Another week of high school football is in the books, and with it another round of spectacular performances from area players who produced some big wins – but this week’s honor of The Dispatch’s Player of the Week goes to a speedy senior in Steens who has powered his team to a streak of four straight wins to open the year.
Columbus Christian Academy’s Imonn Hill is one half of the Rams’ 1-2 punch of offense in the backfield, alongside quarterback Matthew Benge, and last Friday he scampered for a staggering 240 yards and four scores on offense to help CCA defeat Russell Christian 56-36.
Charging out of the backfield in head coach Marcus Davidson’s triple-option offense, he provided touchdown bursts of 80, 45, 40 and 30 yards – most of which came late in the contest when Russell started to make a game of it. CCA held a 20-8 lead all the way up until midway through the third quarter where the Warriors closed the deficit to just six points. So, Davidson implemented a new offensive formation to get Hill some better looks on jet sweeps and counter runs, and Hill’s speed provided two more scores to pull the Rams ahead for good.
“He’s a lot tougher than what he looks, because he’s not a very heavy guy, he’s just got good speed, but he’s extremely strong and hard to bring down,” Marucs said of Hill. “He broke several tackles on some (runs) and some of them were just wide open and fresh legs even though he was worn out. He had not had a lot of carries up until the end of the ball game.”
A two-way player, Hill also chipped in 10 total tackles from the secondary, including one hit for a loss.
“He had started cramping up in the third quarter, close to the beginning of the fourth, and I sat there in a timeout massaging him down and making him drink water,” Davidson said. “He bowed up when he had to and gave us the edge with that 20-point lead at the end, and we were able to just hold them off defensively and kept them out from scoring at the end.
“He makes us click a lot with his speed, and defensively, he’s a ball hawk. He’s got a nose for the football and he’s in on what seems like every tackle, if not, he’s at least around the football.”
Hill and CCA’s season-opening streak of four consecutive wins is the school’s best start since the 2005 campaign, where it won three games to start the year.
Honorable mentions
Some other notable players from last Friday’s action are:
– West Point running back Quintin Thompson, who rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in the Green Wave’s 27-20 win over Noxubee County. Defensive end Jorden Rush finished the night with six tackles, one for loss, four quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.
– Noxubee County running back Laderoun Mosely ran for 124 yards and a score and caught six passes for 70 yards and a touchdown in nearly toppling the Green Wave.
–Starkville tight end Phil Swan had three receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown in the Yellow Jackets’ 44-6 win over Meridian.
– Starkville Academy defensive back Nate Fratesi posted 17 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown in the Volunteers’ 28-13 win over East Rankin Academy.
– Oak Hill’s Chantz Harris returned a kickoff for a score and also caught a pass for a touchdown in the Raiders’ 40-8 win over North Delta.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
