MACON — Tamorris Conner may only be a sophomore, but he is well aware of the tradition of the Noxubee County High School football program.
“Last week, when we lost to Starkville, we took it personal,” Conner said. “All Noxubee County does is win. The last thing we wanted around here was a losing streak.”
Losing streak avoided.
After being shut out in its season opener, Noxubee County executed at the end of offensive drives Friday night. The Tigers drove 97 and 95 yards and added a defensive touchdown to beat Columbus 21-10.
Fellow sophomore Jeffery Simmons caught a 6-yard touchdown pass and also had a 21-yard fumble return for another score. Conner also hit Kynbotric Mason on a 64-yard touchdown.
“We made some mistakes and we need to eliminate those,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We also grew up a tremendous amount. There was more attention to detail and there was also an ability to finish what we started. We couldn’t do that last week.”
n Heritage Academy 40, West Lowndes 6: At Columbus, Hunter Anderson, Jace Caldwell, Parker Short, and Blake Ballard had rushing scores and Austin Fitch connected with Logan Bell on a scoring pass Friday to help the Patriots (2-0) beat their second Lowndes County Mississippi High School Activities Association member in as many weeks.
Anderson scored on a 7-yard run, Caldwell bulled his way home from 15 yards, Short scored on a 5-yard jaunt, and Ballard scored on a 6-yard run. Fitch hit Bell with a 23-yard scoring strike.
Heritage Academy had 47 carries for 276 yards.
Eric Harris had a 58-yard touchdown run for the Panthers (1-1), who played without senior linebacker Phytrell Williams and two starting offensive linemen. West Lowndes coach Anthony King said Williams likely is done for the season with a knee injury.
n Oxford 35, Starkville 24: At Starkville, the Chargers scored 28 second-half points and erased a 10-point deficit Friday night to beat the Yellow Jackets and claim the “Little Egg Bowl” trophy.
Quarterback Jack Abraham overcame a rough first half to finish with 299 passing yards and four touchdowns. Running back Kenzie Phillips had 11 carries for 123 yards and a score.
Starkville’s Jacquez Horsley had 20 carries for 162 yards. Darius Grayer had 13 carries for 86 yards and nine catches for 96 yards.
The Jackets committed 13 penalties and five turnovers, three of which came as a result of interceptions from quarterback Princeton Jones.
n Starkville Academy 28, East Rankin Academy 7: At Starkville, While the Volunteers certainly plan many more victories this football season, they were pleased to secure victory No. 1 Friday night.
The Volunteers pitched a second-half shutout and broke a 7-7 halftime tie en route to their victory at J.E. Logan Field.
For Starkville Academy, a return to the victory column was a welcome relief after it did not score in a preseason jamboree and did not manage a touchdown in a season-opening loss to Lamar School.
“We played good, we played fast and we had a lot of energy,” Starkville Academy junior defensive back Hunter Peeples said. “Toward the beginning of the second half, they were more physical than us, but we picked it up and came out with the win.”
An interception return for touchdown by Peeples was the big turning point in the game. At the time, East Rankin was driving and trying to erase a 14-7 deficit.
“A win like this builds confidence,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “If we keep pounding on them and keep working and doing things right, we are going to get better and wins are going to come.”
For more on these games and all of the Greater Golden Triangle and West Alabama prep football results, check out Sunday’s edition, which will have stories, scoring summaries, scorers, roundups, and breakout items from all of the action.
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