From Staff Reports
CLARKSDALE — New Hope High School came up on the short end of a hard-fought Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 1 prep football matchup Friday night.
In its region opener, a 65-yard interception return for touchdown by James Washup was the difference as New Hope dropped a 20-14 decision to Clarksdale.
“The kids fought hard for four quarters,” New Hope coach Kris Pickle said. “We just can’t catch any breaks. We have been in every game other than the loss to Columbus. We could just as easily be 4-1, instead of 1-4. We fight hard. The effort is good. The kids are continuing to battle and believe. It is frustrating because we are that close.”
New Hope (1-4, 0-1 region) received two 2-yard rushing touchdowns for C.J. Clay. It was Clay’s second straight multi-touchdown game. The other big play for New Hope was an 80-yard kickoff return by Willie Ousley which set up one of the two scores.
Clarksdale built (4-2, 1-0) built 7-0 and 14-7 leads before the teams were tied at halftime. New Hope had another chance late. Down by six points, New Hope drove into the Clarksdale red zone only to turn the ball over on downs.
“The whole defensive unit played well,” Pickle said. “It is really hard to single a player or two out. They competed all night and gave the team a chance. We allowed an interception return and a punt return (53 yards by Esais Furge), so the Clarksdale offense only scored once. They intercepted a screen pass and took it back. That was the difference in the game. If we keep plugging away and playing this hard, we will get some of these games to turn for us down the stretch.”
New Hope continues region play by hosting Center Hill Friday night.
n Caledonia 35, Tishomingo County 0: At Iuka, the Confederates shook off last week’s loss to county rival New Hope to shut out the Braves.
“I was really pleased with the way the team responded after a tough loss last week,” Caledonia coach Andy Crotwell said. “Defensively, I felt like we played good assignment football.”
Caledonia (4-1) won its first three games before falling to New Hope. The Confederates bounced back by starting strong.
Caledonia built a 14-0 first-quarter lead on a 12-yard pass from Spencer Unruh to Robert Hamilton and a 15-yard run by Zion Ford. The Confederates ran the lead to 28-0 at halftime on two touchdown passes from Unruh — 30 yards to Ford and 33 yards to Hamilton.
In the third quarter, Ford capped the scoring on a 4-yard run.
“Offensively, we protected well,” Crotwell said. “Spencer threw some great balls and our receivers did a great job of gaining yards after the catch.”
Unruh finished 13-of-19 passing for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Ford had 12 rushes for 53 yards and two scores. Jamel Thomas had three catches for 110 yards, while Hamilton had four catches for 73 yards, with two touchdowns, and Ford had five catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Chance Pennington also had a 27-yard catch.
“It may not show up in the stats but the defensive line of T.J. Davis, Jacoby Sudduth, Coby Coleman, Triston Gardner and Jantsen Glasgow did a great job hitting their targets, forcing double teams and choking down holes.”
Henry Lewis had 16 total tackles, while Kody White added 14 tackles. Daniel Longmire added seven tackles. Chris Clements and Jamel Thomas each had interceptions against Tishomingo County (3-3).
Caledonia opens Class 4A, Region 4 play at Houston Friday night.
n Oxford 50, West Point 28: At Oxford, the Green Wave lost in a shootout to start Class 5A, Region 1 play.
West Point (3-2, 0-1 region) finished with 446 yards of total offense. However, an early onslaught of 22 first-quarter points by Oxford (3-2, 1-0) proved too much to overcome.
“We really competed,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “I thought we played hard and gave ourselves a chance. We fell down early but kept battling. We showed a lot of composure and did a lot of things really well.”
Down 22-0, West Point answered with back-to-back touchdowns from Chris Calvert, covering 6 and 24 yards. Oxford then reeled off three straight touchdowns to build a 43-14 halftime lead.
In the second half, West Point got a 3-yard touchdown run from Marcus Murphy and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Murphy to Demarrio Edwards.
After West Point closed within a score, the momentum was changed back by good on a 21-yard fumble return touchdown by Devin Rockette. On its next possession, West Point threw an interception leading to two scores in the space of 17 seconds. Abraham hit Hiram Wadlington and DK Metcalf on back-to-back 36-yard touchdown passes.
Oxford quarterback Jack Abraham completed 15-of-20 passes for 408 yards and five touchdowns. West Point quarterback Murphy rushed 35 times for 206 yards.
West Point ran 80 plays compared to 34 for Oxford.
“We really did everything we wanted to do, but we simply had too many turnovers,” Chambless said. “When we had turnovers, they were able to convert them into points. We took another step forward this week though and learned how to compete in a really big game. We look forward to building on this.”
West Point plays host to Clarksdale in region play Friday night.
n Kemper County 29, Noxubee County 28: At DeKalb, the defending Class 4A state champion Tigers dropped their fourth straight.
“We fought hard for four quarters but gave up too many big plays,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We were able to have some success on offense but we made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers.”
