This was a peculiar weekend of Mississippi high school football, with some schools starting their playoffs and others wrapping up their regular seasons. Some games were on Thursday, others were on Friday. Don’t worry, it’ll make more sense next week — but the main thing is, we got to enjoy more high school football action! Some highlights:
Tupelo 29, Starkville 14: With Thursday’s road victory, the Class 7A Golden Wave (10-0) finished an undefeated regular season for the second time in three years. Junior J.J. Hill delivered a couple of rushing touchdowns (48, 3) and also caught a 22-yard scoring pass from Noah Gillon. On Friday, Hill was rightfully named the state’s Mr. Football for Class 7A. Both teams rushed the football 34 times, but Tupelo rolled up 198 ground yards while holding Starkville to 95 run yards.
Hattiesburg 24, West Jones 9: The Hattiesburg defense stepped up in the road victory, pitching a second-half shutout while holding a strong West Jones rushing attack to 119 yards. For Hattiesburg (10-0), Deuce Vance passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns. The aptly named Anthony Pounce added a thrilling 86-yard pick-6. It’s the third unbeaten regular season for Coach Tony Vance, the two previous coming in 2017 and 2018.
Madison Central 49, Clinton 39: Here’s hoping you took the over on this one, but only for entertainment purposes. Glen Singleton scored five touchdowns to lead the way for visiting Madison Central (8-2), which led only 28-26 at the end of the third quarter. Madison Central led 14-12 at halftime before the fireworks show began. Tip of the cap to Clinton’s Jaydann Hollins, who had eight catches for 207 yards and four TDs.
West Point 14, New Hope 7: The host Green Wave (7-3) got a big effort on the defensive side, including a couple of interceptions, to clinch the Region 1-5A title. West Point set the tone for the game by driving 76 yards on 14 plays, with Shamane Clark scoring on a short run late in the first quarter. Cam Randle scored on a 35-yard run early in the the third quarter to provide the final margin.
Picayune 35, Hancock 17: It was the 24th consecutive region victory for visiting Picayune (9-2), which set the tone by scoring on each of its first three possessions, including an 80-yard scoring run by Triston Cooper. Cooper rushed for over 200 yards and scored twice, while teammate Xavier Dennis topped 100 yards rushing and also scored twice.
Grenada 21, South Panola 13: Grenada (10-1) hit the road and returned home with a region title in hand. Macaleb Taylor led the way with a pair of touchdowns, as Grenada led 21-6 at halftime.
Choctaw County 47, Mantachie 6: One of the state’s best Class 3A schools, now 10-1, makes quick work of another opponent with its ninth running second-half clock in the last 10 games.
Louisville 35, North Pontotoc 0: Louisville (10-1) led 21-0 at halftime on the way to the shutout victory, a week after beating Greenwood 30-0.
Brandon 45, Northwest Rankin 22: Brandon (9-1) wins Region 3-7A for the fourth year in a row.
