GREENVILLE — Behind a three-touchdown night from senior Avery Brown, the Starkville High School football team continued its dominance in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 2 play Friday night with a 42-0 win at Greenville.
Starkville improved to 6-1 and 3-0 in region play. In three region wins, Starkville has outscored its opposition, 121-14. Starkville has won 16 of its last 17 region games.
“It can be a challenge when you go on the road,” Starkville coach Ricky Woods said. “The kids came out really focused and ready to play. The offense continues to make strides to get where we want them to go. The defense was totally dominant.”
Avery Brown scored on runs of 12, 1, and 13 yards as Starkville built a 35-0 halftime lead. Montario Montgomery hit A.J. Brown on a 28-yard touchdown pass. Andreus Swanigan also scored on a 10-yard run.
Ben Owens hit Tavian Clark for a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“It is always good to get a lot of kids playing time,” Woods said. “We have been able to do that in some of our region games. You always need depth. You also never know when one of these players will be asked to step up later in the year. I was glad to see the younger players get in there and compete.”
Starkville finished with 345 yards and 25 first downs. The Yellow Jackets had 196 yards passing and 149 yards rushing. Greenville (0-8, 0-3) was held to 94 yards of offense.
Avery Brown had 18 rushes for 88 yards, while Swanigan had six rushes for 59 yards. Montgomery was 16 of 32 for 146 yards. Milton Smith had five catches for 42 yards, while Avery Brown had four catches for 39 yards. The 28-yard touchdown was A.J. Brown’s lone catch.
Starkville will play host to Madison Central (4-4, 1-2) in region play Friday night.
n Lake Cormorant 35, New Hope 24: At Lake Cormorant, the Trojans competed on the road before slipping to 0-3 in Class 5A, Region 1 play.
“I thought we played hard throughout the game,” New Hope coach Kris Pickle said. “We led 17-7 early and 24-21 late. We had a chance to extend the lead to 24-7 and missed an opportunity. Later, we were inside the 20-yard line up 24-21 and missed another chance to extend the lead then. We have to learn to make plays when the game is on the line.”
New Hope (1-6, 0-3 region) finished with 336 yards of offense, including 252 passing and 114 rushing.
Thomas Stevens was 16 of 34 for 252 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Stevens hit Andre Erby for touchdown catches of 20, 51, and 21 yards. Erby had seven receptions for 130 yards. T.J. Stephens had two receptions for 48 yards, while Terryonte Thomas had three catches for 40 yards.
C.J. Clay had 13 rushes for a team-high 68 yards.
“Overall, proud of the way our kids continue to battle despite the record,” Pickle said. “We keep competing, and I am proud of them for that.”
New Hope will play host to Oxford (5-2, 3-0) in region play Friday night.
n Smithville 20, West Lowndes 6: At Smithville, the Seminoles held off the Panthers in a battle for first place in Class 1A, Region 1 play.
“We really played hard, but we couldn’t get anything going on offense,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We had a couple of mistakes on offense and they made us pay for them. Still, we were down a score in the fourth quarter but couldn’t put anything together to pull the game out.”
West Lowndes (4-4, 3-1 region) saw a four-game winning streak snapped last week in a loss to Heritage Academy. The Panthers now enter the stretch run of the region schedule needing a couple of wins to nail down a playoff berth.
Smithville (7-1, 5-0) took advantage of an interception by Wesley Grier on the game’s first possession and turned it into a 17-yard touchdown by Dee Moore.
Smithville extended the lead to 13-0 after one quarter on a 61-yard touchdown run by Nate Ward.
West Lowndes’ touchdown came on a big defensive play. With Smithville quarterback Blake Comer sidelined briefly by injury, reserve quarterback Cameron Wardlaw was stripped by West Lowndes lineman Jamarquis Jefferson, who returned it 70 yards for a touchdown.
Smithville then put the game away when Comer returned to action and found Grier on a 7-yard touchdown.
“We have to put this one away and get ready for Vardaman,” King said. “We can still reach all of our goals. The players are excited because they know how close we are to being a good team.”
West Lowndes will play host to Vardaman (3-5, 2-3) in region play Friday night.
n West Point 54, Center Hill 13: At Olive Branch, the Green Wave rushed for more than 440 yards for a third-straight Class 5A, Region 1 game.
After opening region play with a loss to Oxford, West Point (5-2, 2-1) has responded with convincing wins against Clarksdale and Lake Cormorant. West Point has scored 28 or more points four times.
“We really challenged the team to come out strong and to make a statement,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We did a great job of that. We really played well last week (against Clarksdale), and I wanted to make sure we continued to build off that. Even though we started out slow, we really responded before the half.”
Down 6-0 after one quarter, West Point scored 28 points in the second quarter and led 28-6 at halftime.
Chris Calvert scored on touchdown runs of 78, 58, and 2 yards. Andre Lane scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 58 yards. Marcus Murphy had a 31-yard touchdown run, while Trey Williams had an 8-yard touchdown run.
