Mississippi Scoreboard

10/30/2026

MRA GIRLS START DEFENSE OF MAIS OVERALL TITLE WITH WIN OVER CATHEDRAL, COACH STEPHEN FORCE LOOKS FOR NEW PLAYERS TO HELP ANNA MORGAN ANDERSON AND ANNA KATE WOODWARD

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File photo by Brad Bridges
Story by Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s two returning starters, senior guards Anna Morgan Anderson and Anna Kate Woodward, scored all of the Lady Patriots’ 15 points in the first quarter in the season opener against Natchez Cathedral Tuesday night at MRA.
Defending MAIS Overall Tournament champion MRA rolled to a 49-15 victory over Cathedral.
But MRA coach Stephen Force - who started his 25th season at MRA and 31st overall season as head coach - knows that Anderson and Woodward can’t do it all if he wants to win back to back state and Overall championships.
Annie Toler, Presley Hughes (now playing basketball at West Florida), and Gabby Gray (now playing basketball and on the track team at Millsaps College) - MRA’s other starters last season - all graduated from last year’s team, which finished 36-5 and ranked No. 4 in Mississippi by MaxPreps.
The 5-foot-9 Anderson (photo below), who verbally committed to Mississippi Christian University Friday, averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals despite battling various injuries throughout the season last year as a junior.
Anderson has made the first team on the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team for the past two seasons. She has 1,699 career points going into the season and is within range of breaking the school record of Rivers’ Futral (2,200 points) this season. Anderson scored a career-high 36 points – tying for third best in school history – against Memphis East at the Collierville, Tenn., High Dragon Classic two years ago as a sophomore.
The 5-5 Woodward averaged 8.5 points, 4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2 steals and made 81 percent of her free throw attempts last season as a junior.
Anderson and Woodward are members of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team.
The talented duo - who finished with 32 combined points, 9 steals, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists (Anderson had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 assists and Woodward 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals) while playing only about 18 minutes each - can’t do it by themselves and Force is in search of players who can complement them this season.
Force, a Southern Baptist Education Center (now Northpoint Christian School), Northwest Mississippi Community College and Delta State graduate, won his 814th career game Tuesday (second to Pillow Academy’s Durwin Carpenter and is tied with Carpenter with four Overall girls titles, the most among active coaches, and fourth most in history. He was named the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year last season and was inducted into the MAIS Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2025.
“I like this group, they are a different style of team, we have good size and length,” Force said. “This is the fastest and most aggressive team I’ve had in my 31 years of coaching. We’ve had more skilled players on teams that have won Overalls, but this is the most speed and depth.”
That’s not good news for the rest of the MAIS. The victory Tuesday night might be the first of many lopsided wins for Force and his team this season.
“We have a talented sophomore class, which only lost two games and won the conference last season,” Force said. “We have back (junior) Anne Wylie Moore, who missed most of last season with a knee injury and will help out at point guard so Anna Kate can move to the wing and shoot more. We have two more seniors, Macie Force (the coach’s daughter) and Reese Johnson, and junior Reeves Sumrall will come off the bench and contribute. Taylor Agent, Blair Britt, Cora Nisbett, Rivers McInteer, and Eliza Reynolds are among the sophomores who should help us now and down the road.”
“Just like every year no matter who is on the court since August, we have had to come to practice and be mentally prepared to get better and better every day," Anderson said. "We have a whole new team and with that comes a lot of responsibility and trust for us seniors We have a really good and competitive sophomore class coming in this year and they are going to make a lot of impact and fill in the gaps from the five seniors we lost this year. With Anne Wylie back this year from tearing her ACL last year, we will have another point guard, which allows Anna Kate and I to both become more shooting guards and be able to spread the floor out.”
“We lost five really good seniors last year, but we have a lot of sophomores that came up to play,” Woodward said. “In order to have another successful season we are all going to have to work hard and push each other to become better each day. Our team is a lot shorter than the teams in the past, but we have a lot of girls who are fast, which I think will benefit us. Anne Wylie is also back from tearing her ACL last year, so having her will be a big help. She will be moved to the point guard position and I’ll be able to be more of a shooting guard this year.”
While MRA has a lot of talent and is one the deepest teams in Force’s career and the Lady Patriots have a Hall of Fame coach, the schedule presents some difficult challenges this season and will be tested in November and December.
MRA plays Parklane Academy and East Rankin Academy next week at the Jackson Prep Girls Invitational, has a visit to MHSAA Class 7A Tupelo next Saturday, a rematch of the Overall championship game with Simpson Academy Nov. 10 and play Tennessee public schools Collierville and Houston in the MRA Thanksgiving tournament. MRA plays in the Newman Classic in New Orleans, has a trip to Pillow and MHSAA Class 4A Choctaw Central, a game with defending MAIS Class 3A state champion Leake Academy in the Kirk Invitational, and a trip to Memphis for the always tough Dragonfire Invitational.

