STEENS — Norris Harris rushed for 268 yards and two touchdowns Friday night to lead the Immanuel Christian football team to a 37-12 victory against New Site in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A action.
The victory helped Immanuel (6-5) record its most wins in a season since 2003, when Gary White led the team to a 7-3 finish. That team lost to Open Door 48-35 in the CFA playoffs.
Harris started the scoring in the first quarter with an 8-yard run. Michael Tate, who had 81 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a 28-yard run to help give the Rams a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.
Harris” 68-yard scamper came in the second quarter.
New Site scored in the second quarter on a 13-yard pass.
With a 21-6 halftime lead, Immanuel Christian quarterback Ross Moore scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. Later in the third quarter, New Site scored on a 7-yard run.
In the fourth quarter, Tate started the Immanuel Christian scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. Joel Meek, the hero in last week”s playoff-clinching 37-34 victory against Central Holmes Christian, booted a 36-yard field goal.
Zack Kimbrell had 13 tackles to lead Immanuel Christian. Wesley Lake and James Riley each had five tackles, and Jacob Rhodes added an interception.
- Hernando 22, New Hope 0: At Hernando, Ronnie Jones rushed for 130 of the Tigers” 352 yards on the ground in a key Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 1 victory.
The win helped Hernando (7-4, 4-2 region) move into a three-way tie for second place with Oxford (7-3) and New Hope (6-4) in the region.
New Hope will play host to Indianola Gentry, while Hernando will play host to region champion and defending Class 5A champion West Point and Oxford will play at last-place Saltillo on Friday.
A New Hope victory coupled with wins by West Point and Oxford would allow the Trojans to secure second in the region and a home playoff game in the first round. New Hope, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, defeated Oxford 38-27 on Sept. 24.
On Friday, though, nothing worked for New Hope.
“It was just a bad night,” said New Hope coach Michael Bradley, whose team had to overcome bus problems on its three-plus hour trip. “I have never been a part of a deal like that where everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”
New Hope also lost wide receiver Darius Petty for the season due to a concussion. Petty suffered the injury trying to make a catch on a play that went against the Trojans for an interception.
That turnover allowed Hernando to build on Jones” score and helped set up Eli Canton for a 2-yard score that extended the lead to 14-0 in the first quarter.
Quarterback Kedric Merriweather”s 15-yard run on third-and-13 helped keep the initial scoring drive alive.
New Hope had an opportunity to cut into the lead just before halftime, as Kris Douglas and Curtis Shirley forced a fumble. The Trojans took over on the Tigers” 2-yard line but fumbled the snap on their first play with a little more than three minutes remaining in the half.
The mistake was one of two times in which the Trojans failed to convert inside the 5-yard line.
“Our red-zone offense was non-existent,” Bradley said. “We didn”t play very good. Hernando played really good. They were ready to play and very well prepared. We did not play and we didn”t tackle worth 10 cents. We were not in position a lot of times.”
Terrance Dentry led New Hope with 62 rushing yards, followed by Franklin Richardson Jr., who had 39.
Quarterback Zak Thrasher was 9 of 16 for 62 yards. Lawrence Brown had three catches for 35 yards.
David Richardson led the team with eight tackles and a sack.
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