SULLIGENT, Ala. — The Lamar County High School football team captured its fifth straight sweep of its county rivals Friday with a 46-14 victory against Sulligent at Brown Stadium.
With the victory, Lamar County, the No. 5 team in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 2A state poll, improved to 4-0 and 3-0 in Alabama High School Activities Association Class 2A, Region 4 play.
Sulligent slipped to 0-4 0-3.
Lamar County’s win came three weeks after a 41-0 victory against South Lamar.
“The rivalry games are important,” Lamar County coach Ken Adams said. “These are the games that people talk about 12 months out of the year. It is an accomplishment for this senior class to beat both rivals each year they are in school.”
For Lamar County, Dallas Cockerham rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Cockerham scored on runs of 22 and 13 yards. Tim Harton, Alex Wheeler, and Ty Herron added touchdown runs. Harton had a team-high 69 yards on five rushes.
The Bulldogs also added their third defensive score of the season when Dusty Vann returned an interception 19 yards. Devin Divas also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cullin Carter.
Perhaps the biggest storyline of Lamar County’s fast start is the emergence of a tenacious defense. The Bulldogs have only allowed 33 points, including two second-half scores Friday night.
“The defense has really responded,” Adams said. “The biggest challenge for this team this season was to make some strides on the defensive side of the ball. We felt like we had a good season offensively last year. When you play defense the way we have been playing, you know you have a chance on Friday nights.”
Jeremy Denton led the Bulldogs with five tackles and a sack.
Both teams step out of region play this week as Lamar County plays host to Berry (2-2, 1-2 Class 1A, Region 5) for Homecoming and Sulligent travels to Fayette County (3-1, 3-0 Class 3A, Region 3).
n Pickens County 40, Brilliant 0: At Reform, Ala., the Tornadoes’ offense kept rolling against their Class 1A, Region 5 rival.
Pickens County, the No. 1 team in the latest ASWA Class 1A poll, has scored 187 points en route to a 4-0 start (3-0 in region play).
“What we are looking for is consistency,” Pickens County Patrick Plott said. “Regardless of the opponent or the score, we just want to stay focused and keep doing what we do. As long as we do that, we will be successful.”
For Pickens County, Jamarcus Brown had nine carries for 230 yards and four touchdowns. Devonte Simon also scored on a 39-yard run.
Simon had six carries for 99 yards. He also hit Deonte Simon for a two-point conversion.
Pickens County had 405 yards of total offense. Defensively, the Tornadoes finally got that long-awaited first shutout while holding the Tigers (2-2, 2-1) to 94 yards.
“The defense has been working real hard to get the shutout,” Plott said. “They were really flying around to the ball and making big play after big play. Sometimes you lose focus when you get a big lead, but the defense really wanted a shutout.”
Justin Barton had eight tackles and a sack. Chris Hill added six tackles and two sacks.
Pickens County will play host to Aliceville (3-1, 3-0 Class 2A, Region 4) on Friday night.
n South Lamar 42, Lynn 19: At Lynn, Ala., the Stallions snapped a 15-game, two-season losing streak with their Class 1A, Region 5 road victory.
“The kids have worked so hard and it is good to see them rewarded,” South Lamar coach Shannon Gregory said. “Finally getting a win will allow the kids to loosen up a little bit and just focus on playing football.”
South Lamar (1-3, 1-2 region) rushed for a 297 yards. Holden Fields led the way with 125 rushing yards, including touchdown runs of 35 and 31 yards.
Quarterback Canaan Fleming threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Weathers. He also scored on a 20-yard run. The Stallions also got the first defensive touchdown of the season on a 25-yard interception return. Corey Betts added a 27-yard touchdown run.
“It was a balanced effort and we got a lot of people involved both on offense and defense,” Gregory said.
Talbert Tate had a team-high 11 tackles. Weathers had three takeaways, as he recovered two fumbles to go with the interception return for a score. South Lamar forced five turnovers.
For Lynn (1-3, 0-3), Chance Henson threw three touchdown passes, all to hitting Ben Cagle (1, 33 and 12 yards).
South Lamar will travel to Central of Coosa County (1-3, 1-2 Class 3A, Region 4) for a non-region game Friday night.
n Aliceville 26, Cold Springs 6: At Cold Springs, Ala., the Yellow Jackets moved to 3-0 in Class 2A, Region 4 play with a dominating rushing attack and strong defensive effort.
Darion Manning rushed 21 times for 205 yards, as Aliceville ran for 307 yards as a team. Manning capped his monster night by scoring on a 10-yard run.
Aliceville (3-1) allowed the ground game to dominate. Cody Davis scored on a 38-yard run. Jaterrius Steele scored on a 7-yard run. Christopher Crowell scored on a 14-yard run. Manning also had a two-point conversion run.
The Yellow Jackets only threw the ball 12 times and overcame one interception and five lost fumbles on the wet track.
“We had a size advantage on the offensive line and did a good job of taking advantage of that,” Aliceville coach Charles Moody said. “It was a difficult night, and we had to overcome some adversity early (a 6-0 deficit), so it was good to see the players respond.”
Marqueze Marshall had 12 tackles, while David Hughes added 11 and Terrelle Steele had 10.
James Moore scored on a 1-yard run for Cold Springs (2-2, 1-2).
“We feel good about starting 3-0 in region play,” Moody said. “The next two weeks, though, we will learn a lot about this team.”
The Yellow Jackets face back-to-back undefeated foes. Aliceville will play Pickens County (4-0, Class 1A, Region 5) in a non-region game before stepping back into region play to play host to Lamar County (4-0, 3-0) on Oct. 4. Those are the final two undefeated teams in Class 2A, Region 4.
n Pickens Academy 29, South Choctaw Academy 7: At Toxey, Ala., the Pirates moved to 4-0 for a second-straight season with this non-region victory in Alabama Independent School Association action.
Josh Lewis led Pickens Academy with two rushing touchdowns and a passing score. Lewis rushed 15 times for 127 yards. He was 12 of 22 for 128 yards.
Lewis scored on runs of 28 and 29 yards. The touchdown pass covered 53 yards and went to Joseph McGlawn. McGlawn had four receptions for 84 yards.
The other Pickens Academy touchdowns were rushing scores by Chance Britt and Whit Wilkins. Dalton Perkins also kicked a 37-yard field goal.
Daniel Powell and Grant McCrary each had nine tackles.
Pickens Academy will look to build on its 2-0 start in Class 1A, Region 2 play when it travels to Eastwood Christian (1-3, 1-2) on Friday night.
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