LUMBERTON — A four-touchdown performance from Jacoby Pevia helped propel the Lumberton Pirates football team to a huge win over the Douglas Byrd Eagles at home Friday night. A dominant 41-18 win helped snap a 19-game losing streak, giving the Pirates their first win of the season and first victory since a 26-0 win over Douglas Byrd on October 15th, 2021.

“It means a lot. We’ve been waiting for it for a long time and its finally here. We’re gonna soak it up and enjoy it,” Pevia said. “Get to practice Monday, focus, stay locked in and build on this.”

“It’s exciting seeing those smiles on the boys’ faces,” said Lumberton coach Dennis McFatten, who earned his first win as a head coach. “They definitely work hard; we have guys that have been waiting on this for about two years so it’s very exciting. Emotions are high, we’re gonna build on this, enjoying it now and then we’re gonna press the reset button tomorrow. I can’t explain the joy that I have for my players.”

The Pirates (1-7, 1-4 United-8) found the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown run by Pevia to give the Pirates a early 7-0 lead. The Eagles (0-8, 0-5 United-8) responded with a touchdown of their own on a Isaiah Pope 10-yard touchdown pass to Talik Mccollum; the extra point was blocked and the Pirates led 7-6.

Lumberton would extend its lead on another touchdown run by Pevia, this time from 40 yards out, to give the Pirates a 14-6 lead heading into the second quarter.

Lumberton continued to pour into their lead on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Travon Moore to Reggie Bush to make it 21-6. The Pirates forced a stop on defense and then proceeded to make it 28-6 when Pevia broke free for a 73-yard touchdown.

The Eagles would find the end zone with 4:57 remaining in the first half when Pope kept the ball and ran it in for a 26-yard touchdown run; the two-point conversion was unsuccessful as the Pirates led 28-12.

The Pirates defense came away with a key takeaway on an interception by Zaquan Osborne which help set up a touchdown run at the goal line by Isaiah Whittington, and the extra point was blocked, making it 34-12. The Eagles scored right before the half on another Pope-to-McCollum touchdown pass in the back of the end zone; another two-point conversion was unsuccessful and the Pirates led 34-18 at the half.

The lone score in the second half came towards the end of the game when the Pirates put the icing on things when Pevia found the end zone for his fourth touchdown on a 33-yard touchdown to seal the win.

“Basically, even at halftime I told my guys we gotta learn how to win, it’s great but we still have things that we have to clean up. We have to be focused on things. We’re still piecing a lot of things together, running around doing stuff. We can’t do that in high pressure situations, especially next week (against Seventy-First),” McFatten said. “We’ve got to gather ourselves and everybody has to learn the position that they’re placed in and we just gotta continue to build.

The Pirates offense combined for 278 total yards rushing, with Pevia leading the way with 226 yards rushing on 18 carries and four touchdowns. Whittington followed with 43 yards rushing on 10 carries and a touchdown. Moore finished 6-for-11 passing for 68 yards a touchdown.

“It felt good. The O-line, they were giving me good blocks and I was just taking advantage of it. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Pevia said. “When I hit my hole, I was looking up to the next level, and whenever I seen the defender guard, I went the other way. Hit a cut, make a move, break a tackle and I was able to get there.”

“When our pieces are out there, we move pretty well. We we’re without our quarterback for about two and half weeks after Cape Fear, you pretty much got a couple of threats here and there,” McFatten said.

The Pirates defense came away with three turnovers, with an interception by Osborne, a fumble recovery on a bad snap recovered by Noah Britt and then the Pirates special teams recovered a muffed punt.

“Coaches came up with a great game plan to where we were able to get the ball back into the offensive hands and execute. So, we want to, even on that side of the ball, clear some things up, be more proficient on things but they did excellent tonight,” McFatten said.

The Pirates will be back in action next Friday when hit the road to take on Seventy-First. Kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.