Lamar’s offense was late Friday night.

Luckily for the Raiders, though, it showed up in time to help secure a home playoff game with a 20-7 win against Leake Academy at Grey Cobb Field.

After mustering 144 yards — 66 coming on its first drive — two punts and three turnovers, including two on downs in the first half, Lamar’s high-powered offense found its rhythm after the break. Not coincidentally, the Raiders (9-1, 3-1 in MAIS Region 3-AA) found their toughness then, too.

“We showed very little toughness on offense in the first half,” Lamar coach Mac Barnes said. “We didn’t play very tough last week. We didn’t play very tough in the first half. There wasn’t any adjustments. We put in one or two plays and that was it. We just had to go play.”

And play the Raiders did. Receiving the ball to open the second half, Lamar took the lead on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that lasted more than four minutes. The Raiders twice converted on fourth-and-long on the drive, including Witt Haggard’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Bo Bidgood at the 7:43 mark of the third quarter. Haggard completed 12 of 18 passes for 198 yards. He also threw one interception.

“I thought we got the game taken to us in the first half, and we came out and got one touchdown, got the lead and held on,” Barnes said.

After Haggard fumbled deep inside Leake territory on the Raiders’ next drive, Lamar gained some breathing room midway through the fourth quarter when Haggard leaped over a pile on fourth-and-goal from the Rebel 1 to finish a 10-play drive that lasted more than four minutes.

Leake (7-3, 2-2), which had totaled just 105 yards through three quarters, started to rally back. Rebel quarterback Grant Wilson, who scored on a 1-yard plunge in the first half to give Leake a 7-6 lead, opened the ensuing drive with a 22-yard scramble. The junior led the Rebels with 50 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

Facing a third-and-8 at the Lamar 46, Wilson found Jake Wall for 27 yards. After reaching the Raider 4 on a quarterback draw, Wilson was sacked by John Clinton McElroy and then his fourth-down pass was knocked away in the end zone.

“I’m really proud of our defense tonight,” Barnes said. “Real proud of them. When you get in situations like that, you just have to take advantage of them.”

While its defense stifled Leake — the Rebels were twice stuffed on fourth down deep in Raider territory — Lamar’s offense sputtered after a fast start. Following a 7-yard run from Haggard on the Raiders’ first offensive play, Michael Marcello raced untouched 59 yards to give Lamar a 6-0 lead at the 8:33 mark of the first quarter.

The sophomore running back, though, left during the first half with a right knee injury. Lamar lineman John Countiss was also hurt late in the game.