SBLive Mississippi Friday Night Rewind: Brandon, South Panola, Ripley all post big wins
Friday night provided some fireworks in the Magnolia State, as several teams wrapped up their region championships and many more secured playoff berths.
No. 2 Brandon beat No. 8 Pearl the Rankin County Super Bowl, the Ripley Tigers posted one of the biggest regular-season wins in school history and South Panola dominated a key region game against Lake Cormorant.
Here's a look at the action from Friday:
Brandon serves Pearl a dirt sammich
The Brandon Bulldogs (6-2) pulled off their second win against a Power 10 opponent in as many weeks with a 42-20 win over cross-town rival Pearl in the 73rd running of the “Eat Dirt” rivalry game.
Pearl (6-2) kept the game close in the first half as sophomore quarterback Jack Durr threw for one touchdown and ran for another to help the Pirates to a 17-14 halftime lead.
But the Pirates ran into trouble in the third quarter, when Brandon senior Jonathan Crain picked Durr twice, with both interceptions leading directly to touchdown passes from Landon Varnes to Jamaurion McQueen who finished with north of 150 passing yards and five touchdowns.
MORE: Check out the complete SBLive Mississippi Friday night scoreboard
Brandon, No. 2 in this week’s SBLive Power 10 Rankings, moved to 3-0 in Region 3-7A with the win, and can all but assure themselves of one of the top two playoff sports coming out of the district with a win over Meridian at home next week.
Believe it or not... it's Ripley
The Ripley Tigers (9-0) locked up the Region 1-4A title Friday night with a knock-down, drag-out 14-10 win over the previously unbeaten Amory Panthers (8-1).
Jaylon Brooks ran for two first-half touchdowns, and the Ripley defense helped the Tigers cling to a 14-3 late in the third quarter. Amory got a turnover on downs and drove a short field to cut it to 14-10, but Ripley converted a couple of key third downs and ran out the clock to secure the win.
The victory assured Ripley of home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the MHSAA playoffs. They can finish the regular season undefeated with a win at New Albany (6-2).
Is South Panola back?
Don’t look now, but the South Panola Tigers (7-1) are back in the title hunt in 6A.
The Tigers posted a 33-7 win over the Lake Cormorant Gators (5-3) Friday night to move to 3-0 in Region 1, where they remained in a two-way tie for first with the Grenada Chargers (7-2).
The Tigers should be heavy favorites to beat Olive Branch (2-6) on the road next week, and doing so would set up a huge showdown at Grenada on Nov. 2.
Tupelo’s close call
The most deceiving score of the night award has to go to the Tupelo Golden Wave’s seemingly comfortable 42-28 win over Clinton Arrows.
Clinton (1-7) controlled the game against the sixth-ranked Golden Wave (7-2) for nearly three full quarters, playing them to a 14-14 tie at the half and a 28-28 tie going into the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, the Arrows were doomed by back-to-back fumbles that led directly to touchdowns for the Golden Wave.
Tupelo moved to 3-0 in Region 2-7A and will enjoy a week off before hosting Starkville on Nov. 2 with a chance to lock up the top playoff seed in the district.
West Point bounces back
The West Point Green Wave erased the sting of last week’s road loss with a resounding 42-3 win over Lafayette at home to move to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in Region 1-5A.
That 2-1 mark is significant, because the Green Wave remained tied for second place behind the Clarksdale Wildcats (5-3), who can wrap up the region’s top seed with a win over Corinth next weekend.
In other action...
- The Mendenhall Tigers (5-4) led top-ranked Louisville 10-7 after the first quarter, but the Wildcats (9-0) took a 17-10 lead into the half and cruised to a 41-16 win.
- The Wesson Cobras (8-0) were unbeaten but also unchallenged. They changed that Friday night with a convincing 42-20 win over a solid opponent in the South Pike Eagles (6-3). The Cobras can finish the regular season undefeated with a win at Jefferson County next week.
- The Choctaw County Chargers (7-2) wrapped up the Region 4-3A title by beating the Nettleton Tigers (6-2) soundly in a 39-20 romp.
- Ky'von Harris scored four touchdowns and U'darrion Hickmon accounted for three more as the Union Yellowjackets (8-1) rolled to a 56-21 statement win over the Sebastopol Bobcats (8-1).
- The Resurrection Catholic Eagles (7-1) clinched the Region 8-1A title with 34-24 win over the previously unbeaten Sacred Heart Crusaders (8-1).
