The Oak Hill Academy football team continued its winning ways Friday night with a 32-14 victory against Kirk Academy.
The Raiders built a 12-0 halftime lead before cruising to the non-district victory.
Oak Hill Academy (5-5, 1-3 district) will return to Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA, District 2 play Friday night with a road game at Immanuel Christian (3-7, 0-4). The Raiders can quality for Class AA wild card playoff berth with a victory against Immanuel Christian and losses by Manchester Academy at Canton Academy and Winston Academy at Leake Academy.
Oak Hill Academy finished with 411 yards of offense, including 341 yards rushing. Jeb Stevens celebrated his senior night with eight rushes for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Drake Riley had 11 rushes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Samuel Harrell had eight rushes for 95 yards, while Drew Riley had seven rushes for 46 yards.
Riley Pierce was 4 of 10 for 70 yards and a touchdown. Bradley Allen had two receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown. Stevens had one catch for 10 yards, while Drew Riley had one catch for three yards.
On defense, Oak Hill Academy forced four turnovers and blocked a punt. Drew Riley had two interceptions, while Blake Henley had an interception. Curt Huffman blocked a punt and recovered a fumble.
Drake Riley recorded seven total tackles. Joseph Caskey had four tackles, with one for loss. Stevens had four tackles, including a sack.
n Nanih Waiya 28, West Lowndes 14: At Columbus, a second-half rally fell short as the Panthers were eliminated for playoff consideration in their Class 1A, Region 3 loss.
Nanih Waiya (5-4, 4-2) clinched the fourth and final playoff spot by building a 14-0 halftime lead. West Lowndes (3-6, 2-4) closed within a single score twice in the second half.
For West Lowndes, Justin Stephenson was 11 of 16 for 154 yards with a touchdown and interception. Daniel Davis was 2 of 6 for 9 yards but was intercepted twice.
On the ground, the Panthers were limited to just 40 rushing yards on 19 totes. Justin Stephenson ran for a team-high 23 yards. Mack Smith had a team-high five receptions for 62 yards.
West Lowndes closed within 14-8 in the early stages of the third quarter on a 15-yard return of a blocked punt by Ronnie Porter. The other touchdown was a 20-yard pass play in the fourth quarter from Stephenson to Dearius Douglas.
Defensively, Devonta Koger had 16 tackles, a sack and also blocked a punt for the Panthers. Porter and Breshon Brooks each added 12 tackles. Douglas added 11 tackles.
n Kosciusko 42, Caledonia 18: At Caledonia, the Confederates scored the game’s first two touchdowns but couldn’t make that lead stand up in a Class 4A, Region 4 game.
Randy Randle scored both touchdowns for Caledonia (4-6, 0-4). Randle scored a 5-yard rushing touchdown and then added a 45-yard interception return for a 12-0 lead.
Kosciusko (4-6, 2-2) righted the ship with two first-quarter scores on rushing touchdowns by Jerrell Jackson and Deavolon Edwards. A 2-yard touchdown by Jabri Selmon placed the Whippets on top 21-12 at halftime.
In the second half, the Whippets blew the contest open with 21 points in the third quarter. Tim Wade hit Zach Quillen for a pair of touchdowns, before Jackson finished the scoring with his second touchdown of the night.
Kosciusko will travel to Houston (8-2, 2-2) in a region matchup for third place Friday night. Caledonia will close the season Friday when it plays host to region champion Noxubee County (10-0, 4-0).
n East Webster 24, Hamilton 0: At Hamilton, the Lions secured a Class 2A playoff berth despite their Class 2A, Region 2 loss to the Wolverines..
Hamilton (4-6, 2-2) secured the fourth place in the region thanks to losses by Williams-Sullivan and J.Z. George. East Webster (8-2, 3-1) will play host to Eupora (9-1, 4-0) Friday night for the region championship. The Wolverines could still grab second with a loss but would also need Ackerman (7-3, 3-1) to lose at home to Hamilton.
Deangelo Liggins passed for one touchdown and caught another for East Webster. Liggins hit McKinley Hollenhead for a 32-yard touchdown passing, while catching 27-yard scoring strike from Jack Wilson.
Liggins was 4 of 6 for 60 yards. He also rushed for 44 yards.
n East Rankin Academy 34, Starkville Academy 29: At Pelahatchie, the Volunteers fell in heart-breaking fashion in a game that decided first place in MAIS Class AAA, District 2, Division II play.
The Volunteers (5-5, 2-3) erased a 28-7 deficit only to see East Rankin Academy drive 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.
Colby Runnels scored on a 6-yard touchdown and added the two-point conversion run to give the Volunteers a 29-28 lead with 1 minute, 10 seconds left in regulation. The Patriots (6-4, 2-3) scored the game-winning touchdown on a 36-yard pass with 26 seconds left.
