WEST LOWNDES — School may be back in session, but Vardaman (1-3) failed its test Friday night as West Lowndes (3-2) rolled to a 41-0 victory.
In a first half that saw the Panthers notch 35 points, it was quarterback Melvin Crawford Jr. who led the aerial assault. Connecting for touchdown passes of 62, 33, 20 and 14 yards, Crawford also earned rushing scores of 8 and 23 yards on the night.
“We saw poise,” West Lowndes head coach Anthony King said. “We want him to have poise; we’re going to give him time. We need him to hit his guys, and he did it tonight.”
The Panthers first score of the night came on one of Crawford’s and Marquez Shelton’s three scoring connections — the initial one coming from 14 yards out.
Following a short punt by the Rams, Crawford was intercepted on the goal line before the Vardaman defender was stripped and possession returned to the Panthers inside the five-yard-line. A sack, a penalty and two plays later, Crawford scampered into the end zone on a 23-yard option keeper to the right sideline.
With the first half clock ticking down inside a minute, the Panthers took over with another short field inside Vardaman territory. Narrowly missing a streaking Decamby Willis on the first play of the possession, Crawford found him on the ensuing snap for a 33-yard touchdown with less than 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
“He had a one-on-one matchup on the outside with a smaller defender,” Crawford explained. “I knew if I put it right there he would catch it, and he was able to catch it.”
Defensively, longtime Louisville coach M.C. Miller rather emphatically guided the Panthers to a swarming performance. Miller — who spurned retirement in order to coach alongside King — barked orders left and right, redirecting and ordering around the West Lowndes defense as Vardaman crossed midfield just twice in Friday’s dominant first half.
“They don’t have any choice,” King quipped of how his squad has responded to Miller’s presence. “He’s a no-nonsense coach. He’s going to be in your face; he’ll be on you; he’s going to call you when you’re wrong and so they’re just going to have to do it right or they’re going to be on the sideline.”
Shelton offered the most prolific defensive play of the night as he skied over a Rams receiver for a pick near the West Lowndes 20-yard line. Returning the interception deep into Rams territory, a block in the back brought the line of scrimmage back to the Panther 38 yard line. One play later, Shelton beat his defender down the right sideline for a 62-yard score.
“It was the perfect game,” King said. “We needed a win, and we needed an impressive win, and guys came out and pretty much executed everything.”
West Lowndes 41, Vardaman 0
V 0 0 0 0 — 0
WL 14 21 6 0 — 41
First quarter
WL — Marquez Shelton 14 pass from Melvin Crawford Jr. (kick failed)
WL — Crawford 23 run (two-point conversion good)
Second quarter
WL — Shelton 62 pass from Crawford Jr. (kick failed)
WL — Crawford 8 run (two-point conversion good)
WL — Decamby Willis 33 pass from Crawford (Jaquavious Tate kick)
Third quarter
WL — Cordarius McGee 20 pass from Crawford (kick failed)
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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