The Columbus High School football team did several things well in its Class 6A, Region 2 game against Northwest Rankin on Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, hanging on to the football wasn’t one of them.
Columbus continued its trend from early in the season by committing six turnovers in a 20-7 loss on a wet track at Falcon Field.
“We have to prepare better, we have to coach better,” Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said. “This was a step backward from where we want to be. Over the next four weeks we will see who is dedicated and in it for the long haul.”
Columbus (1-6, 0-3 region) scored on its opening possession, as Jay Jay Swanigan capped a 70-yard, nine-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
From there, the Falcons never found any sync on offense despite compiling 256 yards and 21 first downs.
Northwest Rankin (3-4, 1-2) eased into halftime with a 10-7 advantage. Columbus attempted to tie in the waning seconds of the first half, but Anthony Maleta had a 47-yard field goal blocked.
From there, things only got worse for the home team. Columbus turned the ball over on its final five possessions, including three fumbles and two interceptions.
Swanigan was 13 of 18 for 123 yards. Donsha Walker had five catches for 58 yards. Kendre Conner led Columbus with 17 carries for 50 yards.
n New Hope 27, Lake Cormorant 12: At Columbus, Stone Sisson threw for 215 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another to help the Trojans improve to 7-0 and 3-0 in Class 5A, Region 1.
The 12 points are the second fewest New Hope has allowed this season. Junior running back Brenton Spann had 127 yards of total offense (37 receiving, 90 rushing), including a 30-yard scoring run.
Despite the win, New Hope coach Kris Pickle talked about his team’s slow start.
“It was a very uninspired effort,” Pickle said. “The positive thing is we found a way to win, and in district play that’s very important.”
New Hope will travel to Oxford on Friday to take on the Chargers (6-1, 3-0).
n Starkville 38, Grenada 0: At Starkville, the Yellow Jackets have been making a habit of starting fast this season.
Friday night proved no different.
Starkville scored 35 first-quarter points and cruised to its third-straight shutout in Class 6A, Region 2 play at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
“We’ve just been working hard at practice,” Starkville junior linebacker Lorenzo Dantzler said. “It’s been a constant grind in practice and we’ve been going against the first offense a lot to get the first defense better. I think you see on the field how much better we have gotten.”
Starkville (7-0, 3-0 region) scored three plays into the game on a 6-yard run by Jacquez Horsley. Brady Davis then hit Keyon Higgins on a 35-yard touchdown pass.
The Yellow Jackets followed with two non-offensive touchdowns, as Willie Gay had a 40-yard interception return and Quenton Evans had a 53-yard punt return. A.J. Brown also had a return score called back by penalty.
Horsley capped the big quarter with a 9-yard touchdown as Starkville scored 35 points in less than eight minutes.
Quarterback Brady Davis played one quarter and was 5 of 5 for 111 yards.
A 24-yard field goal by Michael Godley capped the scoring less than a minute into the second quarter.
Greenville (1-6, 0-3) threatened the shutout streak but ended the first half on the Starkville 1-yard line.
n Starkville Academy 33, French Camp 6: At Starkville, the Volunteers bounced back from their first loss of the season by routing the defending Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A state champions at J.E. Logan Field.
“We have not faced a lot of adversity this season, so we were anxious to see how our kids would respond,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “After the first score, the team settled down and played some good football. The defense came up huge with several key turnovers.”
The biggest turnover took place midway through the second quarter,when Hunter Peeples intercepted quarterback Luke McKnight and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown. The score gave the Volunteers a 20-0 lead. Starkville Academy led 20-6 at halftime.
Also for the Volunteers, Drake Gordman scored on a 60-yard punt return and Andrew Richardson caught a 16-yard pass from Houston Clark.
In the second half, Clark scored from 28 yards and Drew Harrell scored on a 1-yard run. A punt block set up the first score of the half, while an interception by Ben Morehead set up the other.
n West Oktibbeha 30, East Oktibbeha 28: At Crawford, the Timberwolves held off a late Titans’ drive by recovering a fumble when the Titans were 21 yards away from a winning score to win the final installment of the Oktibbeha County rivalry. The schools are consolidating at the end of this school year.
West Oktibbeha senior Tyshon Spencer recovered the deciding fumble and threw what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. Most of the quarterback reps went to eighth-grader Terry Tate, who threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Tate also ran for another score to help the Timberwolves improve to 1-6, while East Oktibbeha slipped to 0-7.
n Pillow Academy 31, Heritage Academy 7: At Columbus, the Mustangs broke out to a 21-0 halftime lead and held on for their Class AAA, District 1, Division II victory.
Cole Whitfield scored on a 1-yard run and Cooper Dunn added a 15-yard run in the first half to give Pillow Academy (6-2, 2-2 Division II) a 14-0 lead. Bay Bennett scored on an 18-yard fumble recovery with 32 seconds left in the second quarter to send the Mustangs on their way.
Michael Ledbetter returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards to give the Patriots (4-4, 1-3 Class AAA, District 1, Division II) life. Heritage Academy then recovered an onside kick and had a first-and-goal on the Pillow Academy 10-yard line, but it couldn’t score. The Patriots got the ball right back on the Mustangs’ 34 but gained only 4 yards on their final chance to seize momentum.
Heritage Academy will play host to Class AA Leake Academy next week.
n West Point 56, Center Hill 21: At West Point, Senior Kadarius Forside rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns, while the defense forced three turnovers Friday night to lead the Green Wave to a convincing victory on Homecoming.
Forside, replacing injured senior tailback Lacequiu “Quincy” Starks, had touchdown runs of 8, 7, and 8 yards as West Point scored all its points in three quarters.
West Point defensive lineman Tony Rush added a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown to help the Green Wave improve to 5-3 and 2-1 in Class 5A, Region 1.
For more on these games and the rest of the coverage of the local prep football games from Friday night. See Sunday’s edition of The Dispatch. You also can go to www.cdispatch.com Sunday morning to read about the games.
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