By Staff
Special to the Star
Nov. 18, 2001
Friday night saw 16 area football teams head into playoff action with dreams of winning state championships.
When Friday's games concluded, those dreams remained for just three teams – Newton County, Wayne Academy, and Louisville.
Newton County, 12-0, will host Collins, 10-2, Friday night in a rematch of last year's first-round game which Newton County won 7-0.
Wayne Academy, 11-1, faces DeSoto, Ark., 10-2, and Louisville, 8-4, will take on Hernando, 11-1, in Friday's other games involving area teams.
Louisville 44
Shannon 38
The Wildcats advanced to a third-round game with Hernando as they rallied from an 18-point deficit at Shannon.
Shannon led 38-20 starting the fourth quarter.
Louisville, 8-4, cut Shannon's lead to 38-28 on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 13-yard pass from Anthony Stanford to Chris Perry.
Stanford then ran a two-point conversion.
The Wildcats got the winning touchdown with 2:47 remaining on a 3-yard run from Kentay Eiland.
Stanford added another two-point conversion for the 44-38 win.
Ken Topps passed for 211 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 90 yards to lead Shannon, 10-2.
Topps' 15-yard toss to Carlos Brown with six seconds left in the first half gave the Red Raiders a 28-14 lead at the break.
Mize 35
Sebastopol 0
The Bobcats finished 7-5 in losing at unbeaten Mize, 12-0.
Mize scored three touchdowns in the first quarter. The first came on an 85-yard interception return by Curtis Keyes.
The Bulldogs also got a 6-yard touchdown run from Jason Ducksworth and a 1-yard scoring run from Tim Magee in the opening period.
Keyes had an 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter with Ducksworth scoring from 10 yards out in the third period.
Oak Forest, La. 33
Leake Academy 0
The Rebels finished 5-7 after losing to the 10-1 Yellowjackets at Amite, La.
Oak Forest, whose only loss was to unbeaten Silliman Institute, led only 7-0 at halftime, thanks to a 66-yard punt return, but broke the game open with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
The first score in the third period came on a 66-yard run.
The Jackets added 3 and 6-yard scoring runs to go up 27-0 heading into the final period.