10/30/2026

Sophomore Sarah Prince scores 23 points to lead Leake Academy to 69-29 victory over Madison St. Joseph Thursday night at the Canton Academy Preseason Tournament.

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10/29/2026

ROBERT WILSON’S HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PICKS PRESENTED BY GERMANY LAW FIRM, PLLC
Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Germany Law Firm, PLLC/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 24-5 record (82.8 percent) last week and has a 168-52 record (76.3 percent) this season.

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File photo by Brandon Jackson
Story by Robert Wilson
PEARL (2-7) AT BRANDON (6-2)
Eugene Clinton got his first victory as head coach last year when he and his Bulldogs defeated Pearl 17-10 in a hard-earned victory in 75th meeting between the two Rankin County rivals in the Rankin County Super Bowl at Pearl.
Clinton, who spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach (eight seasons at his alma mater Provine and 10 seasons at Brandon), took over for Lance Rogue, who resigned in his first season at head coach at Brandon.
Clinton lost to Oak Grove 20-7 in his debut as head coach, but bounced back with a victory over Pearl.
Since that Oak Grove loss, Clinton has won 10 of 13 games and after last season was promoted from interim to permanent head coach.
Unlike last year when he was battling a nagging hamstring injury most of the season, Brandon senior running back and Michigan commitment Tyson Robinson (photo below) is at full speed and had a great game last week in a 43-28 victory over Oak Grove. Robinson had 22 carries for 294 yards and four touchdowns and has 1,129 yards and 14 TDs this season.
Brandon has won five straight meetings and 15 of the last 20 meetings and holds a 48-26-1 lead in the longtime series that began in 1949 that ended in a 0-0 tie. The two teams have played each other every year except for 1953 and 1954.
One never knows what will happen in this rivalry game, with an overflow crowd of more than 8,000 expected at Brandon’s Bulldog Stadium.
Pearl and Brandon fans remember the instant classic game in 2017 when Pearl was on its way to a 16-0 record and the state championship when Brandon, which finished 7-6, almost pulled the upset. A young Will Rogers almost led Brandon to the win as a sophomore but Pearl pulled out a 28-27 overtime victory when Brandon missed an extra point attempt.
First-year Brandon offensive coordinator Justin Hunter - who replaced longtime OC Wyatt Rogers, now quarterbacks coach at Madison Central - was Pearl’s head coach the last time the Pirates won in this series in 2020.
Brandon 28, Pearl 14

