Local roundup: Pirates shut out Clinton for 2-0 start

CLINTON — The Lumberton football team is off to its best start in a decade after the Pirates earned a 41-0 nonconference road win at Clinton Friday.

Lumberton (2-0) has yet to allow a point through two games this season, outscoring the opposition 76-0. The Pirates are 2-0 for the first time since 2014.

“Obviously it feels really good to get into a start like this, build a whole bunch of confidence,” Lumberton coach Taurius Baker said. “We saw a little adversity tonight for the first time, the first couple of drives, but we were able to bounce back on defense. If we keep doing what we do we’re heading in the right direction. … The kids are buying in and they’re accepting the culture change, that’s as big as anything else.”

Clinton (0-3) has been held scoreless in each of its first three games, a stark contrast to last season’s 2A East Regional championship team, though the current group of Dark Horses has very little of the same personnel or coaching staff. The program is 0-3 for the first time since 2017.

Among Lumberton’s scoring plays was two touchdown receptions for Destin Locklear and one for Camren Flemister, all thrown by quarterback Lonnie Porter; Damicquen Powell also ran for a touchdown.

“We started off with how we play,” Baker said. “As far as what made the difference, it was our style of ball. We played aggressive, tackle, swarm, take away, the game that we play. We’re confident in our style of football, running the ball, pass when needed, play great defense and special teams. Defensive coordinator Demetri Sheridan called a great game, offensive coordinator Josh Sheridan too.”

Lumberton has now won four of its last five games dating back to last season, when the Pirates won two of their final three games. The Pirates also matched their win total from last season, and two wins matches the program’s most in a season since a four-win 2016 campaign.

The Pirates travel to Red Springs next week for their final contest before the start of United-8 Conference play.

McBryde’s big night sends Bulldogs past South Brunswick

Yoshua McBryde ran for 258 yards on 17 carries and scored on three long touchdown runs for St. Pauls Friday as the Bulldogs earned a 48-23 nonconference home win over South Brunwick.

Theophilus Setzer also had a strong performance for St. Pauls (2-1), completing 12 of his 18 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Jakhi Purcell caught four passes for 115 yards with two scores, Malachi Locklear had three receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown, Jaden Bethea had four receptions for 24 yards and Joshua Garner had one catch for 31 yards.

“I was very excited we were explosive on both sides of the ball and on special teams,” St. Pauls coach Mike Setzer said. “(My coaches) are all doing a good job. With this kind of team, explosive players, we have a to a better job of making big plays and tonight they answered the call.”

McBryde ran for 58-, 76- and 79-yard touchdowns for St. Pauls (2-1) as the Bulldogs built a 28-0 halftime lead; the first came less than 90 seconds into the game, before McBryde scored twice more inside the final 5:20 of the half. Theophilus Setzer also found Malachi Locklear for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 10:39 left in the half, which made it a 14-0 game at the time.

“The first two games we’ve done a good job in the first quarter, and tonight we had a good continuation of that,” Mike Setzer said.

South Brunswick (0-3) opened the second-half scoring when Jayden Daniels found Isaiah Williams for a 9-yard pass with 8:56 left in the third; after Omar Canuto kicked a 24-yard field goal for the Bulldogs to take a 31-7 lead, Daniels connected with Jashon Carter for a 53-yard touchdown pass, and found Aubrey Cobbs for the two-point conversion, to make it 31-15 with 33 seconds to go in the third quarter.

“We’re very happy about the win, but we’ve still yet to put together a good third quarter,” Mike Setzer said. “We’re still leaving too much meat on the bone. That’s a coaching situation, I take responsibility.”

Jakhi Purcell had an 83-yard touchdown reception from Theophilus Setzer with 9:57 remaining to put the Bulldogs up 38-15, and a Canuto 32-yard field goal four minutes later made it a 41-15 game. Williams scored on a 3-yard run for South Brunswick and the conversion, a pass from Daniels to Corben Farrow, made it 41-23 with 4:31 left; Theophilus Setzer found Purcell one more time for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 3:04 remaining for the game’s final scoring play.

Daniels was 13-for-24 passing for the Cougars for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Bennett Ballantine caught three passes for 52 yards and Williams had six catched for 49 yards.

St. Pauls improved to 8-1 all-time against South Brunswick, avenging the Cougars’ win from last year.

Friday was a rebound win for St. Pauls after last week’s 41-19 loss at Lee County, with the Bulldogs looking to continue the momentum as they travel to West Columbus next week.

“We know we’ve got a lot of meat on the bone left to be eaten, and with that said we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Mike Setzer said. “The light’s got to come on now, and our kids understand that. … The fact that we looked much better than we did in the first week, the second week, that’s important. We definitely took a step backwards last week, and … if you play this game to be the best in the state, those kind of weeks can’t happen.”

Fairmont falls at Westover

The Fairmont football team dropped its third straight decision to start the 2024 season as the Golden Tornadoes lost Friday’s nonconference game at Westover 50-20.

“They executed,” Fairmont coach Jeremy Carthen said. “They just pretty much were executing on their part.”

Westover (3-0) jumped out to a 28-0 lead before Fairmont (0-3) got on the scoreboard.

The Golden Tornadoes scored two offensive touchdowns; Jamarion Brown completed a touchdown pass to Jamir Jones and Josh Townsend scored on a quarterback keeper touchdown run.

Dejaylen Faulk scored a touchdown on a 60-yard return of a fumble recovery for Fairmont on the final play of the game, the second straight game with a scoop-and-score for the Golden Tornadoes.

Westover claimed its seventh-straight head-to-head win over the Tornadoes, a streak dating back to Fairmont’s lone win in the series in 1997.

Fairmont hosts Southern Lee next week.

“We’re just trying to get better day by day,” Carthen said. “I can see some improvement. We’ve just got to play for four quarters and try to keep the team together through this difficult process.”