West Point finished with 500 rushing yards, as Calvert, Murphy, and Lane eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
Center Hill (4-3, 2-1) was held to 225 total yards, including 38 rushing yards on 31 carries.
Jeffrey Drake had two interceptions to lead West Point’s defense, including a 39-yard return for touchdown.
West Point will play host to Lake Cormorant (6-2, 3-0) in region play Friday night.
“Lake Cormorant is undefeated in the region and playing well, so we have another big challenge upcoming this week,” Chambless said. “We just want to try to continue to grow each week as a team.”
n Coldwater 14, Hamilton 10: At Hamilton, the Lions saw a chance at a second-straight Class 1A, Region 1 victory slip away in the closing minutes.
Coldwater (3-5, 2-3 region) made a goal-line stand with two minutes remaining to preserve the win.
Hamilton (1-6, 1-3) built a 10-8 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Sam Peloquin to Austin Taylor.
Coldwater came back one possession later to score the go-ahead points on a 34-yard touchdown run by Jamarcus Calicutt. Dennis Grinard also hit a 30-yard field goal for the Lions, who trailed 8-3 at halftime.
Coldwater opened the scoring on a 96-yard touchdown run by Kendarious Sandridge. After a lengthy weather delay, a 7 yard-punt set Hamilton up first-and-goal at the Coldwater 10-yard line. However, the Lions were held on downs at the 1 and couldn’t break through until late in the half on the field goal.
Hamilton will play Friday at Falkner (4-3, 2-2) in another region game.
n Noxubee County 41, Leake Central 7: At Carthage, the Tigers moved to 2-0 in Class 4A, Region 4 play with the convincing road win.
“We are getting healthy, but we have a long way to go,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We have several areas we can get better at so we will keep working on those. Good effort though and pleased to be 2-0 in region play.”
Noxubee County built a 21-0 halftime lead. In the opening half, the Tigers received touchdown runs of 10 and 21 yards from Shunessy Sherrod and a 2-yard touchdown from Timorrius Conner.
Ladaveon Smith scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Conner, while Kymbotric Mason scored on a 12-yard touchdown reception. Javarcus Walker also scored on a 7-yard run.
Leake Central (4-4, 1-1) finished with 289 yards, with most of those coming in the fourth quarter. The Gators broke up the shutout on an 80-yard touchdown run by Jessie Hoye in the fourth quarter.
Noxubee County will play host to Louisville (6-2, 2-0) in another region game Friday night.
n Marvell Academy (Ark.) 46, Hebron Christian 16: At Pheba, in a battle of Eagles, the homestanding group fell to the undefeated visitors.
“They simply ran us to death,” Hebron Christian coach David Foster said. “They have a very good team, but we didn’t execute the way we needed to. There were some things we should have done better. However, their depth really wore us out in the end.”
Landon Hill rushed for 120 yards to lead Hebron Christian. The senior back scored on runs of 40 and 10 yards. Quarterback Channing Tapley was 9 of 18 for 150 yards. On defense, Peyton Griffin led the way with 11 tackles.
“We were down 24-8 and had a really nice drive there in the second quarter,” Foster said. “Drove it the length of the field and got to the 3-yard line and fumbled. They scored right after that. You never know what might have happened had we been able to get it to a one-score game there at the half.”
Hebron Christian (5-2, 1-0 district) will return to district action Friday when it plays host to Calhoun Academy (2-4, 0-1) in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Eight-Man District 2 game.
n Columbus Christian 34, Deer Creek Academy 16: At Steens, the Rams picked up their first victory of the season in MAIS Class A/AA, District 2 play.
Dawson Shaw led the way as he threw for touchdown, rushed for two scores, and had an interception return for a touchdown.
Shaw was 5 of 6 for 70 yards with a touchdown. Nate Parker also completed both of his pass attempts for 45 yards. R.J. DeLoach had four receptions for 97 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown catch.
The Rams rushed 30 times for 209 yards. Shaw led the way with 15 rushes for 123 yards, with a pair of scores on runs of 6 and 12 yards. Kimarri Whitfield had 10 rushes for 79 yards, with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Tony Dantzler had nine solo tackles, with three assisted tackles for loss and two sacks. Shaw also had nine tackles, with four solo tackles for loss. DeKameron Mitchell had six tackles, while DeLoach, Dorian Brewer, and Tyler Beaird each added five apiece.
Columbus Christian (1-7, 1-2 district) finished with 310 yards and 14 first downs.
Deer Creek Academy (3-4, 1-2) finished with 200 yards and 15 first downs.
Shaw’s 6-yard run and Whitfield’s 2-yard run gave the Rams a 14-0 halftime lead. Shaw then added a 37-yard interception return for a score and the 12-yard touchdown run to open a 27-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
Columbus Christian will play host to Carroll Academy (1-7, 0-2) in another district game Friday night.
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