As Jonathan Hodge of Luverne, Ala., drove through North Carolina, he decided to try his luck on a Cash 5 ticket and won a $120,000 jackpot.

“It was pretty cool,” he recalled.

Hodge, a truck driver, bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket using Online Play. His ticket matched all five numbers in the May 8 drawing to win the jackpot. The odds of matching all five balls are 1 in 962,598.

“I’ve always said, ‘When it’s my time, then it’s my time,” Hodge said.

He couldn’t believe it at first when he saw he won.

“I kept reading it over and over,” Hodge laughed.

He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters Friday and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $86,109.

“Now I’ll have a nice little cushion,” he said.

Hodge plans to use his winnings for a down payment on a house.

Cash 5 is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Friday’s jackpot is $110,000.

For details on how money raised by the lottery made a difference for education programs in North Carolina last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.