RALEIGH — Millbrook was not about to let a soggy field or an hour rain delay spoil its homecoming.

Shortly before the start of the second half, officials delayed the game due to lightning.Through the lightning and the rain, Millbrook maintained the lead from start to finish, defeating rival Sanderson 23-10 on Friday night.

Millbrook (2-5) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, scoring on the fifth play on its initial drive as Lamar Harris connected with David Robinson for a 60-yard touchdown strike. After the game, Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore said scoring early was a definite boost to his team.

“Anytime you can get up early and put a little pressure on them, that’s good,” he said. “I feel like our kids did an outstanding job of playing a complete game.”

The rest of the first half was dominated by defense and special teams.

Millbrook’s Jarrett Cervi converted on two field goals and Sanderson’s Greyson Gregory scored his team’s only first-half points on a 30 yard field goal.

“We’ve got to learn to make the plays when we can,” Sanderson coach Tony Lewis said of his team’s missed scoring opportunities.

Grayson’s kick would be Sanderson’s only points before halftime as Millbrook took a 13-3 lead into intermission.

Once play resumed, both teams struggled to sustain drives for much of the third quarter. Sanderson finally broke through the second half-sluggishness with a 66 yard pass from Koehler to Jah Leville.

“Both teams came out and played fairly solid considering the delay we had,” Lewis said.

Millbrook promptly responded with a 73-yard drive capped off by a 31-yard touchdown run by Daminick Wilkins for a 20-10 lead with just under nine minutes remaining.

Cervi’s booted a 45-yard field goal, giving Millbrook a 13 point lead.

Lewis was encouraged by his team’s effort from start to finish, something he told his team after the game.

“Several times you could have folded. Several plays could have been daggers,” he told his team. “I can accept a loss, but I can hold my head high after this one.”