All Memphis-area teams bow out of postseason
Here’s a roundup of Memphis area high school football games from the third round of the TSSAA playoffs and second round of the MHSAA playoffs, based on information and statistics submitted to The Commercial Appeal:
CPA 56, Lausanne 31: The host Lynx found an early hole too huge to climb out of during their Division II-AA semifinal loss. Mr. Football semifinalist Langston Patterson had both a 2-yard run and an interception return for touchdowns, and quarterback Cade Law scored on a pair of TD runs, as CPA (11-2) led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Lausanne (9-2) got on the scoreboard after a Levi Dorsey field goal and a Brock Glenn touchdown pass to Datavius Bledsoe. Sandwiched in between those scoring plays was a TD pass by Law, which was soon followed by two more Law touchdown runs. CPA held a 49-10 halftime advantage.
“Maybe the score looks like you can’t recover from it, but we talked about what we’ve built here, our character and how we approach everything,” Lausanne coach Kevin Locastro said. “There’s been a lot of occasions where we’ve been leading the game 49-0 at halftime, and we still talk about the score being 0-0. We talked about it tonight. We just happened to be on the flip side of that.”
Glenn refused to quit in the second half, tossing two touchdown passes to Ben Bolton. The other Lynx points were scored by Craig Cunningham, who along with Glenn, accounted for 20plus touchdowns this season. In the game, Cunningham ran for 153 yards on 16 carries. Glenn threw for 180 yards.
“I was really proud of the way our kids continued to play all 48 minutes,” Locastro said. “It was a rough night, obviously. We could have rolled over at halftime and it could have gotten a lot uglier, but we continued to try to push. Offensively, I think we played good enough to be in the game at halftime. Defensively, we just gave up too many big plays.”
Dyersburg 21, Covington 20: A blocked PAT doomed the Chargers (9-3) in overtime and ended their season. The Trojans scored on their ensuing possession and upon Grant Self kicking the extra point through the uprights, Dyersburg (12-0) was on its way to the Class 3A semifinals. The second quarter was also worth the price of admission, as the teams scored two touchdowns apiece in the last six minutes. The Trojans had an interception return and a 65-yard reception, while Covington’s response was highlighted by Jalen Fayne’s 95-yard kickoff return.
“Tough loss tonight,” said Covington coach JR Kirby, “especially this time of year. It came down to the wire and they made one more play than we did. We didn’t do enough to win — too many mistakes. Proud of my kids and this program. They fought to the end.”
Jamarion Dowell led the Charger rushing attack with 17 carries for 92 yards. Fayne and Eumorrion Flowers (55 yards) each had rushing touchdowns. Tanner Stewart chipped in 59 yards on the ground.
Starkville 42, Southaven 27: The visiting Chargers fell one game short of playing for the MHSAA Class 6A North Half Championship. Dontavious Brevard’s touchdown run staked Southaven (9-4) to an early 6-0, yet the remainder of the first-half scoring was done by the Yellowjackets, who took a 21-6 lead into the break.
Starkville (11-1) got its second interception return for a touchdown early in the third quarter, before Brevard scored again to make it a 28-13 contest. The rest of the back-and-forth second half featured a pair of touchdown catches by Dillon Williams, the latter a 56-yard strike from QB Jakylan Robinzine.
“This is such an incredible group of young men that genuinely love being around each other,” Southaven coach Eddie Stevenson said. “Throughout this process, I just couldn’t be more proud of these guys — just how they laid it on the line. They definitely can go out with their heads held high, knowing they played as hard as they possibly could.”
Montgomery Bell Academy 42, CBHS 14: Quarterback Ashton Strother and tailback Dallan Hayden, an Ohio St. commitment, scored the lone touchdowns for the visiting Purple Wave (8-5).
Westview 16, MAHS 0: The Lions (11-2) had their Class 2A state championship dreams dashed with the road loss.