Seeing an opposing team take the opening kickoff of the first game of the season in for a touchdown is enough to demoralize any team.

For the West Lincoln Bears, it was the start of what turned out to be a rough night Friday in Mount Olive. Riding the wave of that quick touchdown and the thrill of their first game at home, the Pirates went on to defeat the Bears 40-16.

The West Lincoln defense allowed 275 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Being a defensive-minded coach, those are numbers head coach Charlie Jackson cannot accept.

The majority of the yardage came at the hands of Mount Olive quarterback Latravious McNair. The junior needed only seven carries to rush for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

“We were just grabbing at air a lot of times,” Jackson said. “We’d have the quarterback contained several times and our guys wouldn’t break down. They were in position they just have to learn to make those plays.”

The Pirates’ bruising running back Paris Fairley also had 16 carries for 91 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears. Jackson said his team just sat back and waited on Fairley, which is something they cannot do if they are to be successful for the remainder of the season.

“The first step to any game is getting off the bus not just mentally, but physically as well,” Jackson said. “Before practice Monday, I drove the bus to the practice field and made them get on it and we talked about how to get off the bus mentally.”

Jackson also noted that his offense had to improve heading into this week’s matchup at Sacred Heart.

“We’d get to a manageable down and distance and snap the ball over our quarterback’s head and end up in an impossible situation,” he said.

“That was a good team we played, but I still feel like we beat ourselves for the most part.”

Their next opponent, Sacred Heart, is also coming off a loss and hoping to rebound. The Crusaders were defeated by Columbia Academy 42-13 last week.

In order to beat Sacred Heart, Jackson said his team need to be more aggressive and attack the Crusader defense to force mistakes.

He also said his offense needs to  get in a rhythm and capitalize on big gains.

“I think there are things we have done better, but we have also taken some steps back,” Jackson said.

“At the end of the day we just have to keep coaching them up.”