Prep Roundup: Titans fall to Holmes County Central
Ridgeland will have to start any potential playoff run on the road following a 50-20 loss to Holmes County Central last week.
After racing to a 4-0 start to open Region 2-5A play, the Titans (7-3, 4-2 in 2-5A) have now lost two league games in a row.
Coach David White's bunch is still guaranteed a playoff spot. If they defeat Provine (9-2, 4-2 in 2-5A) on Senior Night this weekend, they'll be the three-seed and face the No. 2 team from Region 1, which will either be Lafayette (8-2) or Lake Cormorant (6-4). A loss to Provine would mean a first-round trip to face the defending 5A champs, West Point (10-1).
Against Holmes County (8-3, 5-1 in 2-5A), Ridgeland was dogged early by an 18-7 first-quarter deficit that dragged into the half. They could not keep pace with the Jaguars, who put the game away by pouring on 26 more points in the third quarter.
Ridgeland returned a kickoff for a touchdown but it proved to be entirely too little too late with a missed PAT to boot.
The Titans had 323 total yards Friday evening, including 195 through the air.
Junior Richard Mays led the offense in receiving yards with six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Donovan Ball led the rushing game with two carries for 55 yards. Markell Young added 43 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Zy McDonald kept it 11 times for 28 yards.
McDonald completed 19 of 39 passes for one touchdown and one interception.
The Titans will cap the regular season Friday night against Provine
Raleigh 28,
Velma Jackson 21
Velma Jackson will open the playoffs at home against Morton thanks to a tie-breaker.
The Falcons (6-4, 4-1 in 6-3A) dropped their regular-season finale to Raleigh 28-21 last Friday night, which set up a three-way tie for first place with the Lions (5-5, 4-1) and Yazoo County (9-2, 4-1).
While Velma Jackson still gets to claim a share of the region title, they will technically be a two-seed in the playoffs thanks to point differential in their two games against their co-champs.
Their reward is a home game to start the playoffs against Morton (4-7), the three-seed out of Region 5.
The Panthers are coming off of a 47-16 loss on the road against 2A foe Pelahatchie (9-2).
Against Raleigh, Velma had a halftime lead of 14-6 but could not hang on.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Velma.
Provine 19, Canton 0
Canton will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years following Friday night's 19-0 shutout by Provine.
Having already lost to Ridgeland, beating the Rams (9-2) was the Tigers' only shot at sneaking into the playoffs as the four-seed in Region 2-5A.
But the Tigers' never could get into any kind of rhythm on offense, thanks in part to four turnovers. Provine linebacker Jaquavous White picked off Jacobian Morgan twice and Canton lost the ball twice on fumbles.
Coach Calvin Bolton and the Tigers can still close out the season on a high note when they host Cleveland Central on Senior Night this weekend.
Jackson Academy 15, Parklane 14
Jackson Academy will open playoff play against arch-rival Jackson Prep following Friday night's 15-14 nail-biting win over Parklane Academy in McComb.
The win set up a showdown with Prep on Nov. 15.
The Raiders (7-4, 3-2 in District 6A) won the defensive struggle over the Pioneers (6-5) by overcoming a 6-0 halftime deficit.
Marcus Harris set the tone for JA in the second half with a 12-yard rushing touchdown with ten minutes left in the third quarter.
Harris had 169 total yards on the evening.
The Raider offense would not find the end zone again but their defense kept shutting down all Pioneer attempts to get downfield.
Next week they travel to Jackson Prep for a rematch for the first game of the MAIS playoffs. JA lost to their rivals in the Brickyard earlier this season in a tough but decisive 28-17 struggle.
North Delta 24,
Canton Academy 17
Canton Academy's (2-9,1-2) season came to an end last Friday with a 24-17 first-round playoff loss to 8-3 North Delta in Batesville.
The Panthers struggled in their second season at MAIS 4A. This was head coach David Blount's first year back at the helm. Blount was coming off several years of success at cross-county rival Tr-County.
St. Joseph 33, Riverside 0
St. Joe (3-7,1-3) starts the MHSAA 2A playoffs at Northside after they capped the regular season with a district shutout win over Riverside.
Friday night's bout with the Bulldogs (2-9,0-4) snapped a four-game losing streak and earned them a playoff berth.
The Bruins got on the board early and kept the pressure on through four quarters of play. They went into the half up 19-0 and put another 14 in the second half for good measure.
Reed Fry had a standout evening scoring a pick-six for the Bruins early in the fourth quarter.
The Bruins are in for a tough road ahead if they want to advance in the playoffs.
Northside sits undefeated this season. They have allowed only 20 points all season in three games and have let no single opponent score double digits.
Crystal Springs 40,
St. Andrew's 0
St.Andrew's (2-9,1-4) season concluded last Friday with a thorough 40-0 beating at the hands of Crystal Springs in Ridgeland.
The saints only mustered 104 yards of total offense, 99 of which were rushing. Senior QB Lleyton Carr finished his career with the Saints leading the rushing game with 20 carries for 54 yards.
Carr completed zero passes on three attempts with on interception.
The season ends on a four-game losing streak. Their last win of the season came in October in a 29-22 home conference win against McLaurin (2-9,0-5) who finished their season last Friday at home down 44-7 to Yazoo City.
St. Andrew's other win came in week two at Newton. The Saints won 27-20. Newton would not win a game all season.
Jackson Prep 49,
Presbyterian Christian 20
Prep (9-2,4-1) goes into the playoffs with the momentum of two straight wins after rolling 5-6 Presbyterian Christian 49-20 to end the regular season.
Prep led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter and would maintain and widen that gap through the night. They rolled to 49-6 in the third quarter.
It was senior night.