Anthony King was happy Friday night that his West Lowndes High School football team could celebrate a shutout as part of the school’s Homecoming.
But King also knows the Panthers need to keep winning if they want to make the playoffs.
West Lowndes took another step loser to realizing that goal with a 56-0 victory against West Oktibbeha in a Class 1A, Region 3 matchup. The Panthers (3-4, 2-2 region) did it with a balanced effort that featured a strong passing attack and a defense that hassled the Timberwolves (0-6, 0-4) all night. The victory marked the first consecutive wins of the season for West Lowndes.
“We’re just trying to grind away and make these playoffs,” King said. “It was a team we were supposed to beat. … We’ve got a tough game next week in Nanih Waiya, and we wanted to come out of this game healthy and get some guys back we had sitting out, get ready for next week.”
The Panthers continued to battle injuries this week, but quarterback Daniel Davis felt he had an abundance of targets at his disposal. Davis was 10 of 14 for 203 yards and four touchdowns to three receivers. West Lowndes ran misdirection passes and screens, allowing athletes like Jevontrae Williams and Rontavis Clark to make plays.
“I have four top receivers I can go to at any time,” Davis said. “Then I have players that can sub in at any time, so I have a lot of receiving weapons.”
Said King, “We tried to get Daniel rolling out a little bit. We think we’re going to have to get in a few short passes, a couple long passes because down the road it’s going to be tough to run, so we’ve got to get our passing game better than what it is. We got to really get our passing game together to make the playoffs.”
King hopes to have more arrows in his quiver next week against district leader Nanih Waiya.
“We should have two more guys back next week,” King said. “Hopefully, we’ll have Jamarquis Jefferson back. We need to go in there healthy because it’s going to take a healthy team to beat Nanih Waiya.”
West Lowndes gave up a few deep passes, but it prevented West Oktibbeha from forming significant drives. Senior Krayveon Harris had 11 solo tackles and a sack to lead the defense. He had 62 tackles and three sacks this season.
“We came in here tonight hoping to shut them out, knowing they shouldn’t score,” King said. “If we do happen to lose two games, it’s going to come down to a point system and we need the points.”
King and the Panthers hope they will be able to finish the season strong and healthy. Davis feels confident the Panthers will be able to do that.
“We’ve got a little winning streak – two games under our belt going into the third,” Davis said. “I’m feeling pretty good about it. I believe we can make a deep run.”
Said King, “We’ve got four games left. We need to get all four. We can lose one more, but it’s going to be kind of iffy and tight, so we need to pretty much try to win out.”
Williams had eight carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a conversion run. Davis had two carries for 37 yards, while Clark had four carries for 53 yards and a touchdown. Jerry Anderson had seven carries for 46 yards and a 7-yard touchdown.
Lamarion Fair and Tyshon Rogers added two-point conversions.
On defense, Rogers had six solo tackles and two assisted tackles. He has 53 tackles on the season. Fair had two solo tackles and three assisted tackles, while Clark had five solo tackles, two assisted tackled, and an interception. He has three interceptions this season.
Ty Harris (four tackles, two solo), Jay Ellis (five tackles, four solo, interception), Marquis Banks (four tackles, two solo), Marcus Farmer (two passed defended), Jerry Anderson (two tackles, one solo, fumble recovery), Tyrese Wells (sack), and
Lavonte Porter (six tackles, three) as part of a solid effort. The defense has 26 takeaways (12 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries) this season.
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