MRA (7-2) at Parklane Academy (8-2)
Madison-Ridgeland Academy has won 10 straight games in this series, dating back to a 47-28 Parklane victory in 2017.
Nine times in those 10 wins, MRA has scored more than 40 points and the Patriots almost did in the first half in last year’s meeting, rolling up a 35-14 lead and won 49-24 at MRA. MRA produced 444 total yards in the first half and finished with 594 yards.
Parklane has won back to back state championships and is considered the best team outside of Metro Jackson Big 4 of MRA, Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep and Hartfield Academy in the MAIS.
Parklane - which defeated Starkville Academy 26-0 and Heritage Academy 45-0 in the semifinals and championship game last season - wants to show it belongs in the conversation along with the Big 4 and sixth-year Parklane coach Ron Rushing - who has won three state titles (two at Parklane and one at Natchez Cathedral) knows this is his opportunity to show it.
Rushing led Parklane to a 18-7 victory over Prep last season for its first victory in the series in 40 years.
MRA coach Herbert Davis - who has won 264 games in 30 career seasons, 138 wins at MRA in 13 seasons - is looking to use this game to continue positive momentum toward his seventh state championship of his career. He hasn’t won a state title since a three-peat in 2019-2021.
If Davis - who is in his first year as defensive coordinator at MRA after spending the previous 12 years as offensive coordinator as well as head coach - and his team are going to win in McComb Friday night, they must slow down freshman quarterback Reece Robinson, who has passed for 1,769 yards and 22 TDs with only 2 interceptions, and his main target, senior wide receiver Kardez Copeland, who has caught 48 passes for 1,137 yards and 15 TDs and has returned nine kickoffs and punts for a 27.2-yard average this season. Robinson, although just a freshman, has two Division I offers in Tulane and Georgia State. Copeland, who has offers Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Hinds CC and Southwest Mississippi CC, ranks 46th in the country in receiving yards and second in Mississippi behind Leake Academy’s Easton Page (1,475 yards).
MRA’s high-scoring offense is led by senior quarterback Austin Banks (67.3 completion percentage, 2,036 yards, 20 TDs, 3 interceptions), junior running back Colson O’Cain (492 yards, seven TDs), senior wide receiver Jack Dalton (56 catches for 857 yards and 10 TDs and senior offensive lineman Caleb Unger, rated the No. 14 best player in Mississippi in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports.
MRA 42, Parklane 28

In other games (winning team in ALL CAPS):
Pelahatchie (3-6) at PUCKETT (7-2), Thursday
Pisgah (4-5) at UNION (4-5), Thursday
Raymond (1-8) at MENDENHALL (7-2), Thursday
St. Andrew’s (3-6) at QUITMAN (3-6), Thursday
MCLAURIN (2-7) at Park Place (4-4), Thursday
Callaway (4-5) at WARREN CENTRAL (8-0)
CANTON (7-1) at Greenville (3-5)
Clinton (2-6) at GERMANTOWN (4-4)
George County (3-5) at TERRY (5-4)
JIM HILL (2-7) at Forest Hill (0-9) (South Jackson Field)
Murrah (1-8) at OXFORD (7-1)
NESHOBA CENTRAL (5-3) at Ridgeland (4-4)
Northwest Rankin (3-5) at OAK GROVE (6-2)
Provine (3-6) at FLORENCE (3-6)
STARKVILLE (6-2) at Madison Central (4-4)
BROOKHAVEN ACADEMY (6-3) at Central Hinds (7-3)
HARTFIELD ACADEMY (5-4) at Starkville Academy (6-3)
JACKSON PREP (9-1) at Oak Forest Academy (La.) (4-5)
Madison St. Joseph (1-9) at MAGNOLIA HEIGHTS (8-1)
TRI-COUNTY ACADEMY (8-1) at St. Aloysius (4-5)

10/28/2026

Ole Miss’ Aussie punter Oscar Bird shares a story about an iconic moment in Rebel history

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It will forever stand as an iconic moment in Ole Miss football history — Lucas Carneiro’s 47-yard field goal to defeat Georgia in the final seconds of last season's Sugar Bowl.

But as in most cases, there is a story behind the story.
As Rebel fans were gnawing their nails, holder Oscar Bird — the rookie punter from Sydney, Australia — had a question for long snapper Carter Short prior to running onto the field.

“What are we doing?” he asked.

“Oh, we’re just going to kick a field goal to win the game,” Short replied.

“OK. Sounds good,” Bird said.

Perfect snap, hold and kick — and on to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Bird laughed Tuesday while recalling the moment.

“Having never played the sport before last season, I was still learning so many things,” he said. “And the fact that I didn’t grow up around the sport — and not really understanding how much these games mean to people — really helped me in high pressure moments. I was able to sorta block out the outcome of what we do on the field and just focus on the process.”

That is no longer the case. The 25-year-old Bird, who ranks fourth in the SEC this season in net punting (46.8 yards), definitely understands how invested Rebel fans are in their football team, currently ranked No. 12 in the country. So he handles the pressure in other ways.

“We just came off the practice field,” Bird said, “and we did probably 50 reps (of field goals) after everyone else had left. We were the only ones on the field. We do that so many times a week, and done it so many times all year long, that when it comes to those moments it just feels like we don’t even have to think, You’re just going through the process.”

Bird, who is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, had never seen a college football game in person until he played in the season opener in 2025 against Georgia State.

