from the spot, the 12-yard-line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Henry had the ball knocked out of his hands and Ivory Lampkin picked up the fumble with nothing but open field in front of him.
But Willis ran the Tiger defender down at the Panther 8, and on third-and-goal, sophomore Rodney Parker picked off Jones’ pass in the end zone.
“That was a tough play,” said Jones. “But like I tell the kids, you’ve got to keep fighting down there. Nobody can question the character of these kids. Because when it looked bad tonight, that’s when they stepped it up and played.”
Leflore County got a stop on the Panthers’ possession, the Tigers went three-and-out after they got the ball, and that’s when Jones dipped into his bag of tricks.
Starting at their own 31, Henry flipped a little shovel pass to Buckley coming through on the jet sweep, and Buckley cruised around right end for a 29-yard run. Three plays later, they ran it again, and Buckley followed his blocking all the for a 28-yard touchdown.
“We practice that every day, and today I was just feeling it,” said Buckley. “The coaches believed in me.”
“Jayson said, ‘give me the ball,’” Jones said. “And I said, ‘yes sir.’”
Because of Buckley’s earlier success on the PAT run after the fumble, Lumberton only needed to kick the conversion, and Robinson atoned for his miss on the field goal with a perfect kick, giving the Panthers a 29-28 lead with 3:40 to play in the game.
“I just had to put that behind me and go on to the next play,” said Robinson. “I knew had to come through for my team. I had to focus, keep my head down and put it through.”
The Tigers got the ball back at midfield, and got one first down, but on third down, Ross was stopped on a reverse for a 4-yard loss, and on the fourth down pass, Lumberton senior Roland O’Banner stepped in front of the pass for a game-clinching interception.
“We were in a cover-one, one safety on top and everybody else locked up,” said O’Banner. “I knew they were trying to get it to their best receiver (Johnson), and I read his eyes.”
Lumberton defeated Richton 43-6 in the two teams’ regular-season meeting on Oct. 18, but the Rebels haven’t lost since, including two playoff victories on the road.
“They’re getting after it,” said Jones. “Coach (Stephen) Rice has done a good job with that program, and they’re playing well.
“We know we’re going to get their best shot, but this time of year, that’s what you expect. I think we’ll be up to the challenge.”
GAME SUMMARY
Class 1A Quarterfinal
Friday at Lumberton
Lumberton 29, Leflore County 28
Leflore Co. 0 16 12 0 – 28
Lumberton 7 7 8 7 – 29
First Quarter
L – Robert Henry 54 pass to K’nylan Willis (Jake Robinson kick), 8:34 (2 plays/51 yards/0:45 possession).
Second Quarter
LC – Da’Quarionne Jones 24 pass to Kwaique Swilley (Maurice Edwards run), 10:18 (3/59/1:36).
L – Henry 14 run (Robinson kick), 5:14 (10/67/5:04).
LC – Kerrick Ross 77 kickoff return (Jones pass to Emanuel Stanley), 4:56.
Third Quarter
LC – Jones 71 pass to Dekari Johnson (Pass failed), 6:47 (5/94/3:30).
L – Henry 1 run (Jayson Buckley run), 2:45 (9/52/4:02).
LC – Jones 23 pass to Ross (Run failed), 0:48 (7/51/1:57)
Fourth Quarter
L – Henry 28 pass to Buckley (Robinson kick), 3:40 (5/69/1:50).
TEAM STATISTICS
LC L
First downs 12 19
Total net yards 237 334
Rushes-yards 17-29 45-172
Passing yards 208 162
Comp-Att-Int 12-20-2 8-12-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties-yards 16-79 7-55
Punts-total (avg.) 2-69 (34.5) 2-64 (32.0)
Sacks-yards 0-0 0-0
3rd down conv. 2-7 7-9
4th down conv. 1-1 1-2
Time of possession 20:25 27:35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Leflore County – Maurice Edwards 4-26, Emanuel Stanley 6-17, Dekari Johnson 1-(-2), Kerrick Ross 6-(-12); Lumberton – Robert Henry 26-96, Shavante Toney 8-40, Trevon Jessie 6-24, Rodney Parker 3-14, Team 2-(-2).
Passing
Leflore County – Da’Quarionne Jones 12-20-2-208; Lumberton – Robert Henry 8-12-0-162.
Receiving
Leflore County – Kerrick Ross 7-89, Dekari Johnson 1-71, Kwaique Swinney 2-35, Emanuel Stanley 1-10, Elgin Denton 1-3; Lumberton – K’nylan Willis 5-102, Jayson Buckley 3-60.
