MABEN — After one quarter Friday, East Webster High School football coach Jimmy Carden was still waiting on his team”s wheels to start spinning.
West Lowndes matched East Webster”s performance early in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A, Region 2 matchup, only to see the Wolverines use five second-half touchdowns to pull away for a 62-14 win.
The Wolverines received six touchdowns from senior quarterback Ledrick Patterson, who scored twice through the air and ran for 130 yards on 10 carries.
Patterson and classmate Demetrius O”Briant led a rushing attack that accounted for 361 yards on 43 carries on Senior Night.
“Whether it”s the fullback, running back, or me, we haven”t been stopped all year,” said Patterson, who recorded the second six-score game of his career.
The Wolverines (11-0, 5-0 region) will play host to Bruce in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday.
East Webster”s defense was just as dominant, as it limited West Lowndes (6-4, 3-2) to 51 rushing yards on 23 carries. The Wolverines forced six turnovers, including three interceptions of Jamarquis Humphreys, who filled in for injured starter Gerald Sanders.
“This should be a great springboard,” Carden said. “They played well and responded to what we asked them to do. They seized the opportunities when West Lowndes gave it to us. We played unselfish, and you couldn”t ask for more.”
East Webster”s 62 points set a season-high, and matched the most points scored in a game since a 62-0 victory against East Oktibbeha in 2008.
Even though East Webster scored on its first two possessions, West Lowndes was on the verge of tying the game. But on the second play of the second quarter, defensive back Damien Britt intercepted “Wildcat” quarterback Antonio Wilson.
Britt helped set up a 46-yard touchdown run from Patterson, which gave East Webster a 20-6 lead.
“We didn”t really crank up ”til the second quarter,” Carden said. “We had Senior Day today, and it”s hard to stay focused one everything right here. There”s a lot going on with 16 senior boys and several senior cheerleaders, and all the other things going with parents being here for halftime ceremony. It”s just plain hard to focus.”
While the Wolverines couldn”t be stopped offensively, the Panthers had a handful of mistakes that helped put the game out of reach.
Humphreys lost a fumble at midfield, which East Webster converted into a touchdown, and Wilson threw an interception on West Lowndes” next drive. The interception capped a stretch of three turnovers on three straight downs.
West Lowndes coach Bobby Berry bemoaned the loss of Sanders, who injured his shoulder in a loss to Eupora last week.
“We had some letdowns, some fumbles at key times, and some interceptions,” Berry said. “East Webster has a fine football team. I won”t take anything away from them. But I just don”t think they”re 62-14 better than we are. Not saying we should have won, but I think we were sort of down because we didn”t have our leader.”
The Panthers had a three-and-out, a fumble, and an interception on their two drives of the third quarter.
“I was looking for a little bit better showing,” Berry said. “We played a little bit better but not as well as I would have liked. We still had some mental errors, but when you”re 40-50 points down it”s hard to come back. I”ve been in this a long time, and it just takes a while to get yourself adjusted and back to the things you need to do, especially when you”re that far down.”
Wilson led the Panthers with 40 yards on 12 carries.
O”Briant led East Webster with 143 yards on 15 carries. He scored two touchdowns.
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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.