STARKVILLE — The Lafayette County High School football team built a big first-half lead and then leaned on its defense to beat Poplarville 27-12 in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A State championship game at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
The victory helped Lafayette (13-2) win its third state title, and first since 2011.
Lafayette held Poplarville to 89 yards rushing in the first half and forced two turnovers. The second was a 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Brandon Turnage with 17 seconds left in the second quarter that gave Lafayette a 20-0 halftime lead.
Jesse Pernell ran for 216 yards and a touchdown for Poplarville (12-2).
Class 3A
n Kemper County 12, Charleston 8: At Starkville, Eric Clark threw two touchdowns passes to D.J. Clayton and Kemper County beat Charleston to win the MHSAA Class 3A State title game Saturday.
The Wildcats (15-1) won their first state championship and ended their season on a 15-game winning streak.
Clark was 9 of 20 for 251 yards and two touchdowns (one interception).
Clayton had five catches for 229 yards with two touchdowns. Clark’s first touchdown to Clayton was a 64-yarder that gave Kemper County a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
The second was a 48-yard strike with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Wildcats a 12-8 lead.
Quarterback Tre Truly led Charleston (13-3) with 80 yards rushing. Fred Hervey scored the Tigers lone touchdown on an 11-yard run in the third quarter that gave Charleston a 8-6 lead.
Friday
Class 6A
n Clinton 49, Pearl 35: At Starkville, Cam Akers ran for five touchdowns and threw for two more to lead Clinton past Pearl in the MHSAA Class 6A State title game.
The victory gave Clinton (14-1) its first state championship.
Akers, a five-star college prospect and the state of Mississippi’s most-coveted recruit, was 16 of 25 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. He had 30 carries for 217 yards and five touchdowns to earn the game’s Most Valuable Player honors.
Akers’ 36-yard run with 10:36 left in the second quarter gave Clinton the lead for good at 14-7. His 46-yard touchdown pass went to Jordan Patton as time expired in the first half.
Jake Smithhart, who threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns for Pearl (11-4). Tylan Knight, Willie Brown, and Jaylon Stovall rushed for touchdown for the Pirates.
Class 2A
n Calhoun City 22, Bay Springs 8: At Starkville, Calhoun City used a dominating defensive performance in the second half to beat Bay Springs in the MHSAA Class 2A State title game.
The Wildcats (15-1) won their first state title since 1989, and second in school history.
Calhoun City’s defense intercepted three passes and held Bay Springs to 176 yards of offense.
Calhoun City quarterback Jojo Gray threw for a touchdown and ran for another score, which earned him the game’s Most Valuable Player honors.
Gray’s touchdown pass to A’Tarius Moore on a fourth down gave Calhoun City a 16-8 lead with 4:08 left in the third quarter. His rushing touchdown came from 6 yards out and gave the Wildcats a 22-8 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Caderius Lee threw for 113 yards for Bay Springs (12-4).
Class 1A
n Simmons 30, Lumberton 26: At Starkville, Marquez Pam rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns Friday to help Simmons win back-to-back Class 1A State titles and extend its state-leading winning streak to 25 games.
Pam had a 58-yard interception return to set up his first score, a 1-yard run, that gave Simmons a 14-6 lead.
Pam’s second touchdown, a 4-yard run, gave Simmons (13-0) a 30-20 lead with a little more than four minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils had three touchdowns called back due to penalties.
Lumberton (12-3) answered on Jared Tribett’s third touchdown, a 16-yard pass to Erron Joseph. The conversion run failed. Lumberton recovered the onside kick with less than two minutes remaining, but a holding penalty nullified a 9-yard gain on first down. A fourth-down play fell short.
Tribett was 9 of 25 for 168 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Joseph had four catches for 77 yards and a score.
Alabama
Class 3A
n Fyffe 28, Aliceville 0: At Auburn, Alabama, Dilan Kirkpatrick rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, and Fyffe shut out Aliceville in the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 2A State title game Friday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Fyffe (15-0) was in control early after scoring on its first possession, a 17-yard run by Kirkpatrick. The defense throttled the Yellow Jackets’ offense for the remainder of the game to help the Red Devils finish off an undefeated season and capture their second state championship.
Kirkpatrick keyed Fyffe’s grind-it-out offense, which averaged 5.7 yards per play. Fyffe outgained Aliceville 334-105 and had 21 first downs to the Yellow Jackets’ five.
Deonte Taylor led Aliceville (13-2) in rushing with 45 yards, and quarterback Santiago Taylor was limited to 1-of-7 passing for 23 yards and an interception.
Fyffe quarterback Seth Benefield, who had thrown 37 passes all year entering the title game, completed 1 of 3 attempts for 24 yards to go along with 51 rushing yards on 11 carries.
DeMontez Hilton added nine carries for 31 yards for Aliceville. The Yellow Jackets had 27 carries for 84 yards.
Darien Spencer had a team-high eight solo tackles (11 overall). Jamar Richardson added seven solo tackles (eight overall), while Elijah Plott had four solo tackles (eight), Malik Bonner had three (eight), and Albert Wells had two (11).
Class 6A
n Ramsay 21, Opelika 16: At Auburn, Alabama, Baniko Harley threw for 132 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 139 yards, and Ramsay held off a furious Opelika comeback to win the AHSAA 6A State title game Friday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Harley, who took home MVP honors, helped Ramsay (13-2) possess the ball for 30:13 — compared to 17:41 for Opelika (13-2) — to guide the Rams to their first state championship, 40 years after the football team shuttered in 1976 before resurfacing in 2012.
The Rams jumped on Opelika early and led by as many as 14 points, but the Bulldogs fought back in the final quarter. They got within one score on a 40-yard fake-punt touchdown and got two points closer on an ensuing safety, but Opelika running back Weldrin Ford’s carry on fourth down came up inches short of the yard marker on the Bulldogs’ final drive.
Ford had 23 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Class 4A
n Handley 30, Madison Academy 7: At Auburn, Alabama, Rhett Fetner threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, and Handley used a smothering defense to beat Madison Academy in the AHSAA Class 4A State title game Friday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Handley broke the game open with a 21-point second quarter to lead by 30 at halftime, and Handley’s defense kept Madison Academy’s high-octane passing offense in check to claim their second state title. It was a rematch of the 2011 Class 3A championship game, which Handley also won.
Fetner’s first touchdown, a 75-yard pass to Malik Meadows in the first quarter, tied the 4A state record for longest touchdown pass in the title game.
Handley held Madison Academy quarterback Grayson Edgemon — who entered the game having thrown for 3,090 yards and 35 touchdowns — to nine completions on 34 attempts. The Mustangs were outgained 314-186, including 82 to minus-11 on the ground.
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