Great night of 2nd round MPSA South AA football on Friday night as the defending state champion Centreville Tigers advanced as did the Oak Forest Yellow Jackets. These two District 5AA squads will meet in Centreville next Friday night to decide who represents the south in the AA state title game against either Kirk or Lee. I can’t say enough about the job Coach Jason Brabham has done with the resurgent Yellow Jackets who have defeated district champions in two consecutive weeks on the road. And in Centreville Coach Bill Hurst has his Tigers in familiar territory once again. Should be fun!
*Bowling Green (8-4) at Centreville (11-2)………….The Bowling Green Buccaneers rolled into Centreville looking to avenge a week six drubbing at the hands of the Centreville Tigers. The Tigers handed the Bucs their first loss of the season by a 41-11 margin and had some folks questioning whether Bowling Green was deserving of some of the hype they had received. After last night’s 21-10 win I think it’s safe to say that the Tigers and Tiger fans have respect for the Buccaneer football program under first year head coach Bret Beard. Last night’s match up was in total contrast to the week six encounter in which Centreville capitalized on the mistake prone
Buc offense. Bowling Green’s three possessions in the first half each produced long drives but the Bucs failed to reach the end-zone and could only manage a 33 yard Jason Milton field goal. Centreville scored on their second possession of the half just as the second quarter began on a Zack Sinclair dive. The first half ended with Centreville holding a 7-3 lead. BG was able to hold CA to only two possessions in the first half but the pace picked up quickly in the second half as Centreville’s Zack Sinclair slipped into the end-zone with just over three minutes gone in the half to push the Tiger lead to 14-3. Bowling Green answered quickly on a Cash Cooley to Blake McGehee 5 yard touchdown pass to cap a drive that took less than three minutes to cut the lead to 14-10. The Centreville Tigers next possession culminated on another Zack Sinclair scamper for pay-dirt to provide what would be the final margin of 21-10. The contest produced only four penalties (BG) and one punt (BG) on the night and three turnovers, two Tiger fumbles and one Buc interception with 17 seconds left in the game. Centreville’s Zack Sinclair continued his torrid pace in the playoffs leading the Tigers with 245 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. In just two playoff games the running back has amassed 462 yards and 7 td’s. Senior quarterback Kyle Brown did an exceptional job and had several timely completions on the night as the Tiger offense displayed an effective passing game. Wide out Adam Perry was the recipient of most of those passes. For the Bowling Green Buccaneers senior running back Kasey Cooley went over the 100 yard mark for the second time in the playoffs with a 120 yard night and brother Cash Cooley had just over 230 yards and one touchdown passing. Great effort by both squads as the Centreville Tigers advance to face district foe Oak Forest next.
*Oak Forest (7-5) at Trinity (11-2)………..Over in Natchez the District 3AA Champion Trinity Saints hosted an Oak Forest Yellow Jacket squad that finished 4th in the always tough District 5AA race. The last time these two met in the playoffs the Trinity Saints handed the Jackets a stinging 35-12 loss. What the Jackets would accomplish on Trinity’s home field on Friday night would be a task that not many have achieved. Winning on the road on two consecutive weeks as huge underdogs against district champions is amazing for any team. This Oak Forest squad is by no means the same team I saw play in Amite against Brookhaven back during the first half of the season. I felt earlier in the week that maybe Trinity was struggling just a bit on offense due to the injury bug and it could be a factor but with Trinity’s domination on the defensive side of the ball against River Oaks last week I felt it would carry over to the OFA match up. Furthermore, if someone told me that the Jacket offense would only produce 30 yards passing I would have said TE easily. Boy was I wrong! The Oak Forest Yellow Jackets have been reborn with a smothering defense and a running game reminiscent of a few years back. The Jacket defense held Trinity to 18 yards rushing and just over 160 yards passing on the night and produced a safety late in the game. Oak Forest jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter behind a Jonathon Burrell 32 yard run. In the 2nd quarter it was James Peterson turn as he scampered 28 yards to score and Burrell added the two point conversion to give the Jackets a 14-0 lead. Trinity’s only score on the night came shortly after as quarterback Givonni Dent hit Kent King for a 14 yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-7 before the half ended. The 2nd half was all Oak Forest as Burrell would add two more rushing scores of 5 and 1 yards and the Jacket defense would add a safety to give OFA the 30-7 victory. On the night Jonathon Burrell had 30 carries for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns on a defense that only allowed Simpson 4 first downs last week. Burrell has been dominant running the ball and has racked up 6 touchdowns in the playoffs alone. The re-surging Oak Forest Yellow Jackets will now prepare to hit the road again for another huge task, the Centreville Tigers, but with the way the Jackets are playing who knows?
Round Two “Shout Outs”
*Da Man has a “Shout Out” for the Oak Forest defense who held the Trinity Saints to 18 yards rushing Friday night.
*Here’s a first time and long overdue Da Man “Shout Out” to the Centreville Tiger offensive line: Cody Roberts, Justin Henry, Tyler Glasscock, Daniel Perkins, Ragan Reynolds, Eric Noland and Brandon Aldridge.
*How about a Da Man “Shout Out” to Oak Forest running back Jonathon Burrell who ran for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns on Friday night.
*Yet another Da Man “Shout Out” to the best back in AA football Zack Sinclair who totaled 245 yards and 3 touchdowns Friday night.
WHO ARE YOUR “SHOUT OUTS” FROM FRIDAY NIGHT?
