RALEIGH – A father and his adult son from Broadway in Harnett County won $250,000 in Friday’s historic Mega Millions drawing. Lonnie Johnson and Lonnie Johnson Jr. had one of four North Carolina tickets that matched five white balls, making them one Mega Ball away from a share of the record $656 million jackpot.

The Johnsons are occasional Mega Millions players who hadn’t bought tickets in months. Because of the buzz about the jackpot, the elder Johnson bought two tickets on Friday afternoon at the Seminole Mart on U.S. 421 North in Broadway. The morning after the big drawing, he made coffee, watched the morning news, and wrote down the winning numbers. Surprised to see his ticket matched five numbers, Johnson woke up his wife who then checked the lottery’s website for more information about their prize.

“She thought it was April Fools’,” Johnson said. “But it wasn’t quite April.”

One ticket led to the $250,000 win while the other matched the Mega Ball to win $2. Had just one of their tickets matched all six numbers, the Johnsons could have laid claim to North Carolina’s sixth-ever multimillion dollar jackpot.

Lonnie Johnson Jr., who partners with his father as owners of the Lonnie Johnson Grading Company, said the family’s good luck “came at a good time.” After state and federal taxes were withheld, each received a check for $85,000. The Johnsons said they planned to pay bills with their winnings.

Through June 30 of last year, Harnett County education programs received more than $23 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, need-based college scholarships, and prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.2 billion for these initiatives statewide.