Senior quarterback Fred Rice rushed for 118 yards and four touchdowns Friday night as the West Lowndes High School football team rolled to a 40-6 win over Richton in the first round of the MHSAA Class 1A playoffs in Columbus.
West Lowndes held the Rebels to 90 yards of offense, made two interceptions and registered 4 sacks for 31 yards in losses.
The Panthers racked up 239 rushing yards, averaging almost 6 yards per carry. Tate scored on runs of 35, 30, 6 and 3 yards and hit Decamby Willis with a 24-yard TD pass.
Junior JaQuavious Tate rushed 16 times for 92 yards for West Lowndes, while Jataquis Brown ran for a 1-yard touchdown during the second quarter.
Brown led the Panthers with 5.5 tackles, including 5 solo, and 3 tackles-for-loss, while Cameron Blair recorded an interception, a sack and a TFL. Brown and Royquavious Williams each had a sack, and Williams and Trent Robinson teamed for another sack.
West Lowndes (9-2) will face Taylorsville, a 31-13 winner over French Camp Academy on Friday night, in the second round Friday at home. The Tartars won three of the past four 2A state championships before being reclassified to 1A before this season.
West Lowndes 40, Richton 6
Richton (6-6) 0 6 0 0 — 6
West Lowndes (9-2) 8 12 14 6 — 40
First quarter
WL — Fred Rice 35 run (Marquez Shelton run), 8:15
Second quarter
WL — Jataquis Brown 1 run (run failed), 11:56
R — Devin Miller 7 run (run failed), 8:40
WL — Decamby Willis 24 pass from Rice (run failed), 5:37
Third quarter
WL — Rice 30 run (run failed), 4:28
WL — Rice 6 run (JaQuavious Tate run), 0:33
Fourth quarter
WL — Rice 3 run (run failed), 9:59
AHSAA Class 2A
Spring Garden 40, Aliceville 35: TyJarian Williams completed 9 of 12 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns, but the Yellow Jackets came up short in the second round of the playoffs.
Aliceville rallied from an early 21-0 deficit, with Jermaine Brewer’s 10-yard TD run with 9:50 left in the third quarter tying the game. But Chapel Pope threw touchdown passes to Cameron Welsh for 27 yards and Cooper Austin for 18 yards during the final 3:30 of the period to put the Panthers ahead to stay.
Brewer caught all three of Williams’ scoring passes: a 65-yarder just before halftime, a 22-yarder with one second left in the third and an 8-yarder with 5;23 left that capped the scoring.
Aliceville ends its season at 8-4, while Spring Garden will travel to Mars Hill for a third-round game on Friday night.
Class 5A
West Point 40, Ridgeland 7: Cameron Young rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries as the Green Wave routed the Titans in an opening-round game.
Kahnen Daniels completed 4 of 5 passes for 61 yards and two scores while rushing six times for 65 yards for West Point (9-2). Keyshawn Henley rushed six times for 63 yards and a touchdown, and Jaquantis Harris finished with 50 yards and a touchdown on six carries as the Green Wave finished with 283 yards rushing.
Shun Melton and Colin Ferguson caught touchdown passes for the Green Wave.
Jacoby McQuiller and Mackenzie Robertson each had an interception for West Point, which will host Vicksburg in the second round Friday night. Vicksburg (7-4) advanced with a 25-3 win over Cleveland Central.
Class 4A
Caledonia 27, Pontotoc 8: Darrius Triplett scored on a 64-yard touchdown run as the Cavaliers built a 27-0 lead in Pontotoc.
Caledonia (10-2), which had never won a playoff game before this season, will host Louisville in a third-round game Friday night.
Class 3A
Winona 36, Noxubee County 8: Jekeyvion Burnley rushed for three touchdowns and completed a TD pass to Danarius Robinson as Winona rolled into the third round of the playoffs.
Deriaun Townsend added a 60-yard touchdown run for Winona, which will travel to North Panola on Friday night.
A third-quarter touchdown pass was the only scoring for Noxubee County, which ends its season at 7-4.
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