Defense leads WC by Tigers, PCA wins, Flashes fall

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 10, 2004

Porters Chapel slams CM&I in district opener, 60-0

[9/4/04]Porters Chapel took little time in disposing of CM&I in its District 4-A opener.

The Eagles (2-1, 1-0) racked up 240 rushing yards and held the Crusaders (0-1) to 26 total yards in a 60-0 thrashing on Friday.

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“This was a good district win,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. “We’re now sitting on top of the district.”

Cole Smith led the way on defense with three interceptions two of which were returned for touchdowns of 65 and 38 yards.

PCA spread its touches on offense, and eight different players reached the end zone.

Chris Mixon led the Eagles with 70 yards on nine carries with a score, and Gerald Mims added 59 yards on nine carries with a touchdown.

Kenny Simms had one carry for a 60-yard TD, and Spencer Carney, Corey Fuller and Judd Mims each had touchdown runs. Michael Busby also hit Hayden Hales for a 38-yard TD reception.

“I really think in the first two weeks we’ve made big improvements on the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage,” Wright said. “We’re making big holes, and we’ve got some guys that can get through those holes.”

Tallulah Academy 14, WCCA 6

Despite two turnovers and 12 penalties, Tallulah Academy held off a late charge by WCCA for the win.

Jonathan Dukes ran for 149 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Trojans (1-2).

With two seconds remaining in the first quarter, Dukes ran in a 3-yard touchdown. He added his second TD in the second quarter with a 14-yard scamper to give Tallulah a 14-0 lead.

WCCA’s Ruston Cado ran in a 1-yard touchdown with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter, but the Rams couldn’t reach the end zone again.

HAHS 20, Crystal Springs 7

Hinds AHS picked up its second victory on the legs of two 100-yard rushers.

Marcus McDonald had 162 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown (20), and Albert Williams ran 16 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns (7, 14). Williams also had an interception on defense.

After McDonald’s score in the first quarter, Crystal Springs tied the game at 7 in the second with a 64-yard run by Bobby Neal. Williams then answered right back for the War Dawgs (2-0) in the second quarter, and he added his second touchdown in the third.

Briarfield 34, Franklin 0

The Rebels scored 27 points in the third quarter to win their District 7-A opener, while the defense held strong and forced four turnovers in the game.

Briarfield rushed for 322 yards to Franklin’s 32. Stephen Landreneau led the Rebels (2-1, 1-0) with 124 yards on 10 carries. Jeff King had 34 rushing yards and two touchdowns (7, 1). King also returned a fumble 16 yards for a score.

Stephen Hernandez added a 7-yard touchdown run. Kyle Love led the Rebels with 13 tackles, and Joseph Hopkins had 12.

SIA 69, Rebul 0

Zach McDaniel had 279 rushing yards and six touchdowns (5, 5, 68, 40, 57, 11) to lead SIA past Rebul.

Tyler Hankins found Jess Hodnett for a 36-yard touchdown pass. Hankins also returned an interception 40 yards for a score. Chet Maranto had a 2-yard TD run, and Russell Barnes added a 15-yard score.

SIA piled up 393 rushing yards and held Rebul to 4 yards of total offense.

Meridian 24, Starkville 6

Derrick Davis rushed for 229 yards with four touchdowns to help No. 3 Meridian (2-0) beat No. 7 Starkville.

Davis scored on runs of 7, 2, 46 and 35 yards in the rout of No. 7 Starkville (1-1).

Collins 26, Greene County 0

O’Neal Fairley had a 17-yard return on a fumble recovery early in the first quarter to get No. 11 Collins on the board in a shutout of No. 17 Greene County.

Collins (2-0) scored three touchdowns in the first half and held Greene County (0-2) to just 35 yards of total offense in the second half.

St. Andrew’s pounds St. Aloysius in first half

A steady drizzle throughout the first half couldn’t wash away the dreary looks on the faces of the St. Aloysius players.

Mixing the run and the pass, St. Andrew’s overwhelmed the Flashes in the first half for a 33-7 victory on Friday. Bradford Blackmon rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns for the Saints, and Conway Craig connected with Tye Menist for a pair of scores. Craig also ran in a touchdown.

“We’ve just got to execute better,” St. Al coach Jim Taylor said. “We’re not executing in any phase of the game, and probably losing confidence as we go.”

The Saints’ defense held the Flashes to 27 yards on 17 plays for a 33-0 halftime lead.

“We knew coming into the game they were going to be fired up,” Blackmon said. “They wanted to beat us because we have a long rivalry with them. We just had to come out and play our hardest.”

The St. Aloysius defense came out more focused in the second half and allowed only 37 yards. The offense also punched in a score when Rob Jones ran for a 12-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

“We’ve got guys that are a lot better than they show,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to overcome this and have a good game this coming week.”

The Saints drove to the Flashes’ 37-yard line on their opening drive before St. Al held them to a fourth-and-6. St. Andrew’s faked the punt and Blackmon ran 11 yards for the first down, plus a late hit penalty that tacked on 13 more yards.

Two plays later, Craig found Menist on a 10-yard pass in the end zone.

“We set the tone on the first drive, we stopped them,” Taylor said. “We kept the defense out there and we let them run a fake punt on us for a first down.”

After holding the Flashes to a three-and-out, the Saints needed only three plays to score.

With St. Al focusing on Blackmon, St. Andrew’s took to the air again. Craig hit Menist with a 10-yard slant, and Menist broke a tackle to go 50 yards for the score.

Craig finished 3-of-4 with 80 yards passing and two touchdowns.

“Bradford adds a dimension and he does a lot of things,” St. Andrew’s coach David Bradberry said. “When he lines up, people have to know where he is. It opens up a lot of things, and you’ve got to be able to capitalize on that.”

Blackmon finally had a score of his own when he capped off a 49-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run that put St. Andrew’s up 19-0 with 8 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

It didn’t take long for Blackmon to find the end zone again. After Alan Landrum blocked Jordan Muirhead’s punt, St. Andrew’s started at the 5 and Blackmon scored on a 2-yard run.

“We had some big plays early,” Bradberry said. “We had a few pass plays right there that really opened it up, and Bradford made two or three runs in there during crunchtime.”

On the Flashes’ next drive, Daniel Halinski was sacked by David Marsh and fumbled. Marsh then recovered the football to set up another Saints’ score. Craig ran in a QB keeper from 3 yards out to put St. Andrew’s ahead 33-0 at the break.

“Everything is not lost yet, even though it might seem to be to the kids,” Taylor said. “We haven’t had a whole lot of positives yet. I heard one of them say they were embarrassed, but I’m not embarrassed as long as they keep putting out an effort.”