HERNANDO — The West Point High School football has found a return to normalcy in Class 5A, Region 1.
The Green Wave rushed for 245 yards and moved to 2-0 in region play Friday night with a 49-14 victory at Hernando.
“We played well in all aspects of the game,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “Sometimes, when you play the first region game on the road, you don’t know what to expect. I thought we came out really focused and did a great job of taking care of our business.”
West Point (4-2) scored on three of four first-half possession. The Green Wave controlled the clock with a punishing rushing attack. Junior Aeris Williams scored on first-half scoring runs of 4, 10, and 15 yards. Dvante Randle also had a 41-yard interception return for a score.
The Green Wave held Hernando out of the red zone and led 28-0 at halftime.
“We had the opportunity to get several players some playing time,” Chambless said. “The consistency we had on both sides of the ball was good.”
Quarterback Tez Lane began the second half scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run for the Green Wave. Josh Ewing found Terence Minor on a 28-yard scoring play. Dashon Thomas also had a 13-yard run.
Hernando (2-4, 0-2) broke the shutout with two long rushing plays against reserves late in the game.
Williams had 112 rushing yards, while Lane ran for 75 yards.
West Point will play host to Clarksdale (3-3, 1-1) in another region game Friday night.
n Oxford 29, New Hope 17: At Oxford, The Trojans had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter only to come up empty before an interception return for a touchdown dropped them to 0-2 in Class 5A, Region 1.
J.R. Anderson’s 48-yard interception return with less than a minute to play sealed the deal and allowed Oxford to improve to 6-0 and 2-0 in the district.
New Hope quarterback Brady Davis threw for more than 200 yards and had a 50-yard touchdown pass to Trae Collins.
Justin Sherrod’s 1-yard touchdown and Austin Oswalt’s extra cut the Chargers’ lead to 22-17 with 9 minutes, 56 seconds to play in the game.
“We played our guts out,” New Hope coach Michael Bradley said. “I was real proud of the effort our team gave. I was real proud of them.”
Bradley said New Hope called timeout with the ball on about the Chargers’ 3-yard line with a chance to take the lead. He said the Trojans called a play-action pass and were looking for Tee Payne in the end zone, but Davis was sacked. New Hope then couldn’t convert a field goal attempt.
“We outgained them and thought we played extremely hard,” Bradley said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win there at the end and it came down to a couple of plays. We didn’t make the plays and Oxford did.”
New Hope will play host to Hernando next week.
“If we will play that hard every game and play together as a team good things will happen for us before the year is over with,” Bradley said. “We’re going to win some games. Some of the younger kids grew up a little bit. The offensive line played fairly well. We’re just going to keep working every day and getting better.”
n Victory Christian 61, Flint Hill Christian 0: At Columbus, The Eagles improved to 2-4 and 2-1 in the Christian Football Association with the shutout.
Anthony Sharp, who had 90 rushing yards, scored on a 59-yard run and on a 31-yard run. Michael Elliott, who had 44 rushing yards, caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Bryer Bolton.
Hunter Austin scored on a 1-yard run and also had a fumble recovery in the end zone for another score.
Cody Bolton added a punt return for a touchdown and a 58-yard run for a score. A 10-yard run by Will Jones and a 38-yard run by Taylor Frye completed the scoring.
Joshua Foxworthy and Austin had six tackles to lead the Eagles.
n Immanuel Christian 22, Carroll Academy 12: At Steens, The Rams improved to 3-4 with their non-district victory.
Joshua Dantzler scored on a 5-yard run in the first quarter. K.C. Cunningham threw to Omar Aquil for the conversion.
Carroll Academy cut into the lead in the second quarter before the Rams answered with a 9-yard run by Dantzler.
The Rams led 14-6 at halftime and used an 80-yard interception return by Dantzler to take a 22-6 lead.
Immanuel Christian held inside the 20 late in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
Cunningham had 45 rushing yards, Justin Tate had 77 rushing yards, and Dantzler rushed for 38 yards. D.J. Shirley had one catch for 24 yards and Tate had one catch for 11 yards
Luke Hudson led the Rams with 13 tackles. Will Harmond added nine, while Shirley and Cunningham each had eight and Bruce Baudoin had seven. Ryan Forrester had a fumble recovery.
n Starkville Academy 40, Copiah Academy 0: At Gallman, The Volunteers took another huge step toward returning to the postseason with their road win in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 2 action.
Starkville Academy improved to 4-3 and 2-1 in district play. It can wrap up the Division II title with a victory Oct. 19 at East Rankin Academy.
“We played well defensively,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “Offensively, we got a lot of players involved. I thought our attitude. We played well from the opening kickoff. We did a much better job of eliminating mistakes and staying on schedule.”
