FRENCH CAMP — Starkville Academy football coach Chase Nicholson likes where his team is headed.
Starkville Academy moved to 2-0 on the season with a 38-7 win at French Camp Academy on Friday night. The game matched a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) member against a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) member.
“We have started strong,” Nicholson said. “I really like the attitude of this team and the attention to detail. We have a lot of seniors, so we knew we would have some good leadership. This team is ready to put a run together. We just have to remain consistent and stay healthy.”
Starkville Academy led 21-7 before a bizarre stretch in the third quarter. The Volunteers scored 17 points in a seven-minute stretch with three-straight possessions. The Panthers were unable to field two sky kicks, which allowed the Volunteers to gain possession three-straight times.
Quarterback Ben Owens threw for 124 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for another score. Owens scored on an 8-yard run and hit William Wolfe for a 25-yard touchdown in the third-quarter run.
“It really wasn’t by design,” Nicholson said. “We were having a tough time getting anything going and the kickoffs really helped spark us. It gave us a lift and was demoralizing to them.”
Wolfe opened the scoring with a 35-yard catch from Owens in the first quarter. The Volunteers ran the lead to 14-0 on a 17-yard pass from Owens to Raegan Richardson. Kyle Faver had a 3-yard fumble return to make the lead 21-7 at halftime.
Cameron McKee kicked all five extra points and a 22-yard field goal for Starkville
Academy.
“We are having stretches where we play well,” Nicholson said. “We started slow each half here. The biggest thing is consistency.”
Starkville Academy will play Friday night at Indianola
Academy.
n Simmons 48, West Lowndes 0:
At Columbus, the homestanding Panthers were overwhelmed as the MHSAA Class 1A member Blue Devils won their 27th-straight game.
Simmons scored on four of six first-half possessions and forced two turnovers to build a 28-0 lead at halftime.
“We are having a tough time generating offense on a consistent basis,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We have a couple of positive plays and then we make mistakes. (Simmons) has a lot of speed, and we had a tough time matching up. They pounced on us rather quickly, and we had a hard time responding.”
Marquez Pam ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Blue Devils. Malik Thomas added two rushing scores.
West Lowndes is open this week. It will play host to facing Leake County on Sept. 8.
n Aberdeen 56, Caledonia 30: At Aberdeen, the Bulldogs topped 500 yards of total offense in a wild MHSAA win at home.
“It was just a scoring fest,” Aberdeen coach Eric Spann said. “Give Caledonia credit. They run the Wing-T the way it is supposed to be run. We had a few guys missing on defense and they had some of their better players back.”
Dajoun Dobbs led the rushing attack for Aberdeen (2-0) with 21 rushes for 243 yards with four touchdowns. Fred Fields had 13 rushes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Williams ran seven times for 73 yards, with a score. Terrence Rowe had two receptions for 37 yards, including a touchdown catch from Fields.
“We play well offensively,” Spann said. “The offensive line had a great night. We had to keep scoring to stay ahead. Fred is doing a great job of leading us and we have executed well in the first couple of games.”
Aberdeen led 28-23 at halftime. The Bulldogs scored twice in the final quarter to build on a 42-30 lead.
For Caledonia (0-2), Seth Brown scored on a 1-yard run. Jaylon Dumas scored on a 70-yard kickoff return. Dylan Haskins then added a 2-yard rushing score as the Confederates led 20-12 after one quarter.
Caledonia got a field goal from Wes Rollins and a Brown-to-Camden Hurst touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Caledonia is open this week. It will play host to Choctaw County on Sept. 8. Aberdeen will play Friday at Amory.
n Nettleton 33, Hamilton 6: At Hamilton, the homestanding Lions scored first but things went downhill from there in their MHSAA game.
After the Lions recovered a fumble, Toby Young cashed on a 1-yard scoring run for Hamilton (1-1).
Nettleton (2-0) answered on the next possession, as Damien Early caught a 35-yard pass from Coleton Ausbern. Ausbern hit Dedrick Johnson from 6 yards out and plowed in from 2 yards to give the Tigers a 20-6 halftime lead.
In the second half, Ausbern hit Early for touchdown passes of 29 and 82 yards. Ausbern was 14-for-21 for 346 yards with four touchdowns. Early had eight catches for 213 yards and three scores.
Hamilton will play Friday at Hatley in its final non-region game of the season.
n Newton County Academy 27, Oak Hill Academy 21: At West Point, the visiting Generals racked up 320 yards rushing to ease out of town with a victory in MAIS play.
Braxton Rose ran 24 times for 188 yards with a touchdown, while Sage Gunn had eight rushes for 104 yards and another score. Gun also scored on a 57-yard punt return.
Newton County (2-0) built a 12-7 halftime lead and stretched that with two scores in the third quarter. Oak Hill Academy (0-1) rallied with two scores in the fourth quarter.
Oak Hill Academy had two defensive scores. Dylan Scott had a 50-yard fumble return. Ethan Bryan had a 30-yard fumble return. The other score was a 12-yard touchdown pass from John Carver Middleton to Daniel Harrington.
“We competed until the very end and didn’t quit,” Oak Hill Academy coach Chris Craven said. “We are still working on a set lineup at certain positions. There were a lot of positives we can build on. We did some things well and we just have to keep improving.”
Oak Hill Academy will play Friday at Strider Academy.
n Victory Christian Academy 60, Tabernacle (Ala.) 54: At Gardendale, Ala., the Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak in the series thanks to a 180-yard rushing effort by Garrett Anthony in their Christian Football Association (CFA) game.
Anthony rushed for four scores and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Forrester to help Victory Christian improve to 2-0 and 2-0 in the CFA.
“When you allow 54 points, you would think there is something to complain about. However, it just feels good to win again,” Victory Christian coach Chris Hamm said. “We have been having to teach our kids how to win again. After the last couple of seasons not being up to our usual standards, it feels good to go out there and get a win.”
Dakota Bradford had an interception with about two minutes remaining that helped seal the victory.
The last win against Tabernacle came in 2014, which was the last time Victory Christian won the CFA title.
Forrester was 6-for-11 for 135 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a conversion pass to Jay Elmore. His other score was a 76-yard pass to Elmore. Forrester added two 1-yard touchdown runs. Preston Kinard had a 1-yard touchdown run.
Bailey Parker, Garrett Anthony, and Kenny Collier led the way with seven tackles. Collier also had an interception. Elmore also had a fumble recovery and an interception.
“It was a total team effort,” Hamm said. “Our quarterback play was solid. Garrett had a great night. Our offensive line played well. It was nip-and-tuck all night, really a great game.”
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