By By Jeff Byrd / staff writer
Oct. 24, 2002
The numbers don't lie. Unbeaten Scott Central has one whale of a team.
One number that amazes Clarkdale head coach Bubba Hathorn is the No. 32.
Clarkdale, however, will have to find a way to dent the Rebel defense when they head to the northern suburbs of Forest for the Region 5-2A battle.
First place is on the line. Both teams enter with 3-0 league marks. The one difference is Scott Central has yet to lose, period. Clarkdale is 6-2.
Scott Central is similar in one respect to Clarkdale they run the Wing-T offense.
Scott Central has five players who have scored five or more touchdowns this season. Cedric Gray leads the way with 53 points which includes eight TDs. Mitch Bradford has 48 points with eight touchdowns while Nathaniel McKee has 42 points off seven TDs.
Another concern of Hathorn is his team's own special units, namely, kick coverage.
The Wildcats, however, were unable to stop Clarkdale's mix of power running along with the passing of Justin Culpepper. The Bulldogs rolled to the 55-14 victory.
Culpepper hit on a pair of TD passes of 17 and 37 yards to Quinn Moffitte to hand the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead. Clarkdale was then able to run the ball at will on the Wildcats.
Cedric Burns finished with 127 yards rushing and Kevin Matthews had 111. Matthews leads the region in scoring with 60 points. Moffitte is fourth with 44.
Besides Moffitte, Culpepper can throw to tight end Adam Box. Senior linemen Thomas Joiner and Henry Stringfellow pace the line.
Defensively, the Bulldogs rely on Alvin Matthews to make tackles with Culpepper and Moffitte making plays in the secondary. Another weapon is kicker David Prewitt who has made four field goals and 21 extra points this season.
Scott Central has a good kicker too in Ivan Garcia. Garcia has hit two field goals and 23 PAT kicks to give him 33 points for the year.
Copiah at Lamar
Last week's stunning loss to Adams Christian has left the Lamar Raiders facing a tough situation when Copiah visits this week for a key Academy AAA South Division II game Friday.
Raider head coach Mac Barnes says his team needs to collect itself in order to win the last two regular season games and take the South Division II crown.
The Raiders will be without its leading rusher in Lane Rush against Copiah. Rush, who has 713 yards, suffered a slight concussion in the Adams game.
Dylan Anderson still has trouble running and won't play either. The Raiders will use Jeff Parke at fullback and split time between Parker Payne and Randy Boyd Thompson at tailback.
Quarterback Drew Moffett continues to lead the club. He has completed 83-of-183 for 1,141 yards with seven touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Daniel Harrison has 38 catches for 619 yards and four TDs.
Copiah is 4-5 overall after beating Presbyterian Christian 34-26.
Southeast Lauderdale
at West Lauderdale
Two potent offensive players square off Friday in Collinsville. Southeast Lauderdale quarterback Drew Harper will direct the Tigers' spread offense against West Lauderdale who will counter with running back Carlessio Blanks.
The Knights are making a late season push and still have a shot at reaching the 3A playoffs for a second straight year. A win over the 1-7 Tigers is a must.
West is coming off a 35-28 overtime victory over Choctaw Central. It was the Knights' first win in Region 5-3A play. A win over the Tigers would give them two. They would then need to beat Carthage on the road next week.
Last week in a 22-6 loss to Philadelphia, Harper connected on 17-of-31 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Courtney Granger had a big game as well catching seven balls for 145 yards.
Blanks helped lead an offensive explosion at West with 241 yards rushing and three touchdowns. His 10-yard score proved to be the difference in overtime.
Last year, Blanks ran for 365 yards in handing the Knights a 24-20 win over Southeast on the Tigers' home field.
Northeast Lauderdale
at Louisville
Northeast Lauderdale takes a break from Region 5-4A action to take on another 4A school from Region 2 in the Louisville Wildcats.
The Trojans have lost four straight since winning three in a row. They have fallen out of playoff contention but would like to get two more wins in the final two weeks to finish at 5-5.
Louisville is right at the break-even point at 4-4. The Wildcats remain in good shape for the playoffs with a 3-2 league mark but they are smarting from last week's 17-7 loss to West Point.
Louisville is led by standout running back Derrell Ashford who rushed for over 100 yards in his first four games this season. He has 48 points off 8 TDs.
Northeast is led by Marcus Betts who has 50 points. The Trojans made a good comeback at Mendenhall rallying from a 22-0 deficit before taking a 33-22 loss.