Panthers win after leading 28-0, will
battle Bandys on Friday in third round
HobbsDailyReport.com
LENOIR – After opening a 20-point lead, powerful Hibriten High held off South Point on Friday night to advance to the third round of the state 2AA playoffs against a familiar foe.
The second-seeded Panthers won 28-20 — running their win streak to 29 straight games – and will continue defense of their state title by entertaining Bandys on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
The eight-point victory moved Panthers head coach Clay Lewis, in his ninth season, within six wins of 100 for his career (94-28).
Hibriten (13-0) will play Bandys (12-1), a 51-14 winner on Friday over visiting West Stokes, for the fourth time in the postseason.
South Point, a No. 10 seed and the last team to beat Hibriten (2016 state 3A semifinals), finished 9-4.
The Red Raiders outgained the Panthers 306-21 and had 202 rushing yards in the loss.
With a freezing rain falling at Storie Stadium, Hibriten forced four first-quarter fumbles and built a 28-0 lead.
Aaron Logan returned a fumble 32 yards for the Panthers’ opening score and Kevon Wilson returned another fumble 25 yards.
South Point drove to the goal line and lost another fumble before Hibriten drove 65 yards for a 44-yard TD run by McKinley Witherspoon and a 21-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Red Raiders fumbled again and Witherspoon tacked on a 7-yard scoring run for a 28-point lead.
South Point got its first points in the second quarter on a 45-yard run by quarterback Keaton Hale.
The Red Raiders cut their deficit in half with a 1-yard TD run by Naseem Jones that was set up by Hale throwing 42 yards – to the 1 – to Jamani Leeper.
Hibriten lost a fumble in the third quarter, leading to a 6-yard TD run by Jones, and after the PAT was blocked it was Panthers 28, Red Raiders 20 with a bit more than five minutes to play.
South Point had the ball with about three minutes to play but the Panthers got a stop on a fourth-and-3 play at the Red Raiders’ 41.
Jones had 21 carries for 83 yards for South Point, while Witherspoon finished with 111 yards on 19 carries and Marqwone Jones had 75 yards rushing for Hibriten.
The Panthers will battle Bandys for the second straight season. They hammered the Trojans 56-7 in a first-round game last season at Hibriten.
The other postseason games in the series also were in Lenoir — in 2003 in the 2AA West final (Bandys 20, Hibriten 13) and in the second round in 2004 (Bandys 16, Hibriten 10).
Friday night’s winner advances to the West 2A championship game on Dec. 7 and will have a home game against No. 8 North Lincoln (10-3) or No. 4 Shelby (10-3).
The state 2AA title game is the next weekend at N.C. State, with No. 5 Hertford County (7-5), No. 1 Ledford (12-1), No. 3 North Davidson (11-2) and No. 2 Southwest Edgecombe (11-2) still alive in the East 2AA bracket.