ETHEL — West Oktibbeha County High School senior running back Tiberias Lampkin continued his personal roll while the Timberwolves did the same as a team Friday night.
Behind five rushing touchdowns from Lampkin, the Timberwolves rolled past Ethel 50-14 in a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A, Region 3 game.
Lampkin rushed 15 times for 118 yards for the Timberwolves (6-1, 4-0 region). Lampkin also had four two-point conversion rushes.
“Tiberias is special,” West Oktibbeha coach Adam Lowrey said. “It was another tremendous night for our offensive line. They have grown, matured, and gotten better each week.”
Quarterback Von Smith led West Oktibbeha with 130 rushing yards on nine carries. Smith was 9 of 14 for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Kelsey Jefferson for a 31-yard touchdown pass and Lavante Tate for a 35-yard touchdown pass.
“We had some good balance,” Lowrey said. “I thought we got a lot of players involved in the offense. We had four receivers make a catch. We did a good job of maintaining drives.”
Jefferson led the way with 10 tackles. Michael Graise had nine and Lampkin had eight. Smith had an interception, while Lampkin had a fumble recovery. Johnny Chambers and Donovan Henderson each had a sack.
“It is another good region win, and we are inching closer to a playoff berth,” Lowrey said. “We want the region championship, though. We have to build on this and keep getting better.”
West Oktibbeha can secure a playoff spot Friday night with a region victory at home against West Lowndes.
n Noxapater 48, East Oktibbeha 6: At Crawford, the Titans dropped their third straight Class 1A, Region 3 game and continued to drift out of playoff consideration.
“We were terrible on defense,” East Oktibbeha coach Randy Brooks said. “We didn’t compete. Pretty much, we let them run wild.”
Noxapater ran for 150 yards in the opening half and built a 28-6 lead. The Tigers (6-2, 5-0) received two touchdowns from quarterback Tyrell Carter, as well as rushing scores from Trey Barber and Katorris Coburn.
East Oktibbeha (2-5, 1-3) received a 43-yard touchdown pass from Justin Williams to Destin Covington. The Titans were also hurt by three interceptions. Williams threw for 85 yards.
“All you can do after a game like this is move on,” Brooks said. “We have four region games left and we need to finish on a strong note.”
East Oktibbeha will play next week at unbeaten Pelahatchie.
n Parklane Academy 35, Starkville Academy 12: At McComb, the Volunteers had a tough night defensively, losing a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 2, Division II game.
Parklane Academy (7-1, 3-0) had 400 yards of offense.
Starkville Academy (4-4, 2-2) scored in the fourth quarter on a Drew Pellum to Colby Runnels 38-yard pass. Johnathon Burton kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter for the Volunteers.
The Volunteers finished with 284 yards, including 159 rushing and 125 passing. Pellum rushed eight times for 44 yards, Zach Slaughter rushed four times for 37 yards, and Runnels rushed nine times for 30 yards. Pellum was 9 of 18 for 125 yards. Runnels had two catches for 59 yards, while Hunter Bolin had four catches for 56 yards.
For Parklane Academy, Brady Lea threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another. Lea hit Justin Brent on a 30-yard touchdown and Joseph Clark on a 59-yard touchdown, while adding a 7-yard touchdown rush. Taylor Burt added a 12-yard run, while Clark had a 2-yard run.
Starkville Academy will step outside of district play next week for a Homecoming game against Winston Academy.
n Pelahatchie 40, West Lowndes 6: At Columbus, the Panthers saw improved offensive production Friday night, but it was not nearly enough to take down the Class 1A, Region 3 leader.
For West Lowndes (3-4, 2-2), junior quarterback Justin Stephenson was 8 of 14 for 106 yards. He threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Eric Harris. The Panthers finished with 262 yards.
“We played a lot better than we did the week before (a 28-0 loss to Noxapater),” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We had a few turnovers and made too many mistakes. However, we did a lot better job of executing our offense.”
West Lowndes had a balanced rushing effort from Jevontrae Williams (11 rushes, 64 yards), Harris (four-57), and Justin Stephenson (four-35). Harris had two receptions for 64 yards, while Williams had two receptions for 21 yards.
Devonta Koger led the way for the Panthers with 16 tackles. Phytrel Williams added 15 stops, while Katzman Rogers had 11 tackles and both Breshon Brooks and Ronnie Porter each added 10. Kendrick Sanders had a sack, while Koger had a fumble recovery.
“With four region games left, we still have a lot to play for,” King said. “Noxapater and Pelahatchie are two of the top three teams in the region. Now, we get the other top team. We just have to keep working hard and keep improving.”
West Lowndes will travel to Maben next week to take on West Oktibbeha, one of the region’s three unbeaten teams.
n Houston 55, Caledonia 21: At Houston, the Hilltoppers broke a 14-14 tie with two scores in the final seven minutes of the second quarter. Houston’s offense then found a second gear and pulled away to a Class 4A, Region 4 victory.
For Caledonia (4-4, 0-2), Ben Marchbanks hit Lucas Eads for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Marchbanks also scored on touchdown rushes of 21 and 2 yards.
Houston (7-1, 1-1) was led by four rushing touchdowns from Sharone Wright. Quan Brand added two rushing scores, while Brandon Townsend added another. Houston also struck with the big play as Brand had a 98-yard rushing score and the Toppers also had a 65-yard punt return for score by Chris Thornton.
After winning its first four games, the Confederates have now lost four straight. Caledonia will look to snap that string and keep playoff hopes alive Friday night when it plays host to Louisville.
n Potts Camp 58, Immanuel Christian 14: At Potts Camp, The Rams (3-5) trailed 38-14 at halftime en route to their non-region loss.
