HATTIESBURG – For the sixth year in a row, Alabama came out on top.
Behind a 20-point second quarter, the Alabama All-Stars raced past the Mississippi All-Stars 40-10 in the 39th annual Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game at Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Alabama now leads the all-time series 28-11.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but to spend the week with these guys and these coaches was fantastic and blessed,” said Mississippi head coach Ryan Earnest of Laurel. “It was a blessing. I got to be a coach and a fan today. Watching a lot of these guys on film and huge fans of them, and I got to coach them today.”
After D’Iberville’s Caleb Triplett forced a fumble and recovered it, Mississippi got on the board first on a Will Uselton (Hernando) 30-yard field goal with 4:49 left in the first quarter.
After that it was all Alabama.
An 8-yard touchdown pass from Landon Duckworth to Ce’Derian Morgan gave Alabama a 7-3 lead with 8:18 left in the second quarter. Jaden Bush then had a 7-yard punt return for a touchdown after a botched snap to extend the Alabama lead to 14-3 with 6:29 left.
Brock Bradley found Zion Crumpton on a 17-yard touchdown pass to give Alabama a 20-3 lead with 25 seconds left before halftime.
Alabama scored on the opening drive of the second half on an Ezavier Crowell 20-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 27-3 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
DeSoto Central’s Eric Perry scored on a 4-yard run for Mississippi to cut the Alabama lead to 27-10 with 2:02 left in the third quarter.
Bradley threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Corey Barber with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter to extend the Alabama lead to 33-10. Duckworth capped the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left in the game to give Alabama the 40-10 lead.
“I would’ve loved the outcome to be different but they made more plays than us,” Earnest said. “This means a lot to represent Mississippi in this game and to be a part of the most prestigious all-star game in the country. We told the guys all week to make memories, and for five days they did that.”
Perry finished 5 of 9 passing for 38 yards and added 18 yards rushing with a touchdown to lead Mississippi.
Triplett was named the most valuable player of the game for Mississippi. He had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a sack and blocked a punt.
“I just came out here and played my game, and this is the result. It was crazy going up against the best from Alabama and to be the Mississippi MVP is amazing,” Triplett said. “I’m glad I came out here and played my best and represented D’Iberville. “
Tupelo’s J.J. Hill finished with 15 yards rushing on 14 carries. New Albany’s Braden Shettles finished 5 of 10 passing for 55 yards.
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