RAEFORD — First-year Lumberton football head coach Kelly Williamson said Friday’s 21-20 road Sandhills Athletic Conference loss at Hoke was a proper ending to the Pirates’ season.
“It was kind of a fitting end to the year that we’ve been through, we lost another game by one point,” he said hinting at the Westover and Jack Britt losses from his first season at the helm of the program.
Lumberton (2-9, 1-6 SAC) had chances late in the contest to give Hoke (1-10, 1-6 SAC) a second straight winless season, but it was the Bucks, playing without starting quarterback Xavier Ford that made the plays late to clinch their first win since 2016.
The Pirates, who went to the half tied with Hoke 14-all, amassed 88 yards in the second half, with 62 coming on a Jadarian Chatman touchdown run late in the third quarter.
“We didn’t play well up front. This game is won on the line of scrimmage,” Williamson said. “We just didnt play well tonight.”
Following the touchdown that cut the Hoke lead to 21-20, Lumberton went three-and-out on its next possession. In its final drive, Lumberton had two touchdowns called back on penalties in three plays, and were unable to convert on a 4th-and-23 with less than two minutes to go.
“I feel like we weren’t executing plays, and we were lackadaisical on the offensive line and in the skill positions,” senior quarterback Braylan Grice said.
The loss marks the end of a football career for Grice. He accounted for two touchdowns in the loss, along with 112 yards of total offense.
“We should’ve put it away in the first quarter because they were struggling to stop us. I guess we got too excited or something,” Grice said.
In that first quarter, the Pirates controlled the line of scrimmage on its opening drive that Grice capped off with a 4-yard touchdown dive to go up 6-0. He led the Pirates’ response later on in the first quarter as he hit fellow senior Kwashek Breeden on a short pass he took 60 yards for a touchdown to go up 14-7.
Hoke’s offense without its leader was led by running back Kyshaun Galberth. The junior scored three touchdowns and totaled 195 yards on the ground.
In other Sandhills Athletic Conference action, Purnell Swett was shut out in a 41-0 home loss to Richmond, who finished as the undefeated conference champs.
Fairmont earns shutout victory over West Columbus
CERRO GORDO — Behind two defensive scores, Fairmont defeated West Columbus 44-0 on the road Friday.
Kadeem Leonard returned a fumble for a score, and Quamek Townsend had a pick-six in the win for the Golden Tornadoes (5-6, 5-4 TRC). Jordan Waters closed out the regular season with two touchdowns on the ground, while underclassmen Dazon Ellerby and Cameron Harrington also added a rushing touchdown each.
In other Three Rivers Conference action, Red Springs closed out with a 35-12 road win over West Bladen.
