MOOREVILLE — After a tough loss in the season opener, Caledonia High School football team bounced back for a 49-24 victory against Mooreville on Friday night.
“We felt good about how we played,” Caledonia coach Andy Crotwell said. “Always want to get that first win. We still have things to iron out. I thought we played much better, a cleaner game than we did in the opener. We had some drops against Shannon in the passing game, and I don’t remember having one in this win.
“You want to have to a win going into a bye week, which is what is next for us. We will be looking at how we are doing things and see if we need to make some changes in personnel or anything like that.”
Senior quarterback Spencer Unruh was 12 of 14 for 219 yards and five passing touchdowns. Unruh has thrown for 480 yards and seven touchdowns in two games. Jamel Thomas caught two touchdown passes, while Zion Ford, Robert Hamilton, and Tra Vion Blair had one.
“Spencer continues to make really good decisions with the football,” Crotwell said. “He is not forcing things. The biggest thing was our receivers doing a better job of catching the football and making plays. That was a big difference.”
Caledonia (1-1) ran 23 times for 149 yards. Ford led the way with 12 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas had three rushes for 33 yards, and Unruh had 16 rushing yards on four carries.
Hamilton had three catches for 79 yards, while Thomas had two catches for 58 yards. Ford had five catches for 45 yards, and Blair had one for 30 yards.
Kody White had 12 tackles to lead the Confederates. Crotwell said defensive ends Jacob Sudduth and TJ Davis have played well in the first two games.
“Also really proud of the job Will Burton is doing at corner,” Crotwell said. “He had a big pass deflection in the end zone there in the first half. As the season has progressed, he has gotten better and better and we really expect some big things out of him as he continues to improve.”
Caledonia is open Friday. It will go to Okolona on Sept. 9.
n Oak Hill Academy 31, Tupelo Christian 15: At Tupelo, the Raiders bounced back from a tough first-week loss to Newton County Academy to roll over the Eagles on the road.
“It felt good to get the first win of the year,” Oak Hill Academy second-year coach Chris Craven said. “The difference from the first week to the second one was like night and day. I am really proud of that. We were more disciplined. We were more focused. We took care of the little things and that is what helped us go on the road and get a win like that.”
Ken Dill hit James Peavy for a 60-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to erase a 6-3 deficit. The Raiders then built a 16-9 halftime lead and led the rest of the way.
For Oak Hill Academy (1-1), a 21-yard field goal by Grayson Easterling started the scoring. A 1-yard touchdown run by Macon McBrayer capped a 70-yard drive and helped create the halftime margin.
In the second half, the Raiders pulled away with a 55-yard run by Collins Brown and a 7-yard run by McBrayer. Dill hit Powell Tabor for a two-point conversion.
“In every game you are going to face some adversity,” Craven said. “That is what we have been stressing. How will you react when things don’t go your way? If you don’t get the call or don’t complete the pass, what happens next? I thought we did a much better job of handling the adversity in the game than we did in the opener.
“We have an inexperienced football team. We are going to put the best athletes out on the field, but that sometimes means you are playing players with less experience. You have some players who have come out for the first time. We don’t have a lot of depth, so we have 11 players doing both ways most nights and that’s difficult.”
Dill and Peavy had interceptions to lead the defensive effort. Craven said linebackers Brown and McBrayer also stood out.
“I was really proud of (senior) Mac Newell, too,” Craven said. “He played some defensive end, outside linebacker and defensive tackle. We moved him around based on the different formations. (Junior) John Carver Middleton also played lights out on defense. He had excellent man coverage all night.”
Oak Hill Academy will play host to Heritage Academy on Friday night for its home opener.
n Tabernacle 40, Victory Christian 28: At Columbus, the Eagles played to the end, scoring in the final three minutes, but it wasn’t enough in their Christian Football Association (CFA) opener.
Garrett Anthony had 13 carries for 92 yards and six catches for 24 yards. He rushed for touchdowns of 4 and 40 yards.
Gavin Forrester had 13 carries for 35 yards. He also was 11 of 28 with two interceptions. He had touchdown passes of 32 and 53 yards to Jordan Payne, who had three catches for 99 yards.
Payne led the Eagles with 10 tackles, while Garrett and Kody Anthony had nine.
Victory Christian (1-1, 0-1 Christian Football Association) plays host to Unity Christian at 7 p.m. Friday.
n Columbus Christian Academy 18, Kirk Academy 14: At Grenada, RJ Deloach scored the go-ahead touchdown at the end of the third quarter, and Kelvin Mitchell had two interceptions, including one late in the fourth quarter, to help the Rams (1-1) preserve their road victory.
Playing without senior quarterback Dawson Shaw, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the season-opening loss to Heritage Academy last week, Nate Parker filled in and took about 90 percent of the snaps, according to Columbus Christian Academy coach Greg Watkins.
“He completed a couple of pases and missed a few, but I told him he is going to learn from it,” Watkins said. “He is going to learn from it. He is going to do a fine job.”
Shaw dressed out and did a good job of leading from the sideline, Watkins said.
Columbus Christian rallied from a 14-0 deficit that saw it have two touchdowns called back. Watkins was pleased that the Rams didn’t let the adversity affect them.
“They came pretty focused,” Watkins said. “They could have really gotten down on each other, but they lifted each other up.”
Parker scored on a quarterback sneak and Kimarri Whitfield scored on a 20-plus yard run to help the Rams cut the deficit to 14-12 by halftime.
“We picked up a little bit of momentum,” Watkins said. “We had some penalties that hurt us. We had too many holding and illegal procedure penalties than we should have.”
Watkins also praised the offensive and defensive lines or wearing Kirk Academy down. He said the defensive line of DeKameron Mitchell, Tyler Blackwell, Carlyle Hardin, and Tony Dantzler did a good job of pressuring the quarterback and creating havoc in the backfield.
Andrew Sparks, DeKameron Mitchell, Dantzler, Mitchell Cummings, and Blackwell made up the offensive line.
Columbus Christian will play Friday at Sylva-Bay Academy.
n East Union 48, Hamilton 0: At Blue Springs, the Lions were held to under 100 yards of total offense in the shutout loss Thursday night.
Cade Bell threw a pair of touchdowns for the Urchins (2-0). Bell hit Dallas Wooten on a 20-yard score and DeJuan Hubbard on a 28-yard pass. In the first half, Zach Penny (2-yard run), Joel Wilkinson (36-yard run), Cage West (2-yard run), and Chandler Bobo (1-yard run) had touchdowns to help East Union build a 28-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Jessie Crump had a 7-yard touchdown to go along with the two passing scores.
Hamilton will play host to Hatley for its home opener Friday night.
n In Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Eight-man action, Central Academy dropped a 48-6 decision at North Sunflower Academy, while Hebron Christian School dropped a 54-0 decision at Delta Streets Academy.
Jerry Long hit Preston Dawkins with a 75-yard touchdown catch for the Vikings’ score. Dawkins had 65 yards after the catch thanks in part to a block by Jack VanDevender.
Hebron Christian (0-2) will play host to Delta Academy Friday night, while Central Academy (0-2) will play host to Sharkey-Issaquena Academy on Friday night.
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