Lion Stadium saw its final game Friday, as Lumberton ran to a 58-34 win over Livingston.
The Raiders (6-3, 5-1) rushed for 431 yards and had 560 total yards in a game that was over by halftime.
Raider running backs Chase Williams and Nic Cratic combined for 216 rushing yards in the first half, as Lumberton established a 41-6 lead by the break.
"Those are two of the four leading rushers in the district for a reason," a disappointed Livingston coach Tucker Carter said. "Nobody has figured it out yet, but that was frustrating. I feel like we ran to the ball a lot better in the second half and got them on the ground quite a bit.
"Nobody has stopped them running the ball yet in district play. The thing that makes them unique is that their quarterback is good too. He can hit those shots and execute. They do a good job and are a physical team."
The Lions' (2-7, 0-6) lone bright spot through two quarters was a 70-yard hookup from quarterback Tyler Soza to receiver Ziekus Garner (8-209, 2 TDs) that went for six points.
"Absolutely the worst first half known to man. (There was) no screaming and yelling," Carter said of halftime. "The conversation was just, ‘You represent your family and your program, and our core values. You've worked too hard to fight and complain and whine and have people leave the stadium and think of you in a light that you're not, because you are all good kids.’ That was the message, and we told them, 'If you don't want to go out and fight, let me know now, and you can roll. There are no hard feelings.' A lot of kids stepped up in that second half, and we won the second half. I know that doesn't count for anything on the scoreboard, but I was proud of us battling back from such a terrible first half.”
Lumberton was stopped on just two drives in the first half. A couple of Livingston fumbles compounded Lion offensive issues. Without the 70-yard strike to Garner, who again had an excellent game, the Lions had less than 100 yards of offense.
"When we don't turn the ball over, we move the ball pretty efficiently. When we turn the ball over, it is hard to win at any level with any team. That was really disappointing to come out and put it on the ground deep in our own territory. They capitalized."
The Lions looked like a different team in the second half, scoring on the second play from scrimmage. Sophomore running back Taylor Haynes took a handoff and sprinted 73 yards to the end zone.
Livingston scored touchdowns on four of six drives in the second half. Soza punched one in from a yard out, collected another via the pass to Garner for 61 yards, and freshman Jax Ruiz took a snap and weaved his way in from six yards out.
Giving effort as they have all year, the Lions did not quit. They outscored the Raiders 28-17 in the third and fourth quarters.
"I thought we fought our tails off in the second half and showed a little bit more of who we were. For all the bad that happened in the first half, I'm extremely proud of the kids for coming out and hustling around and showing some resilience in the second half. That is big for us going down and laying an egg 41-6 and not letting it get to 70-6."
