The Lumberton Raiders made a dramatic second half rally scoring in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. In the overtime the Raiders scored the only points for a 20-14 win over the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears Friday night at Raider Stadium in Lumberton.
Lumberton (6-3, 3-2) wanted a win to guarantee a place in the playoffs. Little Cypress-Mauriceville (5-4, 3-2) dropped its second straight game which was dominated by the Bears for three quarters.
Down 14-0 in the fourth quarter Lumberton took over on downs at its own 13. Drake Boykin completed a pass to Brittain Alfaro for a first down to the 28. Another first down was gained on a run by Carson Stinnett to the 39.
Boykin then threw his only long pass of the night which Alfaro caught behind a Bear defender and scored on a shocking 61-yard touchdown that completely turned the momentum of the game around. The score was 14-7 with still eight minutes to play.
The Raiders got the ball back with 4:38 to play and began a fateful march. Regan Koch gobbled up 23 yards on a run to the 46. Facing fourth-and-11 Boykin found Alfaro again all alone in the flat good for 22 yards to the LC-M 25.
Lumberton used four running plays to score with Carson Stinnett getting the touchdown from the eight. The kick by Adam Sellers tied the game with just 50 ticks left.
The overtime was short as the Bears tried an option pass which was intercepted by Alfaro. Lumberton needed seven plays before Koch scored the winning touchdown from the three.
The Bears had their offense rolling in the first half. After forcing a Lumberton punt Little Cypress-Mauriceville took possession for the first time at its 40. Seven plays later the score was 6-0.
Quarterback Ethan McCollum almost had his first pass intercepted. He then started an amazing string of 13 straight completions. His sixth completion was for 23 yards to DJ Spears for a touchdown with 6:18 to play in the first quarter.
The Raiders went three-and-out on their next possession. The Bears took over at their 37. Three more completions and a 9-yard run by McCollum moved the ball to the Lumberton 41. Da’Marion Morris cut loose on a 40-yard run to the one.
A low snap lost 12 yards on the next play, and a holding penalty moved the ball back 10 more yards. McCollum completed a 10-yard pass to Morris and a 12-yard pass to Brandon Pollack which got the ball back to the one.
Another penalty on the Bears pushed them back to the six. McCollum hooked up with Pollack in the right corner of the end zone for the score. LC-M went for two and McCollum found DJ Williams for the conversion pass to lead 14-0 with 10:12 left in the second quarter.
McCollum finally had his passing streak stopped the next Bears’ possession. Little Cypress-Mauriceville got the ball back just 1:16 before halftime. The Bears took over near midfield after Brandyn LeBouef sacked the Raider quarterback Boykin on fourth down.
A first down was gained on a pass from McCollum to Williams. The Raiders then gave the Bears two first downs with penalties that moved the ball to the Lumberton six. McCollum passed to Spears to the two, and the Bears called a time out to apparently try a field goal.
When one of the Bears forgot to go on the field for the kick another time out was called. This time the coaches decided to go for the touchdown. Bad communication resulted as McCollum threw the ball to the back of the end zone and his receiver only went across the goal line nowhere near the ball as the half ended with LC-M leading 14-0. That as it turned out would not be enough.
In the disappointing loss McCollum completed 21 of 36 passes for 174 yards and the two touchdowns. The Raiders actually did a decent job containing McCollum when he tried to run holding him to 59 yards on 15 carries.
Lumberton which is known for its running game had a surprisingly good night throwing the ball. Boykin completed 4 of 11 for 123 yards. The Raiders rushed for 158 yards on 40 carries.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
-photo by Jerrod Brown, KOGT-
LCM 6 8 0 0 0- 14
LBT 0 0 0 14 6- 20
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