STARKVILLE — The West Point High School football team didn’t have any answers for A.J. Brown on Friday night.
The Starkville High junior wide receiver caught four passes for 195 yards and four touchdowns to lead the top-ranked Yellow Jackets to a 34-3 victory against the Green Wave before a standing-room only crowd at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
After scoring more than 50 points in its first two games, the Starkville offense was held in check by the West Point defense — other than Brown.
Starkville built a 24-3 halftime lead, thanks in part to three touchdown passes from quarterback Brady Davis to Brown and a 54-yard field goal by Michael Godley. Godley added a 49-yard kick in the second half, while Davis hit Brown again on a 55-yard touchdown pass.
Starkville (3-0) finished with 375 yards of total offense and 13 first downs. Davis was 8 of 20 for 238 yards. Matt Fuller led Starkville with 87 yards on four carries.
Omar Lemus’ 26-yard field goal accounted for the scoring for West Point (1-2).
Led by Derion Ford and Alonzo Flowers, the Starkville defense stiffened and turned away two other threats in the red zone.
n New Hope 35, Columbus 24: At Columbus, Brenton Spann had 32 carries for 255 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Trojans to their first 2-0 start since 2009.
The victory also helped New Hope and first-year head coach Kris Pickle snap a four-game losing streak in the series.
C.J. Clay added three touchdowns for the Trojans, including a fumble recovery in the end zone in the second quarter.
Kylin Hill scored on a 90-yard kickoff return and on a 4-yard run for Columbus (0-2). Kendre Conner had 12 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown.
n Noxubee County 49, Louisville 14: At Louisville, the Tigers built a 14-0 lead before taking their first offensive snap Friday on the way to a convincing victory against the Wildcats.
Javarcus Walker returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Four plays later, Kavorkian Brewer scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 8 yards for a score with 10 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The loss broke an 18-game winning streak for Louisville, the defending Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A state champions.
Timorrius Conner threw two touchdown passes, including a 33-yarder to Walker that gave the Tigers a 21-0 lead midway through the third quarter. He also threw a 9-yarder to Tamarcus Silvers in the third quarter.
Noxubee County also scored on a 4-yard run by Shannessy Sherrod, a 75-yard interception return in the third quarter by Daveon Ball, and a pair of field goals by Zack Kauffman.
Sherrod led the Tigers in rushing with 83 yards on 13 carries. Noxubee held Louisville to 20 rushing yards.
Louisville (2-1) scored on a 39-yard pass from Brody Burchfield to Demarcus Frazier and an 11-yard pass from Burchfield to Chris Blair.
n Starkville Academy 24, Washington School 0: At Starkville, Houston Clark scored three touchdowns to help the Volunteers improve to 3-0.
Clark threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a 44-yard strike to Logan Locke, to give the Volunteers a 10-0 lead in the third quarter. Clark finished with 84 passing yards and 80 rushes on nine carries.
Starkville Academy held Washington School to 88 total yards.
n Heritage Academy 44, Winston Academy 14: At Columbus, Michael Ledbetter scored from 41 and 72 yards on back-to-back possessions, and coach Barrett Donahoe’s squad rushed for 349 yards and pulled away in the second half.
Ledbetter, who posted 145 yards on seven carries, scored the long touchdowns on consecutive touches midway through the third quarter to turn a 24-14 lead into a four-touchdown cushion. Senior Cayden Upton added 127 yards and two touchdowns, while Walker Brown scored on a 39-yard reception and added a 28-yard interception return for a score as Heritage Academy (2-1) outscored Winston Academy 27-7 after halftime.
The homestanding Patriots put up a season-best 451 total yards of offense on a night when their six touchdowns came on an average of 37 yards.
Winston Academy (1-2) scored on a 15-yard run by senior Bradley Stapleton and an 88-yard pass from quarterback Logan Webb to wideout Carter Lane Jones.
n St. Joseph 47, West Lowndes 22: At Columbus, Jaelin Thomas had 190 all-purpose yards and a touchdown Friday night to help the Fighting Irish pull away in the second half.
St. Joe’s scored late in the second quarter to take a 21-14 halftime team. The Fighting Irish capitalized on penalties and won the battle of field position en route to wearing the Panthers (1-2) down. St. Joseph used seven players to score four touchdowns in the final 24 minutes.
For more on these games and the rest of the teams from the Greater Golden Triangle area, see Sunday’s edition of The Dispatch and check back Sunday at www.cdispatch.com
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.