WEST POINT — The Starkville High School football team took advantage of special teams and defensive plays to defeat West Point 16-0 Friday night at McCallister Field.
Sophomore defensive back Jaquez Wilson blocked a West Point punt early in the first quarter that was recovered by a Green Wave player in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Starkville lead.
Starkville’s Tyler Moore recovered a fumble at the West Point 15-yard line that set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Montario Montgomery to defensive lineman Maleke Bell with 6 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the opening quarter that made it 9-0.
“I thought the defense played great,” Starkville coach Ricky Woods said. “The special teams was really good. We thought we could block a punt and we got one off the bat.”
The Jackets didn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter, when Rontavis Clark caught a 51-yard touchdown from Montgomery with 3:08 to go.
Starkville had 178 total yards of offense and held West Point to 153. After rushing for 412 yards last week in a win against Louisville, West Point only had 107 yards rushing.
“We played hard, great effort and we’ve got great team character,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We’ll see where this game takes us. I believe we got better from it even though it was a defeat. I think mentally and physically we got a little better. That’s one of the best defenses we’ve seen in years.”
n Columbus 27, New Hope 6: At Columbus, Kendre Conner rushed for 227 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons defeated the cross-town rival Trojans.
Columbus (2-1) moved the ball into New Hope territory on the first 12 drives in the contest. However, the Falcons only managed the two scores by Conner, another by quarterback C.J. Gholar and two field goals by Chris Taylor. Columbus also missed two field goals, turned the ball over on downs four times and fumbled once.
“We have to get better at finishing drives,” Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said. “I think we have one of the best teams in the state from 20-to-20. We have to score in the red zone. We did make a few more plays in the passing game, and that was good sign.”
After committing six turnovers in a loss to Noxubee County last week, Columbus lost one fumble Friday night. The Falcons had 559 yards of total offense, including 396 rushing yards.
Kylin Hill had his second 100-yard rushing game with 100 yards on 13 carries. Gholar was 12 of 27 for 163 yards.
New Hope (0-3) received a 7-yard touchdown run from Thomas Stevens. The Trojans converted a short field after a field goal block by Tae-kion Reed. The Trojans had 131 yards of total offense.
n Heritage Academy 10, Oak Hill Academy 0: At Columbus, Michael Ledbetter accounted for all of his team’s points with a 30-yard field goal and a 38-yard punt return after he fumbled the initial catch to lead the Patriots (2-1) past the Raiders (2-1).
Coming off a 47-7 loss to Class AAAA Lamar School, Heritage Academy, a Class AAA school, didn’t allow a first down to Class A-AA Oak Hill Academy. An ankle injury to starting quarterback Ken Dill and an already existing injury to second-string quarterback Kaleb Darnell forced the Raiders to go to third-string quarterback John Carver Middleton. Oak Hill Academy completed only two passes for 21 yards. It rushed for only 2 yards on 24 carries. The Raiders also hurt themselves with seven fumbles, many of which came on center-quarterback exchanges or high snaps to the quarterback.
Heritage Academy also was forced to go o backup quarterback Zach Oswalt after starter Tyler Anderson hurt his knee and dislocated a finger. But Oswalt was forced to leave the game with an unknown injury and Anderson returned.
Dontae Gray paced Heritage Academy with 134 yards on 16 carries. The sophomore running back said it was his first 100-yard game of his high school career.
n Aledo (Texas) 10, Noxubee County 6: At Aledo, Texas, Shunessy Sherrod scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for the Tigers against the reigning Class 5A, Division I state champions from the state of Texas.
Noxubee County quarterback Timorrius Conner was 20 of 43 for 184 yards, but he threw three interceptions. Ladaveon Smith had 11 catches for 120 yards. Deveon Ball also had four catches for 49 yards.
Aledo High had 103 yards passing and 92 yards rushing, while Noxubee County had 48 yards rushing on 28 carries.
Larry Brown III caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Davis in the first quarter. Sherrod helped Noxubee County answer in the second quarter, but the extra point was blocked.
Ben Rogers’ 22-yard field goal in the second quarter accounted for the scoring.
Noxubee County rushed for only 11 yards in the second half.
n New Life Christian 46, Victory Christian 19: At Columbus, Reed Fulgham threw for two scores and ran for another touchdown, but the Eagles slipped to 0-2 after losing their Christian Football Association opener.
Baleigh Parker rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries, while Jake Hudgens had nine carries for 64 yards. Hudgens also had an 18-yard touchdown catch from Fulgham. Kody Anthony also caught an 18-yard touchdown from Fulgham.
Fulgham, who had 10 solo tackles and a fumble recovery, was 6 of 21 for 121 yards. He also rushed for a 2-yard touchdown. Fulgham threw four interceptions.
Hudgens and Chandler Honnoll had six solo tackles. Chase Anthony added an extra point.
n Sylva-Bay Academy 42, Columbus Christian 13: At Steens, Dawson Shaw ran for a touchdown and threw for another, but the Rams fell victim to a 36-point second quarter by the Saints to fall to 0-3.
Shaw was 4 of 13 for 63 yards. He hooked up with Kimarri Whitfield on the touchdown pass. Whitfield had three catches for 55 yards. Shaw also had 11 carries for 24 yards. Columbus Christian had 29 carries for 119 yards.
Nate Parker led the Rams with six solo tackles (seven overall) and an interception. Dekameron Mitchell had four solo tackles (six overall).
n Tuscaloosa Academy 38, Pickens Academy 7: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa Academy amassed 401 total yards of offense and pulled away with a 17-0 edge in the second half en route to its victory.
Tuscaloosa Academy threw for two touchdowns and had 20 carries for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
Pickens Academy passed for only 2 yards, but it had 47 carries for 237 yards and one touchdown.
Brant Criswell paced the Pirates with nine carries for 112 yards, while Chance Britt had 18 carries for 67 yards and Landon Hattaway had 11 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Riley Harcrow led the Pirates with 10 tackles. Daniel Powell had eight tackles, while Ryan Harcrow added seven and Hattaway had six.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.