Growing up in Sydney, he played multiple sports: soccer, cricket, Aussie rules football and tennis. He also became an accomplished surfer.

Before coming to Ole Miss. he spent three years playing Australian Rules Football at the minor league level for Perth Football Club.

It is a challenging sport played on a field much larger than a football field. The demands include tackling, running with the egg-shaped ball and dribbling. Points are made by kicking the ball through a large goal post that has different sections. Players do not wear helmets or pads.

“It’s a demanding sport,” Bird said. “I usually run about nine miles in a game. Having played it for 10 years growing up, I think the mental toughness you get from that sport helped me in (American) football. There is a lot of similarity in trying to execute skills under fatigue and trying to execute under high pressure. That has translated well.”

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A new punting strategy has entered football at the NFL level, primarily through the Seattle Seahawks’ Aussie punter Michael Dickson.

Instead of booming spirals, he sometimes punts the ball in a way that it floats down the field spinning like a helicopter blade. Return specialists have talked about how difficult they are to track and catch. The Kansas City Chiefs employed two returners to try and field Dickson’s spinners last weekend. Other times, they chose not to field the punt at all.

Bird knew all about Dickson and the helicopter punt.

“He is from my hometown,” Bird said. “and he’s actually the guy I watched who came over (to the U.S.). He played for Texas in college. He was the first person I knew about who transitioned from Aussie football to college and the NFL.

“(The helicopter kick) is a very typical kick we would use in Australian football when trying to kick it through the posts from an angle. NFL special teams coordinators are starting to trust the ways Australians can manipulate the ball.

“End of the day, if you can force a turnover via a fumble, it’s going to be the best possible kick you can make. A question is coming into the game now — do we give up a little bit of potential yardage while trying to get the ball back? There is a lot of innovation yet to come into the punting schemes.”

He has not tried a whirly bird at Ole Miss, but Bird does offer his own surprises.

He ran a fake punt 17 yards against Texas last Saturday night for a first down from deep in Ole Miss territory.
It was not called by the coaches.

“It was something I saw (from the defense) at the moment,” he said. “I have the license to run anytime I like as long as I get the first down. That changes if I don’t. It was just reading what was in front of me, and that comes from experience.”

************
Bird remains a bit shocked at the national popularity of college football. Australia is a land of 28 million people. Some college football games draw 10 million TV viewers.

And last year he was surprised at all the things that go along with the game. He specifically mentioned the fireworks, tailgating, cheerleaders and the pageantry.

He visited 10 schools when trying to find a landing place in America.

“Oxford was amazing. It was my favorite,” he said. “Another Australian, Fraser Masin, had punted at Ole Miss before me. It really was an easy match to pick Ole Miss.”

His family has visited for games. They also watch back home on livestream. Bird has 15 friends and family members arriving this week for Saturday’s 11:45 a.m. matchup with Auburn in Oxford. Ole Miss (5-2 overall, 3-2 in the SEC) is a two-touchdown favorite over the Tigers (4-3, 2-3).

In his spare time, Bird enjoys cooking and preparing dishes that he misses from home.

“If I want a particular thing, I’ll go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market and buy the ingredients,” he said. “I fix a lot of pasta. In Australia, we have really good Asian food, and I can cook that and Vietnamese and Thai.”

He has also learned that barbecue is a noun instead of a verb in America’s southland. That’s one of the foods he treats his family to when the they visit.

One of his toughest learning experiences came during the playoffs last year when schools from all over were calling him about transferring, even though he wasn’t in the portal.

“It actually led me to work with a mental coach this year,” Bird said. “It’s been pretty significant for me, making sure I have my tool kit for placing my focus on the right things. And also when I’m away from football, getting my mind on other things so that I don’t burn out.”

When asked about the team’s state of mind after its second SEC loss last weekend, Bird said: “I think we have a really mature group. The mark of a good team is if you come in to training on Monday ready to work and you can’t tell if you won or lost the previous weekend. I think what you see around here right now is a group of guys who want to get better, are ready to work and knowing there are opportunities ahead if we just keep getting better.”
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10/27/2026

Congrats to Madison Central junior quarterback Tripp Smith for being named the TASTE restaurant Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week. Madison County Schools

By Robert Wilson Madison Central junior quarterback Tripp Smith doesn’t have any college offers. That could change soon. College coaches should take notice after what Smith did Friday night. Smith completed 18 of 29 passes for a career-high 405 yards and four touchdowns and ran for one score to ....

