Arlington coach Sykes proud of defense
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Despite giving up 28 points, Arlington coach Adam Sykes had big props for his team’s defensive performance against Region 4-6A rival Collierville on Friday night.
“They’re a very good team,” Sykes said after watching the Tigers’ 3528 victory that improved their overall record to 4-2 while giving them an important first region victory after losses to Whitehaven and White Station.
“They’re big up front and they’re run-first. But I think our defense played its best overall game. They beat us last year (44-30) and I don’t want to say you build things based on revenge, but it did weigh on their minds I think.
“Our linebackers, Brandon Jackson and Logan Feathers, played well and we had some other guys that didn’t necessarily stand out on the stat sheet that sacrificed to do their jobs.”
Tate Kolwyck threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Noah Johnson on the first play from scrimmage and also connected with Caleb Nelson for a long score. That eventually opened up the running game and allowed Tee Foster and Kenneth Walker to shine.
“I think Tee Foster had his best game of the year,” Sykes said. “He got some tough yards. We were able to do some things vertically with some deep passes and get ahead for once rather than having to play from behind.”
HARDING STANDOUT ‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’
Columbia, ArkansasMonticello and Harding University are showing the most interest in Harding Academy’s Calvin Austin right now. Coach Johnny Allen believes that will change.
Austin, the Harding senior speedster, added to his already lengthy list of highlight performances in a 48-7 win over Magnolia Heights by scoring five touchdowns four different ways for The Commercial Appeal Dandy Dozen’s No. 8 team.
He had touchdown runs of 18 and 15 yards, returned an interception 18, brought back a punt 62 yards and a kickoff 99 as Harding improved to 4-1.
“He’s something special,” said Lions coach Johnny Allen. “He’s not as big as (former White Station star) Dillon Mitchell, but he has that knack for making people miss. When he gets the ball, everybody kind of holds their breath.
“He’s only 5-9 and barely 160 pounds, but I firmly believe he’ll get a chance. He’s going to be one of those guys that people stumble on late and then go, ‘Hey, we’ve really got something.’ ”
U OF M COMMIT SHINES FOR EAST
Timothy Taylor had a big game on the ground for East Saturday at Crump Stadium. And it could have been bigger.
The senior, who has committed to play at the University of Memphis, ran for 205 yards on 26 carries and scored twice as the Mustangs, ranked ninth in The Dandy Dozen, won their fourth straight after an opening loss to Cordova, 36-7 over winless Melrose.
Taylor opened the scoring with a 47-yard run in the first quarter before adding a 3-yard touchdown run in the third. In addition, he had a 70-yard touchdown run called back.
Mustangs quarterback Justin Lynn added scoring passes of 35 yards to Qwynnterrio Cole and 60 to Nygel Byrd.
Melrose, which scored in the fourth on Ahdai Paige’s 50-yard pass to Kendric Jones, is 0-6.
SPARTANS REV UP; WHITEHAVEN NEAR
Don’t look now, but White Station is getting it in gear. Just in time for a matchup against topranked Whitehaven next Friday at the Fairgrounds.
Myles Baker and Trevor Forbes each scored twice as the Spartans won their fourth straight after opening losses to CBHS and DeSoto Central, 55-7 over Bartlett. The Spartans have scored 136 points in their last three games.
Baker caught a 30-yard pass from John Lyons and had a 26-yard run, and Forbes scored on runs of 50 and 47 to finish with 110 yards on just six carries. Greg Williams had an 87-yard punt return to help White Station take a 41-7 halftime lead.
Quarterback John Lyons, who was injured in the opener and didn’t play in the next two games, had a 17-yard touchdown run.
IN OTHER GAMES
(1) Whitehaven 40, Houston 3: The state’s thirdranked 6A team improved to 6-0 behind 121 yards and three touchdowns (14, 34, 5) from Kylan Watkins. Tyrone Cason and Chris Witherspoon also had TD runs while Lesley Mosby threw for a 46-yard score to Ka’Dedrick Richardson. The Tigers defense held Houston (2-3) to 185 yards.
(2) Cordova 33, Germantown 19: Cordova, ranked fifth in the state 6A poll, overcame a slow start to defeat the Red Devils (15). Harold Lacy ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns (20, 30, 10) while Devin Coleman had a 65yard touchdown pass to Jacolby Hewitt. Cordova’s area-best defense harassed Germantown quarterback Myles Guyton into 6-for-21 passing.