Junior fullback Michael Miller set the early tone for the Volunteers. Miller scored on runs of 1 and 27 yards as Starkville Academy bolted to a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Miller had nine rushes for 44 yards.
Starkville Academy ran the halftime lead to 33-0 with scores offensively, defensively, and on special team. A blocked punt led to a safety. The Volunteers also got a 23-yard field goal from Jonathon Burton, a 23-yard interception return for touchdown by Drew Harrell, and a 21-yard scoring strike from quarterback Drew Pellum to Hunter Bolin.
Pellum had four completions for 55 yards. He also capped the game’s scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Colby Runnels led Starkville Academy with 67 rushing yards on nine carries. Zach Slaughter had six rushes for 37 yards and 26 receiving yards on two catches.
“Defensively, we forced some turnovers and took advantage of those mistakes,” Terrill said. “The kids keep working hard. We just need more consistent efforts like this one.”
Kirby Cox, Stephen Robertson, and Harrell were the top tacklers for the Volunteers. Starkville Academy forced four turnovers in its fourth shutout of the season.
Starkville Academy will travel to Parklane Academy (6-1, 2-0) on Friday night.
n Hebron Christian 28, Kemper Academy 16: At Pheba, The Eagles improved to 7-0 and completed a three-game homestand with a hard-fought victory.
“Kemper Academy has a really good team,” Hebron Christian coach David Foster said. “We were down 16-6 in the second quarter. I was really proud of the way we came back because we hadn’t been down like that all year.”
Hebron Christian quarterback Will-Corben Rogers hit Ryan Moore for two touchdown passes. Rogers and Moore hooked up on a 21-yard pass play late in the second quarter. A two-point conversion run by Austin Foster brought the Eagles within 16-14 halftime.
Rogers hit Moore again, this time from 7 yards, to give Hebron Christian the lead for good early in the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion run by Taylor Coggins extended the lead to 22-14.
Rogers had seven carries for 100 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run. He was 3 of 4 (all to Moore) for 34 yards. Rogers also added a 36 yards in punt returns.
Coggins ran 21 times for 82 yards. Foster added 15 rushes for 49 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run.
“We had a real good drive to start the game but didn’t score,” Foster said. “We scored on our second possession. Kemper then hit us with a couple of touchdowns on screen plays. I was proud the kids didn’t get down and kept chugging instead.”
An interception by Andrew Myatt sealed the victory for the Eagles. Foster 11 total tackles, while Rogers added nine tackles and Ryan Moore added eight tackles and a sack. Troy Arnold also had seven tackles.
“Defensively, we were really good except for a couple of big pass plays there in the second quarter,” Fosters said. “Our seniors really stepped it up and led us in the victory.”
Hebron Christian will travel to Flint Hill Christian on Friday night.
n Noxapater 28, West Lowndes 0: At Louisville, The Panthers competed well defensively, but their offense couldn’t keep up in the Class 1A, Region 3 game.
“We had a tough night on offense,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We could not really get anything going. Our defense played well but we asked too much of them. They were simply on the field too long.”
West Lowndes (3-3, 2-1) was held below 50 yards of total offense and also committed two turnovers. Defensively, Devonta Koger paced the Panthers with 17 tackles, while Phytrel Williams had 12 tackles and an interception.
For Noxapater (5-0, 2-0), quarterback Tyrell Carter threw for one touchdown and rushed for another. Trey Baber had two rushing scores, while Katorris Corburn had another score.
Jevontrae Williams paced West Lowndes with 10 rushing yards on eight carries. Katzman Rogers also had 10 total tackles, including eight solo stops.
“This is a tough stretch of games for us,” King said. “Noxapater, then Pelahatchie and then West Oktibbeha. We will have to grow up fast and keep working hard.”
West Lowndes plays host to Pelahatchie (6-1, 4-0) in another Region 3-1A contest Friday night.
n Russell Academy 45, Central Academy 0: At Meridian, The top-ranked Warriors earned a Homecoming victory to send the Vikings to 0-7.
Russell Academy scored in every quarter, concluding with a 40 yard field goal.
Russ Taylor was the offensive workhorse for Central Academy, gaining 48 yards on the ground along and completing three passes. Colby Robbins had two receptions for 13 yards.
Robbins and Taylor led the defense along with Wyatt Norris, Tyler Cumberland, and Jacob Craig.
Central Academy will return home Friday night to play host to the North Sunflower Rebels, who are also 0-7. Coach Billy Bowman said he was pleased his team continued to play hard again against a much bigger and deeper opponent. He said that this continued effort bodes well not only for the future, but it also demonstrates the players will play to the final whistle.
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