Longtime football fan Cathie Ramsey of Leland scored big after she played the Carolina Panthers scratch-off game and won $200,000.

Her good fortune happened Friday morning when she stopped at the Buy N’ Go on Ploof Road in Leland.

“I’m a lifelong Panthers fan,” Ramsey said. “So when I saw the scratch-off ticket I knew that was the one I wanted.”

She started scratching the ticket as she walked to her car.

“When I saw the numbers I stopped and just stood there,” Ramsey said. “I immediately turned around and went back in. I asked the clerk, ‘Is this what I think it is?’”

It was, and she drove straight to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim her prize. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $141,003.

“I’m so excited,” Ramsey said. “This makes up for the Panthers not going to the Super Bowl. They finally came through for me.”

She plans to use some of the money to pay off all her bills.

“I can’t even fathom it,” Ramsey said. “It’s a great feeling and a huge relief.”

The $5 ticket launched in August with five top prizes of $200,000. Since Ramsey claimed the last top prize, the lottery will take steps to end the game.

All Carolina Panthers tickets can be entered into the game’s final second-chance drawing. Players have a chance to win a luxury suite for 12 to all home games in the 2019 football season.

Ticket sales from games like Carolina Panthers make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.