WILMINGTON — On a night where the defenses were expected to control the game, the Lumberton Pirates' rushing attack proved to be the difference.

Behind Maurice Lewis' 218 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns, Lumberton rallied from a 10-0 deficit to rout Hoggard 31-10 Friday night. The win sets up a third-round 4AA playoff matchup between the Pirates and Jack Britt next week in Fayetteville.

“I was just getting the holes and never stopping,” Lewis said. “We’re going to have to go out next week clicking on all cylinders with the offensive and defensive lines doing their thing.”

Pirate coach Mike Brill felt his team played well on defense, especially with Hoggard running a pass-heavy offense that the Pirates were not expecting.

“Everything that we had set up, they were doing completely different stuff,” Brill said. “We never run cover-2 against that set, but we drew it up, explained the responsibilities, and the team did it.” The Vikings (8-5, 5-0) were the Mideastern Conference champions after going 5-0 in conference play. Hoggard had come into the game on a six-game win streak, including a 7-0 victory in the first round against Cary.

“I think a lot of people had written us off,” Braswell said, “but just the character of this football team, to keep working and win a conference championship, I know they cannot enjoy that perspective right now, but hopefully at some point over Thanksgiving they can.”

Hoggard was able to take a 10-0 early lead without recording a first down. They struck first on their third play from scrimmage when facing a third-and-eight, Jovon Genwright hit Ashton Fry on a 60-yard pass down the right side for the score.

The Vikings started their next drive with good field position after a Billy Vaughn 24-yard punt return, but after the Lumberton defense limited Hoggard to an Ian Durham 47-yard field goal through the light rain to make the Hoggard lead 10-0.

“It was exactly what happened at Purnell Swett,” Brill said. “We were kind of losing our cookies there. We told them during one timeout if you just calm down and quit going crazy, everything will be just fine.”