ABERDEEN — In a play on an Aaron Levenstein original quote, former major league baseball player Toby Harrah once said, “Baseball statistics are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything.”
The second-round Class 3A Mississippi High School Activities Association playoff game between the Aberdeen High School and Water Valley High football teams is a case in point, as the Blue Devils held the Bulldogs’ offense to a season-low 184 yards, including only 106 through the air, and 65 on one play.
Aberdeen managed only one completion in the second half for a 1-yard gain, and Water Valley’s two quarterbacks threw for 10 more yards than Aberdeen’s two quarterbacks. The Blue Devils also finished with three more first downs (12-9) than Aberdeen.
Based on the home team’s lack of offensive production, it would seem logical to assume Water Valley would be the team making preparations to move on to the third round of the playoffs while the Bulldogs would be packing up the equipment for the season.
But as College Game Day’s Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend.”
Instead, Water Valley turned the ball over on seven of its first nine possessions, which opened the door for Aberdeen to roll to a 42-13 victory.
In all, Water Valley (7-6) lost four fumbles and threw three interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns, in the first half.
“Seven turnovers, it was a first half I can’t explain,” Water Valley coach Brad Embry said. “We prepared well, but sometimes things don’t work out like you planned.”
With the win, Aberdeen (10-3) earns the right to travel to Cleveland to face Cleveland East Side on Friday in the third round.
It didn’t take long for Water Valley’s turnover misery to materialize, as Kemar Sims recovered the opening kickoff to give Aberdeen a first down at the Blue Devils’ 35-yard line. Eight plays later, quarterback Tramonte Prather scored on a 2-yard run and then hit Dorian Fears for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Water Valley kept the ball a little longer on its second possession, but Justin Drake ended that drive near midfield with a fumble recovery, only to have the Blue Devils’ Grant Blake return the favor when he came up with Aberdeen’s only fumble five plays later.
Seconds later, Aberdeen regained possession when Tay Carothers came up with a loose ball at the Water Valley 34, but the Bulldogs couldn’t muster any traction after consecutive sacks and were forced to punt.
True to form, the Bulldogs regained possession two plays later when Shavez McMillian sacked quarterback Ty Varner and Carothers came up with the fumble recovery on the last play of the first quarter.
Carothers’ second recovery at the Water Valley 14 set up a Prather-to-Jerrick Orr 10-yard touchdown pass. Cornerback Quez Towns broke up the conversion pass.
After four consecutive recovered fumbles, Aberdeen feasted on Water Valley’s passing game the remainder of the second period.
Carothers intercepted a Kirkland Horton pass at the Aberdeen 25 and returned it 17 yards to the 42.
On first down, quarterback Byron Butler, under tremendous pressure after a bad center snap, launched a desperation pass that was caught by a diving B.J. Williams at the Blue Devil 43. But the drive stalled when the Dogs came up short on a fourth-and-5 from the 38.
Water Valley picked up 25 yards on a Varner-to-Jayvon Morgan completion, but Varner then went to the proverbial well one too any times and Williams dashed 66 yards with the interception for a 20-0 lead.
On Aberdeen’s next series, Horton stepped in front of a Prather pass at the 37 and returned it to the Aberdeen 9, He scored on a 3-yard quarterback keeper for the Blue Devils’ first touchdown. Edgar Guzman added the kick to cut Aberdeen’s lead to 13 points with a little more than two-and-a-half minutes left in the first half.
But Prather made up for the errant pass three plays later when he found Isiah McMillian 10 yards behind the nearest defender en route to a 65-yard pass-run play that helped give the Bulldogs a 28-7 cushion with 1:31 to play in the second quarter.
The fireworks weren’t over, as Varner completed three consecutive passes to Morgan for 47 yards, the longest of which covered 33 yards on a play on which he beat Orr. His third reception for 11 yards gave Water Valley a first down at the Aberdeen 11, but a 15-yard personal foul penalty pushed the Blue Devils back to the 25.
Orr then intercepted Varner at the goal line and turned on the after-burners, going 100 yards as time expired. Donte Carter’s conversion run gave Aberdeen a 36-7 halftime lead.
When asked why he just didn’t take a knee and let the clock run out to end the half, Orr said why waste three seconds?
“There were three seconds left, so why not give it a try,” Orr said.
Aberdeen coach Eric Spann said the defense came through with flying colors on a night when his offense didn’t have to carry the load.
“Defensively, we played lights out,” said Spann, singling out Shavez McMillian, Tay Carothers, Justin Drake, Johntae Everett, Kemar Sims, and Orr. “Shavez had a great week at practice and finished with about 10 tackles, a couple of sacks and two or three tackles-for-losses. Sims set the tone for the game with the fumble recovery on the opening kickoff and Carothers had three takeaways in a row and everything just came together defensively.”
Reverting to the ground game for the most part in the second half, Aberdeen increased its lead to 42-7 less than three minutes into the third quarter on a 5-yard plunge by Carter.
Water Valley countered with a 10-play, 58-yard march. Horton capped the drive with a 2-yard run. Guzman’s kick accounted for the final margin in a game that was broadcast on television by MaxxSouth Sports. Aberdeen native Frank Dodds handled the play-by-play.
And in yet another “blast-from-the past,” Water Valley’s defensive line coach was none other than former Blue Devil defensive standout Bryant Mix, a second-round draft pick (38th overall) by the Houston Oilers in the 1996 NFL draft.
Aberdeen football fans will remember Mix led his team to the 1990 state championship after almost single-handedly derailing the Bulldogs’ title hopes in a playoff win over coach Lynn Moore’s squad in a Thanksgiving matchup at Water Valley.
“Man, you’re going back a long time,” said Mix, who is in his 17th year coaching at Water Valley.
Upset with the loss, Embry said his team’s performance didn’t define the Blue Devils’ season.
“I’m upset with the loss, but it doesn’t take away from all the hard work the team put in throughout the season as they accomplished a lot,” Embry said. “Most of all, after the terrible first half, I’m most proud of the fact that the team came into the locker room at halftime realizing they hadn’t played well, didn’t point fingers at one another, and went back out the second half and played hard.”
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.