Blues reign at Aberdeen’s Bukka White Festival

The Bukka White Blue Bluff Festival, formerly known as the Blue Bluff Festival, will be Oct.16-17 at Blue Bluff Landing in Aberdeen, on the banks of the Tenn Tom Waterway. For the second year, this free festival will feature an all-blues program, hosting some of the finest artists in Mississippi. The new Bukka White marker, which brings Aberdeen recognition as a part of the Mississippi Blues Trail, will be unveiled Friday at 4 p.m. in downtown Aberdeen.

Columbus football team dismantled in loss to South Panola

It didn’t take the Nick Parker-led South Panola High School football team long to convince Columbus Falcons why it remains one of the most high-profile programs in the Magnolia State.

The Tigers, ranked No. 3 in this week’s Clarion-Ledger Super 10 rankings and fresh off a 34-6 dismantling of then-No. 4 Olive Branch last Friday, scored early and often against the Falcons en route to a 53-7 win here Thursday evening.

West Point football team rallies to beat Oxford

OXFORD — After a slow offensive start Thursday night, it didn’t look like the West Point High School football team would pull out its sixth-consecutive victory at Bobby Holcomb Field.

The Green Wave trailed by 16 with 10 minutes 7 seconds to go in the third quarter to district rival Oxford, but instead of sputtering along, they scored 26 unanswered points to outlast the Chargers 33-30.

“Sometimes you got to crank up and go, and that is what we did,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We told them at halftime we had to get the job done. We were sluggish at first and didn’t get the job done. We weren’t playing hard.

Hamilton football team dominated in loss to Eupora

HAMILTON — The Eupora High School football team put the Lions of Hamilton down Thursday night with a dominating 44-10 victory in a Class 2A, Region 2, District 4 matchup.

Eagles’ perfect record of 7-0 and 2-0 in division remains in tact, for now.

The victory helped Eupora coach Junior Graham, whose team improved to 7-0 and 2-0 in the district, solidify its hold on first place in the district with games remaining against West Lowndes and J.Z. George.

Malone had fun while playing football at East Mississippi Community College

STURGIS — Former football standout Stan Malone remembers his two North Division title seasons at East Mississippi Junior College.

But he also remembers having fun on campus.

“We lived in The Alamo, a dorm that was named because it resembled the fort,” Malone said. “One night, we caught an opossum and put it in the bed with a guy. We had some good times.”

But Malone better remembers the college now known as East Mississippi Community College in Scooba as the place he developed his leadership skills and played outstanding football.

East Mississippi Coomunity College to induct Cohen into Hall of Fame

SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College will induct 10 new members into the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame tonight at a reception and banquet as part of its 2009 Homecoming weekend.

This year’s inductees also will be recognized Saturday afternoon in pregame ceremonies prior to the EMCC’s homecoming football game against Northeast Community College.

Included posthumously in this year’s class is former S.D. Lee High three -sport athlete Larry “Rock” Cohen.

Aberdeen volleyball team eliminated from state playoffs

ABERDEEN –– In a perfect world, the third time is always the charm.

Too, in a perfect world, a resounding 25-10 first-set triumph on your home court should be enough to kick-start your team to a straight-set win.

And again, in a perfect world, a 2-1 set advantage and holding serve with a 24-22 lead in the fourth and what should be the deciding set should be a good indication your team had a better than even chance of advancing to the Class I North Half finals.

CHS football game moved to Thursday

Due to expected bad weather in the area, the Columbus High School football team’s game against South Panola has been moved to 7 p.m. Thursday at Falcon Field.

Starkville shakes off slow start to go 2-0 in region

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Falcons come close, but suffer fifth consecutive loss

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Central comes up game short of title

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Magnolia Heights hands Heritage Academy another loss

It took about half a quarter for the Magnolia Heights football team to find the rhythm it last displayed in a 3-0 start to the season.

After that, the Chiefs marched all over the Heritage Academy Patriots 45-14 to snap a three-game losing streak.

West Lowndes capitalizes on mistakes to beat Hamilton

HAMILTON — The West Lowndes High School football team stopped a late surge by Hamilton Friday night en route to a 26-20 victory in its Class 2A, Region 2, District 4 opener.

The Panthers (5-1) also snapped the Lions’ three-game winning streak.

Pickens Academy rolls to victory on homecoming

CARROLLTON, Ala. — When Sam Pearson took over as head football coach at Pickens Academy, his goal was to return the program to its winning ways.

The Pirates won five undefeated state championships in the late 90s but haven’t earned a title in 10 years, which is something Pearson hopes to change.

Jeff Wilson: Fall colors

You may have noticed the color of the trees and shrubs beginning to change. It won’t be long until there are brilliant red, orange and yellow leaves blanketing the floor of the landscape. From the reds of the maple, dogwood, sweetgum and oak trees to the yellows of the ginkgo, sugar maple, poplar, elm — and even some crepe myrtles — the colors should be spectacular.

Running attack fuels Green Wave

WEST POINT — West Point High School has what senior running back Xavier Hogan calls the three-headed monster.

“You stop one head and you still have the other two to deal with,” Hogan said. “It is really hard to stop that.”

Central Academy softball team earns state tournament berth

CLEVELAND — It took nearly 12 hours and five consecutive games, but the Central Academy fast-pitch softball team earned a spot in the Mississippi Association of Independent School Class AA State tournament.

Central Academy rebounded from a loss in its second game of the North Half State tournament Tuesday to win three games in a row before losing 8-0 to Bayou Academy.

That game ended shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 12 hours before the Lady Vikings took the field against Tri-County for their first game of the day at 10:30 a.m.

Aberdeen volleyball beats Caledonia for title

CALEDONIA –– The Aberdeen High School volleyball team won the MHSAA Class 1, Division 1 Tournament on Saturday by sweeping Caledonia in straight sets.

Aberdeen won the first set 25-20 and the second 25-15 to claim the division championship.

Thrasher, New Hope beat Oxford

OXFORD — A balanced offensive attack led by junior quarterback Zak Thrasher and a defensive unit that delivered big stops when necessary Friday night propelled the New Hope High School football team to a 21-11 victory against Oxford in its Class 5A, Region 1 opener at the University of Mississippi’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Tupelo holds on to beat Columbus

The Columbus High School football team came out to win Friday night.

But after several fourth-quarter drives fizzled against Tupelo, frustrations started to build on the field.

These frustrations boiled over to the locker room after a 10-6 loss, as several players went back in tears vowing to make a change to better represent the city of Columbus.