Prep Roundup: Tri-County rolls in first round

Phillip Wasson challenged his defense last week to stop Brookhaven Academy's high octane offense, and they answered the call.

The Rebel defense allowed just 25 total yards and the Rebels ran away with a 56-7 win to advance to the second round of the MAIS 4A playoffs.

"We looked good," Wasson said. "We blitzed a lot, stayed in their quarterback's face and really disrupted everything they wanted to do offensively."

Cade Shepherd did the rest, completing all four of his pass attempts for 83 yards and rushing 14 times for 175 yards and five more touchdowns.

The win sets up a showdown with Wayne Academy (5-5) in the semifinal round Friday at Flora. The winner will advance to take on the winner of Riverfield Academy and Lee Academy in the 4A championship on Nov. 21 at Mississippi College.

But the Rebels (9-2) can't overlook their semifinal matchup, because it's setting up to be a slobberknocker.

Wayne has had success this season with its more Wing-T running game and defense.

The Jaguar offense is a scheme that Tri-County has struggled with in previous games against Riverfield and Carroll County. The Rebels lost to Riverfield 50-49 back on Aug. 30, but showed much improvement in an 8-6 overtime win over Carroll on Sept. 13.

"It's very similar to what those two teams tried to do against us," Wasson said. "We'll have to prepare well and follow all our assignments."

Offensively, Wasson said his Rebels will have to be more balanced than they were last week against Brookhaven. Wayne Academy has allowed 14 or fewer points in six of its 10 games, including last week's 26-14 second-round win over Cathedral.

"We need to be balanced, so we are going to have to throw it some this week," Wasson said. "We're looking for a big game out of Jojo Jones, who has more than 1,000 yards receiving this season, and we could use another big game from Landon Harris."

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Flora.



Madison Central 35, Greenville 0

The Jaguars are on the road to start the 6A playoffs this week after finishing off the regular season with a blowout win over lowly Greenville.

With the win, Madison Central (9-2) moved to 5-2 in its division and captured the 3-seed coming out of Region 2. They'll travel north this Friday for a date with Olive Branch (8-3), which last week defeated Hernando 38-23 to lock up the No. 2 seed coming out of Region 1.

Madison Central star quarterback Jimmy Holiday did not play in the regular season finale, but the Jags rolled anyway.

The Madison Central offense did what it does best and racked up a ton of rushing yards against the Hornets (3-8). Duke Arnold did most of the damage with 96 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Javarius Jordan also got into the act with 45 yards and a touchdown on his four carries.

Sophomore quarterback Tate Collins, who filled admirably for Holiday, completed five of his six pass attempts for 54 yards and added 54 more yards on the ground with two rushing touchdowns.

Big Blue ran for 229 yards and five touchdowns as a team.

Kickoff for Friday's road game is slated for 7 p.m.

Velma Jackson 54,

Morton 6

Velma Jackson is moving on to the second round of the 3A playoffs following a huge blowout win over Morton.

The Falcons big reward for beating the Tigers is a trip to Columbia to face the Wildcats, the top-ranked team in 3A and No. 1 team in Mississippi Gridiron's Little 10 poll.

The Wildcats (11-0) whipped Franklin County 41-0 in their first-round matchup last week.

If the Falcons can get past Columbia, they'll face the Magee-Raleigh winner in the quarterfinals.



Northside 62, St. Joe 0

St. Joseph's season is over following Friday night's 62-0 loss to Northside in the first round of the 2A playoffs in Shelby, Miss.

The Bruins gave up 30 points in the first quarter and Northside, the No. 1 seed out of Region 3, never looked back. With the win, the Eagles advanced to the second round and will now face Eupora, the No. 3 seed out of Region 2, this weekend.

St. Joe finished the season with a 3-9 overall record.



Germantown 34,

Murrah 0

The Germantown Mavericks finished their inaugural season in 6A with a 34-0 road win over Murrah Friday night in Jackson.

The Mavericks (5-6) pounded the Mustangs (1-10) into submission by grinding out 204 rushing yards and playing solid defense. Junior Trey McCullough led the way with 101 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns. Senior Fred McAfee added one score and 41 yards on 10 carries.

Although they missed the playoffs, the Mavs finished 4-5 against 6A opponents in their first year in Mississippi's highest classification.



Canton 30, Cleveland Central 12

Canton closed out its season and sent it seniors out on a high-note with a 30-12 win over Cleveland Central at home Friday night.