Here is a rundown of area high school football games from Friday night.

 

Loyd Star 38, Bogue Chitto 14

It was all Loyd Star in the 2024 edition of the annual Possum Bowl between the Hornets and their county and region rivals from Bogue Chitto.

Loyd Star sprinted out to a 16-0 lead early in the first quarter and didn’t look back. The win was the sixth straight for Loyd Star head coach Adam Smith and his team this season. The Hornets are 6-2 overall and 3-0 in Region 7-2A.

The previous four Possum Bowl matchups were tight games that came down to the final possession, but there wasn’t much drama on this night as the Hornets fast start took the air out of the big home crowd at Bogue Chitto.

After recovering an onside kick attempt to start the game, the Hornets used their ground game in the single-wing offense to march down the field and get a 1-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Phillip Ross Spencer.

The 6-foot-1 Spencer followed his blockers on the 2-point conversion attempt and used his size to dive across the goal line to put LS up 8-0 after less than four minutes had run off the scoreboard on Troy Smith Field. 

Loyd Star then kicked it off and came flying down on the coverage to knock the ball free from the Bogue Chitto return man, causing a fumble that was recovered by junior Cooper Creel for the Hornets.

Spencer and sophomore Tristan Fortenberry ran for a couple gains between the tackles, which nicely set up an outside run by Hornet tailback Jordyn Kees.

Kees took a snap and swept around the left side of his offensive line, running towards the home sideline and away from the Bobcats left in his wake for a 24-yard touchdown. He then powered in for the 2-point conversion and the Hornets led 16-0 with 5:31 remaining in the first quarter.

Last year was Smith’s first season leading his alma mater, a Region 7-2A winning campaign that saw Loyd Star lose at home to Collins High in the second round of the MHSAA 2A playoffs.

Reflecting on that loss last season, one of the goals for the 2024 campaign has been to keep Kees fresh, as he ran for over 2,000 yards in 2023 on 306 carries.

Coming into the Possum Bowl, Kees was at just under 1,000 total yards this season on 102 carries. His average per carry is 9.7 yards, which is up from 6.9 per carry last season.

Kees missed the loss to Wesson in week two and only carried the ball twice the next week in a blowout win over Salem as he came back from illness and injury. That time away allowed Spencer and Fortenberry to get more offensive reps and has only helped diversify the package of plays that Smith can use while calling his offense.

Another take away after the playoff loss last year was the need for the Hornets to improve their passing game and their last touchdown of the first half showed they’ve gotten better at that too.

Loyd Star had regained possession with a couple minutes before the break and were facing a 3rd-and-short with no timeouts left.

Spencer took the snap in a shotgun formation and fired a strike to a slanting Fortenberry, who’d gotten inside position on his defender for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

The score came with just 26.9 seconds remaining before halftime and staked the Hornets to a 24-0 lead following another Spencer run on the 2-point conversion try as the Loyd Star sideline loudly celebrated and Smith threw his visor ala Lane Kiffin.

Kees put an end to any comeback hope early in the third quarter with a 70-yard touchdown run and a subsequent rushing conversion to put the Hornets up 32-0.

The teams had traded turnovers just before that, with Hayden Avants recovering a fumble for the Bobcats and then Creel getting the ball back for the Hornets via an interception.

BC got two second half scores, one on a 15-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Alex-Michael Roberts to senior receiver Noah Magee. The other score was a 7-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jayden Poole for the final points of the game.

Kees scored on a 7-yard touchdown run himself on the second play of the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for the Hornets.

Loyd Star (6-2), the now two time Region 7-2A champs, is at home next week hosting West Lincoln (1-7). Bogue Chitto (4-4) and coach BJ Smithhart are off next week. The Bobcats return to the field on Oct. 31, hosting Wilkinson County. A win in that game would wrap up second place for the Bobcats and assure them of hosting a first round 2A playoff game on Troy Smith Field the following week.

 

Brookhaven High 48, Provine High 0

The Brookhaven High Panthers (6-1) cruised to a 41-0 halftime lead and then watched the clock run non-stop in the second half of a Region 3-5A game at Hughes Field in Jackson against the Provine High Rams (1-7). The game took just under two hours from start to finish.

