RED SPRINGS — The last time the Lumberton football program started a season with three straight wins, its current players were in elementary school.

After Thursday’s 49-14 win over Red Springs, the Pirates are 3-0 for the first time since 2014, doing so with dominant wins in each of the three contests.

“It’s a great start for us,” the Pirates’ first-year head coach Taurius Baker said. “Our kids aren’t satisfied, the staff’s not satisfied, we’ve got a lot of things to clean up. Good team that we played out here, great athletes, so I’m very pleased.”

Lumberton has outscored the opposition 125-14 through its first three games. It’s the first time the Pirates have scored 125 points or more in any three-game span since 2011, and the first they’ve allowed 14 total points or less in any three-game stretch since 1986.

After a 19-game losing streak spanning from 2021 through the first seven games of the 2023 season, Lumberton has won five of its last six games, something the program hasn’t done in any six-game span since winning seven straight to start the 2011 season.

“It’s special, man. We got there, we worked our butts off, we’re coming to play. We’re coming hard this year,” Lumberton’s Reggie Bush said. “All our players stay disciplined. The coaches, they get on us. We make a mistake, we fix it and we get right back to the game.”

Lumberton’s 49-point offensive output was its most in any game since a 53-49 loss to South View on Aug. 31, 2018, and its most in a win since a 49-7 victory over Purnell Swett on Nov. 6, 2015.

It began quickly for the Pirates Thursday, scoring just 81 seconds into the game. Red Springs (0-4) went three-and-out on its first possession, then a bad snap on a punt attempt resulted in the Pirates taking over on downs at the Red Devils’ 1-yard line. Damicquen Powell scored one play later on a 1-yard run for an early 7-0 lead.

“The main thing is the same thing we’ve been preaching all year. The first drive, they got the ball at the (1)-yard line, those are things that we just can’t come out and continue to do and expect to win ballgames,” Red Springs coach Tim Ray said. “We just have to be better at those small things.”

Powell’s scoring run would ultimately prove to be one of his shorter dashes of the night, as the Pirates’ junior back ran for 138 yards on 14 carries.

“The holes, they were all opening,” Powell said. “My O-line, thanks to them, they were locked in, they made sure they got their blocks right.”

“He’s been growing week to week and just one of our big backs that we have to come out of the backfield,” Baker said. “We expect the most out of them and each day has to get better, each game has to get better, each practice has to get better.”

Each team punted on its next drive before Red Springs scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Chase Boone to T.J. Ellerbe to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:20 left in the first quarter. It was the first points allowed by the Lumberton defense this season after shutouts in the first two games.

“We got scored on and we didn’t keep our heads down,” Bush said. “We fixed the mistakes and they didn’t score no more.”

Lumberton’s Reggie Bush returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to retake the lead at 13-7; the extra-point was no good with 1:06 on the first-quarter clock.

It was the first of four touchdowns on the night for Bush, who had two receptions for 46 yards and scored on both, while rushing for 52 yards on six carries with one score. He also had an interception from his defensive back position.

“They put me in my spot, I just do my thing, just do the Reggie Bush thing,” Bush said. “My team, I couldn’t do it without my O-line; kickoff return, I couldn’t do that without my blockers up there. Defense, I couldn’t get a pick without my boys getting in the right spots. That was all teamwork right there.”

“Receiver, he runs the ball for us, he’s a returner, he’s a DB for us,” Baker said. “He’s a Swiss army knife with what he does and he does it great. He’s a great teammate, consummate professional at the high school level, so we thank God for him.”

Lumberton regained possession with a Dirisio McLean interception, then scored on a 21-yard pass from Lonnie Porter to Bush to go up 20-7 with 9:17 left in the first half. After Bush’s interception, Camren Flemister found the end zone with a 7-yard run on the Pirates’ next drive, then ran in the conversion for a 28-7 lead at the 3:10 mark of the second quarter.

Red Springs turned the ball over on downs in its own territory late in the half, allowing Lumberton to score again when Porter found Bush for a 25-yard touchdown pass and a 35-7 lead 46 seconds until halftime.

The Red Devils trimmed the deficit before halftime when Boone connected with Ellerbe for a 56-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left in the period, and Lumberton took a 35-14 lead into intermission.

Playing on his 17th birthday, Ellerbe caught nine passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns for the Red Devils.

“With the plays that we got a chance to find him in one-on-ones, I think we did a good job doing that and he scored those two touchdowns,” Ray said. “They did a really good job with their scouting reports and putting their defense in the best position to stop our weapons.”

“The footwork and the speed of that young man, he had me nervous every time they threw the ball his way,” Baker said. “

Lumberton took just three plays to score to start the second half, with Flemister finding the end zone for the second time with a 4-yard run to take a 42-14 lead with 10:50 left in the third. The Pirates’ Ja’Keis Hayes intercepted Red Springs on the next drive.

Two Pirate drives later, Bush capped the night’s scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 11:36 remaining.

Porter finished 4-for-8 passing for 83 yards for the Pirates. Ben Irvin caught two passes for 37 yards.

Boone did not start at quarterback for Red Springs after missing practice nearly all week due to injury, but was in the game by the Red Devils’ second offensive drive. He finished 16-for-22 passing for 163 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Red Devils standout running back Jakelsin Mack was held to 41 rushing yards on 18 attempts by the Pirates defense.

“They did a good job sending a lot of inside pressure,” Ray said. “Kind of knowing our quarterback situation early, they did a good job with mixing some stuff up, trying to take away what we do well. They scouted well, they took away some of the things that’s big in our playbook.”

Lumberton earned its first ever win over Red Springs in football; the Red Devils’ 19-18 win last year came in the first meeting between the programs. Friday’s game was the Pirates’ first game at Red Springs.

The Pirates now shift their attention to United-8 Conference play, starting with next week’s home matchup against Cape Fear, who is also undefeated on the season entering Friday’s home game against Laney.

“That’s a big test for us, not just as the players but as a staff,” Baker said. “Those guys, they’re going to know who our guys are, they’re going to know our weak points. That’s a staff that they have up there that’s very smart, the IQ level is very good and they’ve got some excellent players up there, so all the way around it’s going to be a biggie for us, with the players and the coaching staff. We’ve really got to bring our A-game out to compete.”

Thursday’s game completed a run of four straight United-8 opponents for Red Springs, who will face a 1A opponent when Lakewood visits next week before playing 2A competition the rest of the regular season in the Southeastern Athletic Conference.

“It is going to be a difference playing some of those teams,” Ray said. “The last time we played a team of that level was in the scrimmage against East (Columbus) and West Columbus, which I think we did decent against. Hopefully we can get some more energy, enthusiasm and we can get out there and really play our game at a high level from here on out.”