Noxubee County (2-4) grabbed a 28-22 lead in overtime on a 3-yard touchdown run from Timorrius Conner. The two-point conversion failed. Kemper County (3-2) then answered on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Eric Clark to D.J. Clayton. Brandon Hooks’ PAT clinched the victory. Ironically, Hooks missed a PAT kick in the closing minutes of regulation after Clark tied the game on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Noxubee County had one more chance in regulation time after an interception by Kymbotric Mason.
Noxubee County built a 14-0 lead on touchdowns by Shunnessy Sherrod and Ladaveon Smith. The Tigers then fell down 16-14 midway through the third quarter before reclaiming the lead on a touchdown from Ladaveon Ball.
Noxubee County forced a fumble recovered by Smith midway through the fourth quarter. However, the Tigers gave that possession right back. The Tigers then couldn’t do anything with the Mason interception either.
“Hopefully, starting region play will be a good thing for us,” Shorter said. “We certainly would like to be playing better when it starts. We will have to get some things straightened out quickly.”
Noxubee County opens Class 4A, Region 4 play by hosting Kosciusko Friday night.
n Thrasher 38, Hamilton 20: At Hamilton, the Lions remained winless with the home loss in Class 1A, Region 1 play.
Hamilton (0-5, 0-2 region) will play at Biggersville Friday night.
n Hebron Christian 51, Strider Academy 0: At Pheba, the Eagles built a 36-point halftime lead to cruise to the victory in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Eight-Man action.
“We got to play a lot of kids and that was a really good thing for us,” Hebron Christian coach David Foster said. “We had a great night on defense. I think they only had one first down in the game. I really thought the kids came out determined and did a great job of quickly taking control of the game.”
For Hebron Christian (4-1), Channing Tapley rushed eight times for 53 yards, with touchdown runs of 3, 24 and 5 yards. Tapley also completed his only pass attempt for a 22-yard touchdown to Landon Hill. Tapley also ran for three 2-point conversions.
Hill rushed three times for 74 yards, with a 42-yard touchdown, in addition to his pass catch score. Clay Faulkner ran five times for 63 yards, with a 2-point conversion run and a PAT kick. Lucas Foster ran three times for 30 yards, while Brian Eady had a 25-yard touchdown run. Elijah Parrish rushed four times for 17 yards, with a 1-yard touchdown run. Henry Hudson ran twice for three yards.
“On defense, we were great, we forced eight turnovers,” Foster said. “On offense, we had more speed and took advantage of that. We really picked up where we left off from the last game.”
Foster had 14 tackles, while Hill and Jessie Moore each had eight and both Daniel Coggins and Tapley each had seven. Peyton Griffin added six stops. Moore had two fumble recoveries, while Foster and Parrish each had one. Griffin, Hill, Faulkner and Eady each had pass interceptions.
Hebron Christian plays at Calvary Christian Friday night.
n North River Christian 36, Victory Christian 9: At Columbus, the Eagles were outscored 20-0 in the second half on Homecoming night.
Quarterback Joseph Seal led the way for North River Christian (4-2). Seal was 5-of-8 passing for 97 yards with a touchdown, while rushing seven times for 116 yards with another score.
Laderrick Rice rushed 14 times for 68 yards, with two touchdowns. Hunter Barnes had three catches for 95 yards, with a touchdown.
For Victory Christian (1-4), Reed Fulgham was 3-of-14 passing for 66 yards. Cody Anthony rushed eight times for 42 yards, while Jake Hudgens had six rushes for 30 yards. Baleigh Parker had a 27-yard reception, while Gavin Forrester had a 23-yard reception.
Fulgham scored on a 2-yard run for the Eagles, while Eric Dunnaway kicked a 23-yard field goal.
Fulgham also led the VCA defense with nine tackles and an interception. Parker had six tackles and a fumble recovery.
Victory Christian is open Friday night.
n Newton County Academy 56, Columbus Christian Academy 28: At Decatur, the Rams could not overcome four turnovers and a slow start.
Newton County Academy (2-4) recovered a fumble and forced three interceptions. The Cougars also used some strong offense early to build a 35-21 halftime lead.
For Columbus Christian (0-6), Dawson Shaw completed 9-of-27 passes for 98 yards with two touchdowns. Both touchdowns went to R.J. Deloach (15 yards and 13 yards), who finished with four receptions and 47 yards. Kimarri Whitfield had three receptions for 37 yards, while Dorian Brewer had two catches for 14 yards. On the ground, Whitfield had five rushes for 84 yards, with a 78-yard touchdown. Shaw ran 12 times for 73 yards, with a 1-yard touchdown.
Columbus Christian finished with 211 total yards and 13 first downs.
On defense, Shaw and Tony Dantzler each had six tackles for the Rams. Andrew Sparks had a fumble recovery, while Nate Parker had an interception.
Columbus Christian plays at Oak Hill Academy Friday in MAIS Class A/AA, District 2 play.
n Winona Christian Academy 24, Oak Hill Academy 7: At Winona, the Raiders dropped their opener in MAIS Class A/AA, District 2 play.
Oak Hill Academy (4-2, 0-1 district) will play host to Columbus Christian Academy for Homecoming Friday night.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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