SALTILLO — Jameel Johnson rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns Friday night to lead the New Hope High School football team to a 34-19 victory against Saltillo in a Class 5A, Region 1 game.
Trae Collins also returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown to help New Hope win its second game in a row and improve to 3-2 and 1-0 in the region.
“We made a lot of bone-headed mistakes on both sides of the ball,” New Hope coach Michael Bradley said. “We didn’t tackle very well, we didn’t run to the ball exceptionally well, and we didn’t line up right a lot. Give Saltillo credit. They were part of the problem for our lining up incorrectly. Their coaches and their team did a great job, but we missed way too many tackles. We have to do a better job of tackling if we want to have a chance to be a playoff team.”
Johnson did his part to help push the Trojans in that direction, gaining nearly all of the team’s 261 rushing yards.
“I was real proud of him, and I was real proud of our offensive line and our receivers,” Bradley said. “They did a great job of blocking. Jameel is a good back. He did a good job running to daylight. It was a total team effort.”
Bradley also praised a defensive effort led by Javontay Lewis, Q Newby, and Tee Payne.
n Victory Christian 44, Heritage Christian (Ala.) 0: At Luverne, Ala., The Eagles overcame an apparent broken arm to starting quarterback Bryer Bolton in the first quarter to improve to 3-1.
Bolton suffered the injury on a 25-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game.
From there, Anthony Sharp took over at quarterback and was 5 of 8 for 70 yards with an interception. He also had one touchdown.
Kaleb Holliness (nine carries, 84 yards) had two touchdowns, while Cody Bolton (two catches, 44 yards) had a touchdown catch. Roy Bolden had a 32-yard fumble recovery for another score.
Paul Blair led the defense with eight tackles. Jay Pace, Brandon Shaw, and Nick Hairston each had six tackles.
Victory Christian will play Thursday at Flint Hill in Bessemer, Ala.
n Jackson Prep 23, Starkville Academy 0: At Jackson, The Volunteers’ undefeated run ended Friday night in Jackson to the state’s No. 2 private school team.
The Volunteers (5-1, 1-1 Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA South Division 2) were held to less than 100 yards rushing for the first time this season, finishing with 89. Quarterback Drew Pellum led the Volunteers with 46 yards.
Prep (5-1, 2-0 AAA South, Division 1) gained 300 rushing yards. Hamel McGraw led Prep and scored on runs of 1 and 88 yards.
Jackson Prep opened the scoring with a safety in the first quarter and led 9-0 at halftime.
McGraw added a score in the third and fourth quarter.
Starkville Academy will return to the field Friday to play host to Copiah Academy for Homecoming.
n Central Academy 44, Veritas 0: At Macon, Sophomore T.J. Coleman had 273 rushing yards and five touchdowns to help the Vikings improve to 6-0.
Coleman scored on runs of 77, 66, 29, 29, and 4 yards. He also had an interception.
Lineman Cody Brown scored the other touchdown on a 7-yard run.
A.J. Jernigan (run), Cole Newman (run), and Britt Reynolds and Marcus Gardner (on passes from Newman) had two-point conversions.
Newman was 2 of 3 for 8 yards. Drew Pearson had both catches.
Pearson and Redmon Butler led the defense with 10 tackles apiece. Brown added eight tackles.
Central Academy, which is undefeated in the division, will play host to Russell Christian at 7 p.m. Friday.
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