K.C. Cunningham hit Justin Tate with a 21-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 13-6. Potts Camp scored back-to-back touchdowns to extend the lead
Cunningham hit Joshua Dantzler on a 43-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 24-14, but Potts Camp scored twice more, including a touchdown return off a blocked punt, to take a 24-point lead at halftime.
Ryan Forrester had 10 carries for 55 yards. Dantzler had 13 carries for 31 yards.
Cunningham was 6 of 12 for 79 yards. Dantzler had three catches for 43 yards. Tate had one catch for 21 yards.
Tate had six tackles and one onside kick recovery, Dantzler had seven tackles, and Luke Hudson added a strong game on defense.
n Noxubee County 45, Leake Central 3: At Carthage, senior running back Darrell Robinson had a monster night as the Tigers remained undefeated in Class 4A, Region 4.
Robinson rushed 17 times for 220 yards and five touchdowns as the Tigers improved to 8-0 and 2-0 in region. Robinson scored on runs of 17, 33, 15, and 49 yards. He also had a 56-yard punt return for a score. Robinson now has 24 touchdowns. The punt return score was his first non-rushing score of the season.
“Darrell just had an outstanding night,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “He has really developed into a total back. He was in a rhythm early, so we kept feeding him. The offensive line did another great job of supporting him, too.”
The Tigers also used a 11-yard passing touchdown from DeAngelo Ballard to Jarvis Taylor.
Leake Central (3-5, 1-1) connected for a second-quarter field goal. That score snapped a string of 17 straight scoreless quarters by Noxubee County’s defense. Still, the Tigers made it five straight games without allowing a touchdown.
“The defensive effort has really been great this season,” Shorter said. “We knew we had to be more physical this season and the kids have responded to that challenge. Sometimes, it is difficult to get high school kids to be committed on every possession. That is not the case with this defensive unit. They play each possession like the game is on the line.”
Noxubee County can nail down a playoff berth Friday night with a region victory against Houston. The highly anticipated showdown against rival Louisville will be Oct. 19 in Winston County.
n North Sunflower Academy 42, Central Academy 8: At Macon, Russ Taylor ended the scoring drought for the Vikings with a 57-yard touchdown Friday night.
Taylor finished with a season-high 138 rushing yards. Central Academy had some success on offense with nine first downs. Jacob Craig completed a pass to Colby Robbins to help workhorse Taylor.
The defense was led by Robbins and Taylor with contributions from Jack Vandevender, William Dawkins, Tyler Cumberland, Wyatt Norris, and Craig.
Dylan Manning, a 125-pound defensive tackle, also had two tackles.
Central Academy, which has been decimated by injuries this season, had only 10 players Friday night, with six being eighth- or ninth-graders, coach Bill Bowman said.
“The experience these young men have gained this year is setting the table for a much brighter future,” Bowman said.
Central Academy (0-8) will be off this week. It will travel to Calvary Christian the following week to close the season.
n Eupora 55, Hamilton 15: At Eupora, the homestanding Eagles celebrated homecoming by handing the Lions their first loss in Class 2A, Region 2 play.
Eupora (7-1, 2-0) built a 20-0 lead after one quarter. Sophomore quarterback Trey Pittman hit Derrick Jones and Jamall Roby for a pair of 29-yard scoring plays. Savon Daughtery then added a 4-yard touchdown run. Pittman found Roby again in the second quarter from 15 yards, while Daughtery also went in again from 17 yards.
Hamilton (3-5, 1-1) was held to 182 yards of total offense and eight first downs. A 54-yard passing touchdown from Seth Dement to Cole Richardson brought the Lions within 34-7 at halftime. The duo also hooked up again in the second half on a 12-yard touchdown.
Eupora put the game away with second-half rushing scores from Victor Goldman, Lamontae Salley, and Daughtery.
Hamilton will look to enhance its playoff positioning with back-to-back region games at home. It will start that stretch next week against J.Z. George.
n Hebron Christian 58, Flint Hill Christian 14: At Bessemer, Ala., the Eagles scored four first-quarter touchdowns and had little trouble advancing to 8-0.
“We started out strong and that was our biggest goal going into the game,” Hebron Christian coach David Foster. “We got everybody on the team lots of playing time. Several of the seniors did not play in the second half, so it was an all-around good win.”
Quarterback Will-Corben Rogers paced the attack with three rushes for 151 yards. Rogers scored on each carry with touchdown runs of 45, 56, and 50 yards. He also was 2-of-2 passing with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Austin Foster and a two-point conversion pass to Ryan Moore.
Taylor Coggins rushed four times for 110 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion run. Foster ran four times for 28 yards and added a two-point conversion run. Ryan Moore ran five times for 27 yards, with a 6-yard touchdown run.
Andrew Myatt ran three times for 60 yards, with a 33-yard touchdown run. Collin Moore rushed eight times for 25 yards, with a two-point conversion run. Trey Chism added 22 rushing yards on three carries, with a 1-yard touchdown run.
“We did a lot of things well offensively,” Foster said. “We also got some of the younger kids some carries. The offensive line had a great night.”
Taylor Coggins led the way with seven tackles, including a sack. Collin Moore had six tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Rogers and Ryan Moore each added six tackles. Foster had five tackles, a sack, and two fumble recoveries. Andrew Myatt also had five tackles. Taylor Simmons had four tackles and an interception.
“Taylor plays on special teams for us,” Foster said. “This was his first extended playing time on defense and I thought he did a great job.”
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