- Jesse Jones

Lumberton beat Laney on Monday night and the trend continued. It has been a tough opening phase of the schedule for the local boys on the football field this fall, but as the weather cools and we head into conference play, the rivalries only heat up.

The four Wilmington schools are a combined 8-15 headed into the bye week before conference play begins.

Laney fell to 0-6 on Monday as they were thumped by Lumberton 34-6. The game was postponed after Friday’s soaking rains, and Lumberton came in ready, opening up a 28-0 lead before Tevin Clay got the Bucs on the scoreboard in the third quarter with a long touchdown run.

The Bucs will open Mideastern Conference play on October 9 when they face Hoggard.

The Vikings are 2-4 after Friday’s 28-14 loss at Sun Valley. Hoggard has lost two in a row for the second time this season. While the pre-conference season has been a learning process for the young Vikes, they will now try to re-establish their Mideastern supremacy.

New Hanover will certainly have something to say about that however. The 4-2 Wildcats are the only NHC school to post a winning record headed into conference play. The Cats roared out to a 3-0 start in which they outscored their opponents by a 100-18 margin, but have gone just 1-2 and been outscored 38-16 over the last three games. New Hanover will play at New Bern on Oct. 9 in their first Mideastern test.

Ashley was topped by Purnell-Swett 30-7 on Friday. The Eagles dipped to 2-4 on the year. They will look to snap their two game losing streak on Oct. 9 when they travel to Greenville Rose in their MEC opener.