It was a battle in the trenches Thursday night at Panther Field between the Vardaman High School Rams and the West Lowndes High Panthers.
The Panthers relied on a running game that churned out 294 yards in a 38-21 victory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A, Region 1 game.
West Lowndes (5-4, 4-1 region) also found success through the air, as Lemerrius Fair was 8 of 13 for 97 yards and a touchdown.
“We had already established that we are one of the fastest teams in our division, and we moved the ball really well (against the Vardaman defense),” said Fair, who also ran 17 times for 81 yards and two scores.
Vardaman (3-6, 2-4) struck first with an 80-yard kickoff return by Brandon Washington in the opening seconds.
West Lowndes then faced a short field and drove 55 yards on the ground. Fair scored on a 14-yard run and Quinshawn Lucious (six carries, 58 yards) added the two-point conversion.
Following a punt, the Panthers drove 76 yards in three plays. Fair connected with Syboris Pippins for a 69-yard touchdown strike.
“Our speed worked for us,” said Pippins, who led the Panthers with six carries for 86 yards. The touchdown was his only catch. “When we were down, we came back with speed. We had to beat them with our offensive line blocking, and (Lemerrius) Fair getting to the outside.”
Trae Owen helped the Rams answer with a 1-yard touchdown that capped a 72-yard drive. Will Vanlandingham scored the conversion to trim the deficit 16-14 going into halftime. Owen was 6 of 13 passes for 53 yards and an interception. Vanlandingham led the Rams with six carries for 67 yards. He also had two catches for 21 yards.
Vardaman took its first lead on an 11-yard run by Deon Johnson (11 carries, 47 yards). Owen’s kick gave the Rams a 21-16 lead.
“We fought hard,” Vardaman coach Larry Gann said. “We’ll play four quarters. There’s no doubt in that. We just didn’t execute well enough to win. Against (West Lowndes), you have to score when the opportunity is there because they have a chance to score every time they touch the ball.”
Temario Evans then led the Panthers on a nine-play, 62-yard drive. He capped he march with an 11-yard touchdown run. Evans connected with Jaquante Bell for the conversion to give the Panthers the lead.
From that point, West Lowndes made sure it kept the game out of Vardaman’s reach.
“Going into every game, we know we can win and (the come-from-behind win) gave us an extra boost of confidence,” Fair said. “Coming back against a pretty good team showed that we could make a lot of noise moving forward.”
A short punt by the Rams gave the Panthers the football at their 44-yard line. West Lowndes took advantage and needed only four plays before Pippins scored on a 44-yard run.
Late in the fourth quarter, Marcus Farmer intercepted a pass by Owen to set up a 27-yard touchdown run by Evans. Demontrell Lowe’s conversion run accounted for the final margin.
“We had to spread (Vardaman) out and use our speed,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “I’m proud of our guys for showing good focus by coming back in the fourth quarter when we were down.
“We knew we were faster, but we came out slow. (Coming back late in the game) definitely gives our guys a lot of confidence moving forward.
Vardaman will play next week at Smithville (7-1), the Region 1 leader. Smithville will play host to Nanih Waiya tonight.
West Lowndes avoided a three-game losing streak and will play next week at Hamilton (1-6), which is at Falkner tonight.
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.