Pirates steal Dark Horses’ thunder

In a drastic change of scenery in regards to weather from last week, this week’s DuBose Strapping Game of the Week saw the Lumberton Pirates travel to Clinton to face the Dark Horses, who played at home for the first time this year. It was ultimately Lumberton’s game, as they won, 41-0.

Clinton entered the game at 0-2, having lost to both Northside-Jacksonville and Wallace-Rose Hill on the road. Lumberton was 1-0 in their lone game against Fairmont so far this season.

The Dark Horses received the opening kickoff and started to gain traction early. Demarius Pugh had a big run for a first down, but eventually the drive stalled on a fourth-and-nine.

Lumberton had the ball on their own 23 yard line for their possession, but couldn’t get much going after receiving multiple penalties. Facing a fourth-and-long of their own, they elected to punt as well. Jayden Williams started to let the Pirates know who he was, making big plays for the Clinton defense early.

Aaran Landrum got into the mix of things when CHS got the ball back, making an 11 yard run to give them the first down, as well as a seven yard run on the next play. Clinton hindered their own progress with a false start penalty to move them to third down, with eight yards to go. It was Landrum again who had a big reception this time, leading to another first down.

Jonah Boone gained a first down on the drive as well, but soon their momentum would come to a screeching halt, facing fourth down and eight.

Clinton tried some trickery as they lined up to go for it on Lumberton’s 35 yard line, but inevitably called a timeout and sent out the punt team. This proved to bet yet another layer to Coach Boykin’s attempt to dupe the Pirates, as they still faked the punt, but were tackled for a loss.

Both teams struggled to get momentum on their side throughout the first quarter. Miscues and good defensive stands left the ball game scoreless after one, but not before Lumberton looked to get into the end zone. Lumberton ran for a score with 9.3 seconds left in the opening quarter, but was called back on a penalty, a theme that was persistent throughout the night.

Lumberton pinned Clinton at their own six on a long punt for their first possession of the second quarter, and it was a hole the Dark Horses couldn’t climb out of. Jayden Williams was running the Wildcat offense for most of the drive, running the ball himself a couple times. He didn’t get much progress as the Pirates invaded the backfield quite often.

A high snap on the ensuing punt led to a bad kick from Clinton, giving Lumberton the ball in Clinton territory. The Pirates started with it at Clinton’s 31 yard line. DJ Baggett started giving Lumberton problems, making big plays for the Dark Horses that led to minimal — if any — gains.

Facing a fourth down and nine, Lumberton elected not to punt, and it paid off for them. a 29 yard pass down the sidelines gave them the ball at the one yard line. The Dark Horses held strong with their backs against the wall, forcing a timeout by Lumberton with 6:22 left in the second quarter.

Williams was again showing his prowess on defense, with back-to-back stops short of the goal line. The defenses fell on fourth-and-goal, though, and Lumberton scored at the five minute mark left in the half, giving them the 7-0 advantage.

The Dark Horses looked to gain more traction, but ultimately fell short in the first half. Penalties and mistakes saw them facing a third-and-20 deep in their own territory, and a dropped pass gave them a fourth down.

After giving the Pirates the ball again, the defense held strong and forced a long third down. Nathan Barden came up with a big stop, sacking the quarterback for a loss of three. This forced Lumberton to punt, which Clinton muffed, and Lumberton took over at Clinton’s 7 yard line with 2:04 left in the half.

Another goalline stand for the Dark Horses ended in a controversial touchdown, with Clinton arguing that Lumberton’s receiver didn’t maintain possession of the ball. The Pirates took a 14-0 lead with 10.8 seconds to go before halftime.

The second half kicked off, and so did a slew of penalties for both teams. Lumberton had a long run called back because of a blindside block, but a couple plays later found the endzone to make it a 21-0 game with 8:28 to go in the third quarter.

On Clinton’s next possession, tempers started to flare. A run by the Dark Horses went up the right side, and Lumberton had a late hit out of bounds. A fight started between the two teams in front of Clinton’s bench, that ultimately ended in one player from each team being ejected and offsetting penalties. Demarius Pugh was the Dark Horse that was ejected. Lumberton received a second penalty, which gave Clinton the ball at the 50 yard line.

CHS was called for an offensive pass interference, then Lumberton was called for encroachment, and finally Clinton was whistled for a snap infraction — all before the next play after the fight could take place.

Tyler Patrick showed his ability to run and pass more in the second half, but to no avail. While big gains did happen, they didn’t compound, and the Dark Horses continued with turnovers and failed possessions.

DJ Baggett made a big sack on a quarterback scramble, but was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct. Lumberton used the field position from this to run it down the sidelines for a score, but it was called back because of a penalty.

The third quarter came to a close with Lumberton leading, 21-0.

Just seconds into the fourth quarter, the Pirates struck again, and threw a touchdown with 11:51 left in the game, making it 28-0 in favor of Lumberton.

They found the end zone again, but it was again called back on a penalty. This didn’t make much of a difference, though, as they ultimately scored again with 10:04 left in the game, making it 35-0.

Another long touchdown run by Lumberton that was called back due to penalty happened just below the six-minute mark, this time due to a hold on both the offense and the defense. Clinton’s coach, Johnny Boykin, wasn’t happy with the defensive holding call, and received his own unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive talking to the referee.

Lumberton had their final touchdown of the night on a run up the middle at the 2:38 mark, making it a 41-0 game as the PAT was blocked. An interception on Clinton’s next drive with 1:35 to go sealed the game for the Pirates.

“We played in the first half,” Clinton coach Johnny Boykin said after the game. “It kind of snowballed on us, you know, when stuff like this happens to you, you start getting out of your gaps and people start doing too much.”

“It kind of got away from us there,” he continued. “I was proud of the way they played in the first half; but we have a lot of things to correct. We’ll keep it moving, but I’m really optimistic about us continuing to move forward.”

Clinton is now 0-3, they host Whiteville next week.