Defense was the name of the game on Friday night at Panther Field, as the West Lowndes High School football team defeated Coffeeville 16-0 in a pivotal Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A, Region 1 game.
The win on Homecoming and Senior Night helped West Lowndes (7-4, 6-1 region) secure a first-round playoff game at home.
West Lowndes held Coffeeville to 69 yards. Senior Syboris Pippins aided the cause with two interceptions. He also caught three passes for 29 yards and had five carries for 5 yards, but it was the Panthers’ stingy defense that was the story.
“Hitting (on defense) motivates us,” West Lowndes defensive end Tyshon Spencer said. “When one person gets a tackle, it motivates others to make tackles because we like to compete with one another. At the end of the game, we like to see who made the most tackles.”
The defense helped make up for a night that saw West Lowndes have five possessions in the red zone, but it turned the ball over twice on downs and threw one interception.
It wasn’t until about midway through the second quarter that the Panthers finally were able to score. Following an interception, West Lowndes took over at the Coffeeville 27-yard line. Five plays later, Kemario Evans scored on a 3-yard run. The junior led the Panthers with 16 carries for 85 yards. He also caught two passes for 14 yards. A Lemerrius Fair pass to Spencer on the two-point conversion made it 8-0.
West Lowndes allowed Coffeeville to get as far as its 40 in the first half.
“Our defense is incredible,” West Lowndes defensive back Jerquallian Selvie said.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, Coffeeville (4-6, 4-3) attempted an onside kick, but the kick went about 5 yards and gave West Lowndes the football at the Pirates’ 44. The Panthers moved to the Pirates’ 7, but a Lemerrius Fair pass was intercepted in the end zone.
Following a 25-yard punt return, the Panthers again had great field position at the Pirates’ 22. An illegal procedure penalty pushed them back to the 27, but the Panthers still found the end zone five plays later. Fair (8 of 16 for 103 yards) dove over a pile of linemen for the 1-yard score. He then connected with Spencer for the two-point conversion. He had 15 carries for 38 yards.
“(On the two touchdown drives), we tried to put the ball in the air more because they were focusing on the run,” Spencer said.
West Lowndes limited Coffeeville to 29 yards on 31 rushes. Quarterback Kendarius Cauthern had 15 carries for 40 yards. He also was 8 of 14 for 40 yards and two interceptions.
“(West Lowndes) has a very good defensive front,” Coffeeville coach Kris Thigpen said. “They have athletes all over the field, and we knew they could give us problems with their speed and strength.
“We just couldn’t finish a drive off on offense. They just made a few more plays than we did, and that made the difference.”
West Lowndes coach Anthony King complimented Coffeeville’s defense by saying, “(Coffeeville) came out strong and weren’t letting us run the ball. We just had to grind it out and depend on our defense.”
“We want to play (our next game) better than we played tonight. We want to go into the playoffs hot on offense and defense.”
West Lowndes will travel to Thrasher (3-7) next week for its regular-season finale.
Coffeeville will play host to region leader Smithville (10-1) in its regular-season finale.
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