thel claimed the Class I, Region 5 district championship last week as it defeated French Camp 6-2 on Tuesday and clinched the region title with a 2-1 win over Union on Thursday night.
Brianna Grice had a single, double and an RBI for French Camp. Kalee McDaniel had the other RBI and Haleigh Outlaw doubled.
The Lady Tigers (19-4) were set to play their final regular season game at Richland on Tuesday. Ethel will host Forest in MHSAA Class I Slow-Pitch softball playoffs on Saturday with Game 1 beginning at Noon. Game 2 will follow and if necessary Game 3.
— Brandon Shields
SPECIAL VOLLEYBALL NIGHT
Kosciusko volleyball will honor those past and present who suffered from breast cancer during its Thursday, Oct. 3, home contest against Columbus with the program's Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness.
"We'll be honoring anybody who the girls knew who had breast cancer," Lady Whippets head coach Lauren Peresich said. "We'll have a sign with their names on it, and we'll be wearing pink and honoring anybody we know that has passed away or survived breast cancer."
— Elton Hayes
QUICK STRIKE OFFENSE
The Winona Christian Stars had 329 yards of total offense against Newton County Academy on Friday night in a 38-13 win. But the impressive part is the Stars only ran 21 offensive plays in the game with 159 yards rushing on 12 carries and 170 yards passing on 7-of-9 passing.
It is not the first time the Stars have been efficient on offense this season. Against Benton in a 39-7 win, the Stars ran only 26 plays and had 210 yards of total offense.
— Robbie Robertson
2A RANKINGS TOUGH TO CRACK
Despite big win after big win, the Wolverines of East Webster (6-0) are still finding it hard to get into the top five of the Mississippi Gridiron’s Top 4 ranking for MHSAA Class 2A.
Philadelphia, Taylorsville, and Scott Central — all 5-1 on the season — hold the top three spots in the rankings. Bay Springs, 6-0, is No. 4, while 3-3 Charleston is No. 5.
Noxapater is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, while Nanih Waiya is No. 4. Louisville is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, following Greenwood, South Pike and Corinth.
In the Little 10, which comprises all MAIS schools and MHSAA schools Class 3A or smaller, Philadelphia is No 3, Taylorsville No. 7 and Bay Springs No. 9. Columbia is at the top of the list. Madison Central at 5-0 and Picayune (5-0) are the top two teams in the overall Top 10 rankings.
— Austin Bishop
FCA’S EDWARDS POSTS 10 STOPS
French Camp Academy’s Bradley Edwards, a senior linebacker and running back, led the Panther defense in 28-0 loss to defending 1A state champion Nanih Waiya with four solo tackles and five assists. He also ran 43 yards with a fumble recovery. Edwards leads the team in tackles for the season with 52. He has carried 22 times for 69 yards and has five receptions for 58 yards.
— Laurence Hilliard
THREE-GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED
The Jaguars of Holmes County Central High School fell to region foe Neshoba Central 27-20 last Friday night to see its three-game winning streak come to and end. This week the Jags, now 3-3 overall and 0-1 in Region 2-5A play, are set to play host to Canton High School.
Following that contest will be a couple road games before Holmes Central returns home for an Oct. 25 date with Callaway.
— Austin Bishop
UNDEFEATED MATCHUPS
There were three battles of undefeated teams last week.
Daeveon Sistrunk threw two touchdown passes and running back Ike Chandler rushed for 212 yards with a touchdown to lift Itawamba AHS past Houston 38-14.
East Webster was down 20-7 at halftime but scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to get past Union 27-20. Quarterback Steven Betts had 227 yards rushing with three touchdowns and also threw for 63 yards and a score.
Carter Putt passed for 210 yards with three touchdowns as Heritage Academy beat Pillow Academy 26-13 in a crucial MAIS Region 1-5A matchup.
— Brandon Shields
HOMECOMING AT CHCS
The Trojans of Central Holmes Christian School will enjoy homecoming this week as they host Hillcrest Christian.
The visiting Cougars are 1-6 on the season and recently broke the state’s longest current losing streak with a 15-0 win over River Oaks. They have losses to Amite (14-12), Glenbrook (41-14), Carroll (44-0), Cathedral (34-0), Riverfield (60-14) and Greenville Christian (49-30).
“Hillcrest is homecoming and I thought we came out late last year for homecoming,” Crowder said. “We have to do a good job of staying focused on Hillcrest. They are getting better every week and we will play a good football team. They put up 30 points last week against a good Greenville Christian team who has tons of athletes. We will have to play a good football game.”
— Robbie Robertson
THURSDAY NIGHT ACTION
There are six high school football games in the state of Mississippi scheduled for Thursday night this week, highlights by the “Cross Creek Rivalry,” a battle between Winston County foes Nanih Waiya (4-2) and Noxapater.(4-1).
The game has more than just pride on the line, as the winner will definitely have the upper hand in the Region 2-1A playoff race. There are two other Thursday matchups that will Draw some attention as Bay Springs (6-0) visits Taylorsville (5-1), and 6-0 Provine is at 4-1 Callaway.
Other matchups have Forest Hill (2-4) at Jim Hill (1-4), Oxford (4-1) at Lewisburg (2-4), and Terry (2-4) at Northwest Rankin (1-4).
— Austin Bishop
POWER POINTS UP FOR GRABS
Another big item on the line this week when Carroll Academy and Winona Christian play will be power point ratings.
Currently, Winona Christian is second in MAIS Class 3A football with a 23.8 power point average, behind Greenville St. Joseph who has an average of 25.25. Carroll Academy is currently third in power points with an average of 21.83 points.
The winners of the four Class 3A districts will be the top four seeds in the MAIS Class 3A playoffs and will receive a first-round bye in the playoffs. It is likely the loser of the Carroll and Winona game could be the No. 5 seed and would get the No. 12 seed in the opening round of the 12-team bracket.
MAIS teams accumulate points based on the number of wins their opponents have on the season, their number of wins and the size of the school they play.
— Robbie Robertson
HOLMES CENTRAL’S EDWARDS HONORED
Montra Edwards, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound senior at Holmes County Central, was honored by Mississippi Gridiron for his play in week five of the season by being named as part of Mississippi Gridiron’s Team Of The Week.
Edwards was named to the Defensive Line spot for his nine tackle-performance in a 27-14 win over Memphis Central. He also recorded two sacks and an interception for the Jaguars.
— Austin Bishop
MILLER POSTS LONGEST RUN
Dicenzo Miller Jr., a sophomore running back at Choctaw County High School and the son of former Weir and Mississippi State standout Dicenzo Miller, had a 61-yard TD run, his longest run of the season, in a 35-26 win over Clarksdale and finished with 12 carries for 92 yards. For the season, he has 78 carries for 592 yards (7.8 yard average) and seven touchdowns.
— Laurence Hilliard
