James powers Lamar past Mansfield in key conference game

Lamar didn’t like its position in a preseason poll, so the Warriors did something about it.

They beat the team predicted ahead of them.

Brady James rushed for 158 yards on 26 carries and scored five touchdowns to lead Lamar to a 48-26 win over Mansfield Friday. James also had a sack and an interception for the Warriors, who raced to a 27-6 lead at the half.

“Brady is the hardest-working kid in practice every day,” Lamar coach Josh Jones said. “He always shows up and gives 100 percent. I get great joy watching a kid who works that hard have success.”

James scored on runs of 13, 9, 1, 25 yards for the Warriors, who pulled away after Mansfield got to within 27-20 in the second half.

“That magazine got us fired up,” James said following the homecoming victory. “We came out here and tried and prove ourselves like we do every Friday.”

Lamar (7-1, 4-1) moved into second place in the 3A-1 Conference and dropped Mansfield into a fourth-place tie with Greenland.

“We knew we had to win this game,” Jones said, “If we don’t, we could be in serious danger of missing the playoffs.”

Lamar has a huge opportunity to prove themselves again Friday in a key conference game. That’s when the Warriors play at Booneville (6-2, 5-0), the defending state champion and conference leader. Booneville was also picked ahead of Lamar in a preseason poll of the league coaches.

Booneville can clinch the league’s No. 1 seed with a win over Lamar. The Warriors can win the league champion and No. 1 seed with wins over Booneville and Charleston to end the regular season.

Lamar has won three consecutive games and Booneville five consecutive. Booneville beat Lamar 28-7 last year when the Bearcats won the Class 3A state championship with a 15-0 record.