Wide receiver Mitchell Woodward caught eight passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as the Heritage Academy football team finished its district schedule undefeated with a 35-21 win over Pillow Academy.
Woodward also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble for Heritage Academy (10-1, 5-0 MAIS 5A-1), which is the No. 2 seed in the postseason and will meet the winner of Friday’s game between Lamar School and Starkville Academy on Nov. 5 in Columbus.
Pillow Academy (5-5, 2-3 MAIS 5A-1) also qualified for the playoffs as the No. 9 seed and will meet No. 8 Central Hinds on Friday.
Columbus 21, Saltillo 3: The Falcons’ defense held an opponent to fewer than 10 points for the fourth time this season, allowing only a third-quarter field goal to the Tigers.
Columbus (4-5, 3-2 5A-1) moved into a three-way tie for third place in the district with Cleveland Central and this week’s opponent, Lake Cormorant. The Falcons and Gators will meet at 7 p.m. Friday in Lake Cormorant.
Itawamba Agricultural 28, Caledonia 14: The balanced Indians gained 193 yards rushing and 160 yards passing to hand the Cavaliers their first on-field loss of the season.
The loss snapped a school-record seven-game winning streak for Caledonia (7-2, 3-1 4A-1). Itawamba is undefeated in district play but still must beat Shannon (4-5, 3-1 4A-1) next week to clinch the region title.
West Point 42, Greenville 8: The Green Wave, ranked No. 6 in the AP Mississippi Top 10, roared to a 28-0 halftime lead and coasted to their sixth consecutive win.
West Point (5-2, 5-0 5A-1) can clinch its fifth district title in six years by beating Saltillo (2-7, 1-4) at home on Friday night.
Noxubee County 46, Nettleton 24: Noxubee County held Nettleton quarterback Ty Walton to 9-for-27 passing.
The Tigers (5-4, 2-1 3A-4) will meet Aberdeen on Friday night with second place in the district on the line. The Bulldogs are also 2-1 in the district.
Starkville Academy 42, Washington School 0: The Volunteers rolled into the postseason on a high note by routing the Generals, who finished 0-5 in the district.
The Vols (6-4, 3-2 MAIS 5A-1) earned the No. 7 seed in the postseason and will host Lamar School on Friday night. A win would give the Vols a rematch against Heritage Academy in the quarterfinals. The Patriots blanked the Vols 30-0 earlier this season in Columbus.
North Sunflower Academy 58, Columbus Christian Academy 24: Junior quarterback Drake Shaw completed 11 of 18 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns for the Rams in Steens.
Shaw hit Beau Kemp for a 43-yard score and Jackson Howard for a 25-yard touchdown during the first quarter, then hit Caleb Farlow with a 36-yard scoring pass for the Rams (2-7, 0-6 MAIS 2A-1), who allowed the most points they have all season to the Rebels (7-3, 4-2).
Columbus Christian was tied 16-16 after one and trailed 24-16 after two, but the Rebels outscored the Rams 34-8 during the second half.
Jackson Howard led the Rams in receiving with 70 yards, while Beau Kemp rushed for 45 yards and was successful on three 2-point conversions. Lahndon Townley made 9 tackles for CCA.
Success Unlimited Academy (Ala.) 44, Victory Christian Academy 42: The Mustangs snapped a four-game losing streak in handing what Eagles coach Chris Hamm called “a heartbreaker.”
Hamm had praise for his seniors, saying Matthew Moore, Camron Henley and Logan Clements “played really hard and left it all on the field.” VCA’s other senior Tyshon Rogers, left the game late in the second quarter with an injury.
Aliceville 41, Winston County 24: TyJarian Williams completed 12 of 16 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and Jermaine Brewer carried six times for 140 yards and a score as the Yellow Jackets closed their region season at 4-2.
Aliceville, 6-3 overall, opened the scoring with an 82-yard touchdown run by KeAnthony Wilder in the first quarter. It was Wilder’s only carry of the game. It was indicative of the firepower shown all night by Aliceville, which used just 31 plays to rack up 480 yards while Winston County needed 72 plays to gain 378.
Jordan Sterling caught four passes for 52 yards and a touchdown for Aliceville, while Brewer scored on runs of 6, 57 and 61 yards. The Yellow Jackets scored the final 21 points of the game after the Winston County had taken a 24-20 lead in the third quarter.
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