The Brookhaven High passing offense got to show what it is capable of as sophomore quarterback Jaden Allen threw touchdown passes to Jeremy Bibbs and Timmothy Smith in the win. On the ground, Allen rushed for 52 yards while junior running back Caiden Quarles picked up 35 yards.

Next up for Ole Brook is homecoming, which culminates with a matchup against South Jones on King Field. South Jones is 6-2 overall and beat Provine 42-6 last week and Natchez High 29-14 on Friday.

 

Wesson 48, Franklin County 0

Wesson put a historical beating on Franklin County Friday night in Stone Stadium. The Cobras are now 6-14 all-time against the Bulldogs from Meadville and the margin of victory on Friday was the largest ever in the series, for either team.

Senior Deshawn Smith got the Cobras on the board with a first quarter touchdown run and then Wesson got the ball right back via an onside kick. Senior quarterback Cole Gibson hit Smith on a 30-yard touchdown pass after that and Wesson was up 16-0 with barely four minutes off the game clock. 

Wesson then got a defensive score when freshman Laiken Thomas returned an interception 80-yards for a touchdown. Thomas also had a second half interception.

Gibson later threw second quarter touchdown passes to Thomas, Smith, and Wesley Loy as the Cobras led 42-0 at halftime. BP Robbins scored the lone second half touchdown for Wesson. 

Wesson (7-0) will travel to Magnolia next week for a big region game against the South Pike Eagles (7-1). South Pike lost its first game of the season on Friday to Jefferson County by a 20-8 final score.

 

Enterprise 49, Salem 20

Enterprise moved to 6-2 on the season with a win on Thursday night at Salem in Walthall County. The Yellow Jackets and coach Trey Woodard got a four touchdown night from senior quarterback Landon McNickles.

McNickles carried the ball eight times for 218 yards and four scores. Senior running back Ayden Arevalo ran seven times for 39 yards and one touchdown. Payton Kyzar rushed three times for 67 yards and one score and AJ Raiford had a 12-yard touchdown run as well.

The EAC defense got interceptions from Kyzar, Jacquez Yarborough, and JD Abrams in the win.

Next up is a massive Region 8-1A game at home for the Yellow Jackets against East Marion (2-6). East Marion beat Resurrection Catholic 36-0 on Friday.

 

Lawrence County 31, Purvis High 21

Coach Jesse Anderson and his LC Cougars picked up their first region win of the year on Friday with a road victory at Purvis High. The Cougars beat a Purvis team that had beaten Sumrall a week before. A week before that, Sumrall came into Monticello and ruined homecoming for the Cougars.

Next up for the Cougars (3-4) is the final home game of the regular season on Friday against Columbia High. Columbia has won five straight games in its series with the Cougars from LC.

 

Wilkinson County 34, West Lincoln 14

West Lincoln battled, but could not overcome Wilkinson County on Friday in the 2024 home finale on Perry Miller Field. 

On a night where the seniors were honored, senior signal caller Caden Seay tossed two touchdown passes, both of them going to Tucker Parsons.

Seniors for the Bears and first year head coach Johnny Ball include Seay, Chance Stewart, Rhett Hedgepeth, Tyler Hall, Joseph Martin, and Hayz Boyte. 

West Lincoln (1-7) will be on the road the next two weeks at Loyd Star and Amite County to close out the season.

 

Parklane Academy 49, Brookhaven Academy 14

Brookhaven Academy finished up the district portion of its schedule with a trip to face the division leading Parklane Pioneers. Parklane, coached by former BA head man Ron Rushing, moved to 8-2 overall with the win. The Pioneers will be heavy favorites next week at Columbia Academy and then will likely have a first-round bye in the upcoming MAIS 5A playoffs.

Brookhaven Academy and first year head coach Ryan Ross wrap up the 2024 regular season next week with a game at Amite School Center. 

The Cougars got two passing scores from quarterback Will Newell in the loss at Parklane. Newell hit Braden Revere and Trace Garrett on his touchdown throws.