By By Josh Taylor/The Meridian Star
October 13, 2001
The Newton County Cougars remain undefeated with a 21-13 Region 5-3A win over Southeast Lauderdale Friday night at Tiger Field.
The Cougars came out running with an early first quarter score off a 20-yard rush from Derek Mapp.
A successful extra point from David McConnell put the Cougars up 7-0.
The Tigers defense stepped up the rest of the first quarter led by Josh Clark, LaPatrick Carlisle, Matt Raines, and Andy Landrum to hold for the rest of the half.
On the last play of the first half, Southeast got on the board with a six-yard pass from Ben Reed to Roderick Baskin.
A Willie Hood PAT was good leaving the game tied at 7-7.
The Tigers next possession ended in another touchdown on a long 67- yard pass from Ben Reed to Travis Reed with 6:42 to go in the second quarter.
The following Hood PAT bounced off the uprights leaving the Tigers up 13-7.
The Cougars next possession ended when Kendrick Windham fumbled and Southeast's Steven Willis recovered.
The Tigers did not capitalize on it as Newton County's defense stepped up to the challenge led by Adam Bout, Richard Coft, and Mark Walker.
The half ended on an interception by Southeast's Baskin.
The third quarter was a defensive showcase for both teams, both going scoreless.
The Cougars ended the quarter on the Tiger's eight-yard line after a hard fought drive run mostly on the legs of Windham.
The Cougar's third play of the fourth quarter resulted in a touchdown rush from Darryl Mapp from two yards out.
The McConnell PAT was good putting the Cougars up 14-13.
Southeast started their next possession on their own one yard line and drove to midfield only to end it with a Ben Reed fumble recovered by Josh Avant.
Newton County took advantage of the situation by capping off an 11-play drive with a 16-yard touchdown rush from Darryl Mapp.
McConnell hit the PAT to put the Cougars up 21-13.
Southeast got the ball back with 1:55 on the clock on their own 24-yard line.
The Tigers moved the ball down to the 44-yard line when a Ben Reed pass was picked off by Newton County's Dexter McCune.
The Cougars took a knee the next three plays to run the clock. Newton County stays undefeated with a 7-0 record and is 3-0 in district play. Southeast fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in district play.
The Cougars will be hosting Carthage next week while Southeast will be traveling to Philadelphia.
Darryl Mapp led the Cougars offense with 133 yards of total offense.
Despite losing Southeast's Ben Reed came up with 343 yards of total offense.
Josh Taylor is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. You can call him at 693-1551 ext. 3234.