The lone Starkville Academy touchdown in the first half was a 2-yard run by Runnels. Runnels also began the rally with a 3-yard touchdown run. Drew Pellum also had a 6-yard rushing score.
Runnels rushed 25 times for 133 yards with three touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 16 yards. Pellum rushed eight times for 67 yards.
Starkville Academy had 304 yards of offense, including 260 rushing.
Drew Harrell, Bailey Newell, Trip Janssen, and Jonathon Black led the Volunteers’ defense.
Starkville Academy will play host to Presbyterian Christian on Friday night to complete the regular season. The Volunteers will play a first-round playoff game Nov. 2.
n Humphreys Academy 36, Hebron Christian 12: At Pheba, the Eagles dropped a second straight to complete the regular season at 8-2.
Taylor Coggins led Hebron Christian with 110 rushing yards, including a touchdown. Will-Corben Rogers also threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Myatt.
n Winston Academy 64, Immanuel Christian 28: At Louisville, the Rams slipped to 3-7 and remained winless (0-4) in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Association Class AA, District 2.
Joshua Dantzler had eight carries for 42 yards and a touchdown, Ryan Forrester had eight carries for 27 yards, Justin Tate had nine carries for 18, and K.C. Cunningham had 11 carries for 5 yards.
Cunningham was 6 of 11 for 53 yards, while Steven Good was 6 of 9 for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Tate had two catches for 67 yards and a touchdown, Dantzler had catches for 59 yards, while Forrester had two catches for 13 yards.
Forrester and Tate each had seven tackles, while Bruce Baudoin had six tackles. Wilson Harmond had a fumble recovery in the end zone.
n Tuscaloosa Christian 41, Victory Christian 22: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., the Eagles (3-5, 3-2 Christian Football Association) slipped to the No. 3 seed for the playoffs in the CFA.
As a result, Victory Christian will go back to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play Tuscaloosa Christian (5-3, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round of the CFA playoffs.
Anthony Sharp rushed for 203 yards on 32 carries. He had a 6-yard touchdown run.
Sean Meadows had three catches for 83 yards. Bryer Bolton scored on a 1-yard run and on a 3-yard run. Bolton 3 of 14 for 90 yards with four interceptions, while Sharp was 2 of 8 for 21 yards.
Bo McCrary led the Eagles with seven tackles. Joshua Foxworthy had six.
n Aberdeen 20, Water Valley 13: At Aberdeen Josh Williams threw touchdown passes to Aaron McMillian and Sammie Burroughs to help the Bulldogs improve to 8-2 and clinch first place in Class 3A, Region 2.
McMillian and Burroughs also had interceptions to help Aberdeen drop Water Valley to 8-2 and 3-1.
Brandon Bounds scored on a 33-yard run to give Water Valley the early lead.
Aberdeen overcame turnovers and mistakes when Williams hit McMillian on a 70-yard pass play. Chico Harrison (21 carries, 138 yards) had an 8-yard touchdown run just before halftime to give the Bulldogs the momentum.
Water Valley re-took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by Bounds at the 8:50 mark, but it failed the two-point conversion.
Aberdeen then went ahead for good on ensuing possession, as Williams completed a 26-yard pass on fourth-and-11 to Burroughs for a score. The two-point pass was good.
Water Valley drove to the Aberdeen 12 before McMillian intercepted EJ Bounds.
n Calvary Christian Academy 40, Central Academy 14: At Meridian, the Vikings (0-9) closed out their season with their best offensive showing of the year.
Four first-half turnovers allowed Calvary to build a 40-0 lead, but Central Academy outscored Calvary 14-0 in the second half.
The Vikings scored both of their touchdowns on the ground in the fourth qquarter. Colby Robbins scored on a 6-yard run. He then passed to William Dawkins for the two point conversion. Following a successful onside kick, leading rusher Russ Taylor had a 9-yard touchdown run.
Taylor led the offense with 67 yards rushing. Darrell Tate rushed for 42 yards. Four lost fumbles and an interception limited opportunities on offense.
Robbins was the leading tackler with 11, followed by Jack Vandevender (eight). Dawkins and Taylor each had seven tackles. Tate, Wyatt Norris, and Jacob Craig each had multiple tackles. Tyler Cumberland had a fumble recovery.
Season-ending injuries to starters T J Coleman, Steven Lane, and Lee Sciple caused coach Billy Bowman to turn to several eighth-graders to fill in the gaps. He said Dylan Manning, Preston Dawkins, and Jerry Long made strong contributions despite their youth and lack of size.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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