(T3) MUS 40, (5) Ridgeway 22: It was all Owls (60) after the Roadrunners scored on their first two plays from scrimmage. Bradley Foley had three touchdown runs and backup quarterback Bobby Wade ran for 132 yards and a score. The MUS defense set a school record, holding the Roadrunners to minus-20 yards on the ground. Ridgeway (4-2) led 14-0 after the first minute as Tyrique Sandusky (279 yards) threw a 73-yard pass to Vincent Taylor on the first play and then a 7-yarder to Kundarrius Taylor after recovering an Owls fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
(T3) CBHS 51, Sheffield 14: The Brothers (5-1) had no trouble with the Knights (0-6) as Will Ruth opened the game with an 87-yard kickoff return before adding a second score on a 9-yard pass from Keegan Voss. Voss also had a 31-yard touchdown pass to Gray Woodmansee. CBHS allowed just 76 yards of total offense, despite a state-recordtying 99-yard touchdown run from Sheffield’s Tardell Grayson in the fourth quarter. The Knights also scored on Dontavious Wallace’s 90-yard kickoff return.
(6) Lausanne 63, Covington 6: The Lynx (4-1) followed up last week’s win over Harding by setting a school record for points in a game and handing the Chargers their fourth straight defeat after two victories.
South Panola 7, (10) Horn Lake 0: Patrick Shegog’s 43yard pass to Jordan Strong was enough for the Tigers (1-4) to hand the Eagles (51) their first loss.
Tupelo 31, (11) Hernando 0: The Tigers (4-1) lost for the first time as Tupelo improved to 5-0.
(12) Raleigh-Egypt 41, St. Benedict 19: The Pharaohs (6-0) tuned up for next week’s Region 8-3A showdown at Bolivar Central with the victory. Cedric Henderson recovered three fumbles — one for a touchdown — and had two sacks to lead the defense.
Briarcrest 55, BTW 8: The Saints (5-1) warmed up for next week’s visit from CBHS with the easy win. Jackson Walker had scoring passes of 33 to Bradley Ellis and 13 to Parker Sherrill, while Jake Powers scored on a 17-yard run and a 52-yard interception return. The Warriors 7. Trezevant (3-2) 8. Harding (4-1) 9. East (4-1) 10. Horn Lake (5-1) 11. Hernando (4-1) 12. Raleigh-Egypt (6-0) (0-5) remain winless but did score their first points of the year.
Columbus 59, DeSoto Central 13: Mont Spann opened the scoring by returning a fumble 91 yards, but it was all downhill after that for the Jaguars (4-2). Tyrell Hudgins, Pat Jackson and Michael McCloud each scored two touchdowns for Columbus.
Millington 27, Kirby 20: Freshman quarterback Tommy Clifton had two touchdown runs and a pair of scoring passes as the Trojans picked up their first victory after five straight losses.
Munford 56, Martin Luther King Prep 0: Chaz Hayes and Noah Robertson each had two touchdown runs as the Cougars (3-2) rolled to a 49-0 halftime lead. Munford intercepted the Rams’ first two passes to set up scores.
Southaven 27, Olive Branch 3: The Chargers (51) won the Backyard Brawl and kept Olive Branch winless under first-year coach Pete Hurt. Jules Holley threw scoring passes of 7 and 25 yards to Brandin Echols and also had a 3-yard TD run.
St. George’s 61, Hamilton 20: It was the Corey Jones show as the Gryphons improved to 4-2. The senior caught touchdown passes of 57 and 8 yards from Ben Glass and added scores on kickoff returns of 90 and 69 yards. Glass also scored on runs of 25 and 4 yards and threw an 18-yard TD pass to Shon Wooten, and Chase Hayden added a 30yard touchdown run.
Tipton-Rosemark 35, Middleton 14: Mac Fullen had scoring runs of 37, 37 and 6 yards to help the Rebels improve to 3-3.
University School of Jackson 35, ECS 14: Jacob Buie torched the Eagles’ secondary, throwing for 419 yards and five touchdowns, three to Wells Smith. Reid Halford had the highlight for ECS (1-5) with a 100-yard interception return.