From Special Reports
WEST POINT – Down 15 points early, the Oak Hill Academy football team did not panic Friday night.
They simply went to work.
Oak Hill scored a touchdown apiece in the final three quarters to knock off Winston Academy 20-15 in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA, District 2 contest.
Joseph Caskey scored the game-winning touchdown on a fourth-and-1 carry at the Winston 30-yard line with 1:09 left in regulation.
“When we faced adversity, the kids battled through it,” Oak Hill Academy coach Daniel Merchant said. “It was a very hard-fought game and was great to come out on top.”
Oak Hill Academy improved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in district play. In the process, Oak Hill Academy snapped a two-game losing streak.
“The kids know they are going to have work harder this year because we aren’t going to catch anybody by surprise,” Merchant said. “Even though we lost a couple of games, we had been playing well. We just needed to make a few more plays.”
Against Winston, Oak Hill finished with 285 yards of total offense, including 258 rushing yards on 54 carries.
Drew Riley had 17 rushes for 76 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown run. Samuel Harrell added 10 rushes for 49 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown run. Joseph Caskey had two rushes for 33 yards, including the game-winning touchdown and follow-up 2-point conversion.
Drake Riley had 20 carries for 73 yards, while A.J. Iseley had three carries for 31 yards.
Defensively, Drake Riley had 15 total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Joseph Caskey had 13 total tackles, including two for loss and a forced fumble. Chase Nash added 10 total tackles, while Dakota O’Bryant had nine total tackles. Bradley Allen added a fumble recovery.
“In the last three quarters, the defense played lights out,” Merchant said. “We have some veteran leads on that side of the ball and they really stepped up.”
Oak Hill Academy steps out of district play Friday night with a road trip to Newton County Academy.
n Hebron Christian 46, Calvary Christian 0: At Meridian, the Eagles bounced back into the win column with a non-district win Thursday night.
“It was a good team effort all the way around,” Hebron Christian coach David Foster said. “We got to play everybody. The line really asserted themselves early. We got a good lead and was able to build on that.”
For Hebron Christian, Justin Gordon opened the scoring on a 27-yard touchdown run. He then followed that up with 16-yard touchdown run, with Channing Tapley keeping for the 2-point conversion. Landon Hill scored next on a 32-yard run. This time, Tapley hit Hayden Carty on the conversion attempt for a 22-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Collin Moore scored on a 14-yard run, with Hill getting the conversion. Trey Chism then scored on a 12-yard run for the Eagles, with Moore scoring the conversion. A 4-yard run by Gordon – his third touchdown – and 2-point rush by Tapley capped the scoring.
Hebron Christian finished with 357 rushing yards in the win.
Hebron Christian is open this week before going to Delta Academy on Sept. 27.
n Victory Christian Academy 63, Tabernacle Christian 20: At Gardendale, Ala., Anthony Sharp had 12 carries for 195 yards and five touchdowns Friday night to lead the Eagles (3-1) earn their Christian Football Association victory.
Sharp scored on runs of 48, 3, 17, 54, and 39 yards. He also caught a 25-yard pass from Reed Fulgham.
Cody Bolton had 11 carries for 116 yards. He scored on a 22-yard run. Will Jones added a 42-yard touchdown run. He also recovered a fumble.
Brandon Shaw led Victory Christian with 17 tackles. Bo McCrary had 15.
Victory Christian will play host to Ezekiel Christian out of Montgomery, Ala., at 7 p.m. Friday.
n Nanih Waiya 47, East Oktibbeha 13: At Louisville, the Titans had a tough night in their Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A, Region 3 and regular season opener.
East Oktibbeha managed 134 yards of total offense. Justin Williams led the rushing attack with 10 carries for 40 yards. John Kincaid added 12 rushes for 35 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown run. Destin Covington had 110 yards in kick returns, including a 70-yard kickoff return for touchdown.
Defensively, Justin Williams had 14 total tackles. James Brownlee was next with seven total stops.
“We had a difficult assignment in the first game,” East Oktibbeha coach John Davis said. “It was obvious that it was our first game but we saw a lot of good things.”
East Oktibbeha plays host to Sebastopol in another region game Friday night.
n Sebastopol 47, West Oktibbeha 0: At Sebastopol, Timberwolves coach Danny Crawford thought Sebastopol had a huge advantage having played three games, while West Oktibbeha played its season and Region 3-1A opener Friday night.
“We had some first-game issues,” Crawford said. “It was obvious that Sebastopol had a little more experience and they were more comfortable with doing the things that they do. We had some bright spots and we are looking forward to playing again and seeing how much progress we can make.”
For West Oktibbeha, Kardarius Yates had 150 yards receiving. Braylon Fisher led the Timberwolves’ defense with nine tackles.
West Oktibbeha plays host to Noxapater Friday night.
n New Site 27, Immanuel 14: At Booneville, after playing an 82-80, multiple overtime thriller last season, the encore was less dramatic as the Rams could not build on last week’s win over Carroll Academy.
For Immanuel (2-2), Jay Jay Swanagin completed 11-of-25 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Swanagin also paced his squad’s rushing efforts with seven rushes for 73 yards. Receiving wise, Jaelin Bankhead had two receptions for 103 yards, while KC Cunningham had six receptions for 82 yards.
Defensively, Luke Hudson led the way with nine total tackles, while BJ Shirley had eight total tackles.
Immnauel Christian visits Heidelberg Academy Friday night.
n Pelahatchie 47, West Lowndes 13: At Columbus, the Panthers dropped their Region 3-1A opener at home Friday night.
West Lowndes remains in region play Friday night by going to French Camp Academy.
n Hamilton 31, Vardaman 7: At Hamilton, the Lions improved to 3-1 while winning their Region 1-1A opener.
For Hamilton, Keshon Heard scored two first-quarter touchdowns on runs of 17 and 2 yards. The Lions extended the lead on two touchdowns by Pallas Fair on runs of 9 and 37 yards.
“We had too many penalties and came out flat in the second half,” Hamilton coach Ray Weeks said. “We definitely have some work to do.”
Defensively, the Lions also got into the act with a pair of safeties.
Hamilton plays a Thursday night region game this week at Falkner.
n Kemper Academy 52, Central Academy 12: At Macon, the visiting Rams opened the game with three straight touchdowns and cruised to victory from there.
Russ Taylor and Colby Robbins scored for the Vikings (1-3).
Central Academy visits Rebul Academy Friday night.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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