RALEIGH – Clarence Harding, a truck driver from Clinton in Sampson County, plans to use the $100,000 prize he won on his Mega Bucks ticket to pay off his mortgage.

He decided to play the game on Tuesday when he purchased his usual Mega Millions ticket, citing that the “mega” in the game’s name had a familiar ring to it. Harding was at home when he scratched off the game’s top prize.

“I scratched it off and saw the star,” Harding said. “I thought I had won enough for gas money. Then I kept seeing those zeroes. I just sat there and looked at the ticket. It took a half hour to convince myself it was real.”

Harding, whose favorite game is Carolina Pick 3, took home a check for $68,001 after taxes were withheld. He purchased his winning ticket at the Bonnetsville Kwik Stop on Roseboro Highway in Clinton. As of Thursday afternoon, two more top prizes remain to be claimed in the Mega Bucks game.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2010, Sampson County players have won more than $21.3 million in lottery prizes and county retailers have earned more than $2.7 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time period, Sampson County education programs have received more than $13.1 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds benefit teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for the education initiatives it serves statewide.