JaQuavious Tate rushed for a touchdown and returned a kickoff for another, while Marquez Shelton scored on runs of 4 and 2 yards Friday as the West Lowndes High School football team rolled to a 35-8 win over Leake County in a Class 1A, Region 3 game in Walnut Grove.
The Panthers won without completing a pass, but they rushed for 245 yards and held the Gators to 152 yards of total offense.
Tate led West Lowndes (3-0, 4-2) with 122 yards rushing on 13 carries, while Shelton carried 14 times for 75 yards. Tate’s scoring run was the Panthers’ first touchdown of the game, a 24-yarder at the 10:30 mark of the second quarter, and quarterback Fred Rice’s 2-point conversion run made it 10-0.
Another Tate touchdown and Rice conversion made it 18-0 barely 3 minutes into the second half, as Tate ran back a kickoff 69 yards for a score. After Leake County trimmed the lead to 18-8, Shelton’s first touchdown and subsequent 2-point run restored the Panthers’ 18-point lead, while West Lowndes’ second safety of the game, Shelton’s second rushing touchdown and a PAT by Royquavious Williams accounted for the final score.
Jataquis Brown led the Panthers with 5 tackles, including 3 solo, while Brown and Williams each had 1.5 tackles-for-loss. Tate finished with 111 yards in kickoff returns.
Next up for the Panthers is a home game against French Camp Academy (2-4, 2-0) on Friday night.
Caledonia 49, Corinth 21: The Cavaliers rushed for 504 yards to win their fifth consecutive game in the Class 4A-1 opener for both teams.
Daniel Wilburn rushed for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns, Darrius Triplett contributed 140 yards and 2 scores, and Curtavis Johnson added 132 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Caledonia defense clamped down during the second half, turning in four three-and-out series.
Next up for Caledonia is a home game against Tishomingo County, a team the Cavs have not faced since a 49-6 win in 2016.
Pickens Academy 33, Southern Academy 27: Deveren Wilkins rushed for 271 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Pirates, who scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns after trailing throughout the game.
Clark Gibson scored the Pirates’ other touchdown on a 12-yard run, while Chandler Box compiled 56 rushing yards. Box also led the team in tackles with 12, with Scottie Lowery adding nine.
Wilkins and Cole Gibson each intercepted a pass for Pickens, which is 1-1 in league play with a home game Friday against Jackson Academy.
Humphreys Academy 40, Columbus Christian Academy 12: Playing quarterback, senior Beau Kemp rushed for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Rams remained winless in MAIS Class 2A-1.
Kemp scored on a 6-yard run to put CCA (2-5) on the board first, then finished the scoring with a 57-yard TD run during the fourth quarter. He also threw for 32 yards, with Jonah Harrison recording 20 receiving yards and Jackson Howard getting 12.
Luke Cook led the Rams with 6 tackles, while Lahndon Townley recorded 5 for Columbus Christian, which will travel Friday to Yazoo City to face Manchester Academy.
Humphreys Academy improved to 4-2, 2-2 in the district.
Tuscaloosa Christian 56, Victory Christian Academy 20: Tyshon Rogers rushed for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns while passing for 124 yards for the Eagles, who trailed 16-14 after the first quarter.
“Two turnovers and lack of depth killed us during the second half,” VCA coach Chris Hamm said.
Camron Henley caught nine passes for 82 yards, while Kayden Barksdale returned a kick 70 yards for a score and led the team with 9 tackles. Matthew Moore and Jeremiah Smith each had 5 tackles for the Eagles, who will travel to North Rainsville, Alabama, this week to face Cornerstone Christian.
Columbus 28, Greenville 6: The Falcons’ usual defense came through again, and this time the offense came with it as Columbus scored 21 first-half points and rolled to a district victory.
The Falcons, now 3-3, 2-0 Class 5A-1, will host Lafayette on Friday night. Greenville fell to 1-4, 0-2.
Heritage Academy 42, Wayne Academy 14: The Patriots duplicated their score from last week against Bayou Academy to run their record to 7-0, 3-0 in the district.\
Heritage Academy next travels to Senatobia to face Magnolia Heights, which lost 35-14 to Starkville Academy, a team the Patriots blanked 30-0.
Noxubee County 52, Hatley 0: The Tigers exceeded their point total from the first four games of the season in winning their Class 3A-4 opener against winless Hatley.
Noxubee County, which topped 50 points three times last season — including in a 60-0 win over Hatley — next will host Kemper County (4-2), which opened district play with a 32-21 win over Lake.
North Delta 29, Oak Hill Academy 7: The Raiders lost for the first time in three district games, while the Green Wave won for the first time in three district games.
OHA (3-4) goes outside of Class 4A-1 for the next two weeks, starting with a trip to Carrollton on Friday to face Carroll Academy (3-4).
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