Quinshawn Lucious feels the West Lowndes High School football team surprised a lot of people Friday night in a 14-0 victory against Caledonia.
Coming off a jamboree at Okolona in which the Panthers didn’t score, Lucious knew not many people — outside the ones in his locker room — gave his squad much of a chance against the Class 4A Confederates. But Class 1A West Lowndes used a defense that had six sacks and a rushing attack that gained 356 of the offense’s 407 yards to win the season opener for both teams.
Adolphus (Javae) Brewer teamed with Tray Lucious, who had an interception to seal the win, Artavion Gardner, and Symetrious Pippins to lead the defense. On the other side, sophomore quarterback Quay Sanders rushed for 101 yards and senior running back Quinshawn Lucious added 100 yards to help the Panthers take the battle of Lowndes County teams.
For their accomplishments, Brewer and Quinshawn Lucious are The Dispatch’s Prep Players of the Week.
“I played great,” Lucious said. “I gave some good minutes and gave it all for four quarters.”
Brewer wasn’t at practice Monday. Contacted later Monday night, Brewer, who was in the emergency room, couldn’t talk for long. He said he lost 30 pounds by changing the way he ate and by working out. He said he gave up drinking soda and replaced it with water and tea.
West Lowndes coach Anthony King said the lost weight has helped make Brewer even quicker. He said he was a terror on defense Friday night and was constantly in the Confederates’ backfield. As a result, West Lowndes held Caledonia to 49 yards on 31 plays.
“Brewer is a four-year starter, so we expected him to be a little quicker,” King said. “The lost weight is probably giving him more stamina to go both ways, but I would love to have at least of that 15 pounds back. He is a big guy. He is a smart defensive player, and he is mean and nasty. He is really not a nice guy when he comes off the line on either side of the ball.”
On offense, Brewer teamed with Jerqualin Morris, Tommie Malone, Malik Hill, and Rashaad Rice and tight end Jalen Brewer and fullback Marquis Banks to fuel the running game.
“The most important thing I wanted to see is he is running the ball hard,” King said. “We tried to limit his touches as much as possible to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter. We have about five guys we tried to rotate out with the ball. In the second half it paid dividends.”
Quinshawn Lucious said the Panthers’ depth at running back is something that should help players stay fresh late in games. He said the Panthers aren’t selfish and are willing this season to share the football in hopes of achieving bigger success.
“It is more like a brotherhood,” Lucious said. “The younger guys are listening to the older guys. It is working.”
Last season, West Lowndes lost at home in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 1A State playoffs. In 2015, West Lowndes lost in the second round to eventual state champion Simmons. At 7 p.m. Friday, the teams will meet at West Lowndes. The game will be another chance for the Panthers to pull a surprise, this time against the two-time reigning Class 1A State champions.
King and Quinshawn Lucious feel the Panthers’ depth will serve them well Friday night.
“We can’t wait,” said Lucious, who broke his ankle as a 10th-grader and was just returning to action in the playoffs. “We are going to try to come out physical and hit them in the mouth. We are going to try score first and our defense is going to come out and shut them out and everything else is history.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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