10/27/2026

Photos from the 2026 MAIS Boys 4A Cross Country Meet

Photos by Chris Todd

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10/27/2026

PILLOW ACADEMY’S DURWIN CARPENTER BEGINS 53RD SEASON WITH 63-26 VICTORY OVER EAST RANKIN ACADEMY, NOW 17 VICTORIES FROM BECOMING THE WINNINGEST GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH IN MISSISSIPPI HISTORY

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Story by Robert Wilson
Seventeen.
That’s the number of victories Pillow Academy’s Durwin Carpenter needs to become the winningest girls basketball coach in Mississippi history.
He won his 1,229th career game Monday afternoon with an impressive, 63-26 victory over East Rankin Academy in the season opener for both teams in the Heritage Preseason Tournament at Heritage Academy in Columbus.
Carpenter – who has four grandchildren (two in Greenwood and two in Destin, Fla.) – began his 53rd career season and is now 16 wins away from tying Doyle Wolverton, who won 1,245 games from 1975 to 2014 at Leake Academy. Carpenter is also third in the country in wins among active girls basketball coaches.
Carpenter has won 872 games in his 33rd season at Pillow and won 357 games in 20 seasons at Central Holmes Academy. The Grenada Rundle High, Holmes Community College and Delta State alumnus has won four MAIS Overall championships and 10 state titles. His last Overall title was in 2020, his last state title in 2004.
Carpenter - who has four returning starters from last year’s 22-9 team, which reached the Overall quarterfinals - wishes all of his wins this season would come this easy.
Pillow - which only lost leading scorer Izzy Hodges, daughter of Pillow long time assistant coach Mignon Hodges, to graduation - led 13-4 after one quarter, 32-12 at halftime and 39-16 after three quarters against East Rankin Monday. The Lady Mustangs didn’t allow a field goal for the first six and a half minutes.
Senior Mere Austin Wilkey led Pillow with 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Junior Molly Downing had 12 points, senior JonHartley Slater had 11 points and nine rebounds, junior Miriam Jane Rodgers had 7 points, 7 steals and 6 rebounds and senior Madeline Carroll had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Senior Mary Laine Dysterhouse had five steals.
“I was very proud of the girls and the effort they put out,” Carpenter said. “We played really good defense, especially the first half to give us a big lead. It was a great start to the season and we will get back to work to get ready for our next game.”
Carpenter will go for career win No. 1,230 Thursday when Pillow meets Hartfield Academy at 6:45 p.m. at Heritage.
Don’t look for Carpenter, 75, to slow down any time soon even though he is expected to pass Wolverton at some point this season.
“One of my granddaughters is in the fifth grade and she wants me to coach her,” Carpenter said. “And I want to coach her too. Hopefully, I can.”
While Pillow returned four starters, East Rankin has only two starters back from last year’s team, which finished with a 31-7 record, a MAIS Class 4A runner-up finish and reached the Overall Tournament semifinals.
Southern Miss commitment and 6-foot-2 senior forward Liz Stevens and senior forward Elizabeth Thrash are the two returning starters. Stevens - a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team - led East Rankin with 6 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Thrash, senior Hayden Faulkner and senior Leah Jernigan had four points each.
Starters Holly and Hannah Jackson and Ansley Miller graduated last season. They combined to average 26.2 points last season.
“Credit Pillow. They wanted it more and whipped us,” said East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes, who is starting her sixth season as head coach at her alma mater, and has won 106 games in the past three seasons, including a school-record 39 wins and an Overall championship in 2023-2024 when she was named Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year.

10/27/2026

Scenes from the 2026 MAIS Girls 4A Cross Country Meet

Photos by Chris Todd

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10/26/2026

Congrats to the members of the 2026 Tatum and Wade PLLC Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Girls Basketball Team. Brandon Bulldog Athletics MRA Patriot Athletics Madison County Schools East Rankin Athletics Jackson Public Schools Northwest Rankin High School Hartfield Academy Athletics

Robert Wilson spent 23 years at The Clarion-Ledger/Jackson Daily News as a sportswriter with more than half of those years covering high school sports, mostly in the Metro Jackson area. He helped chose the Dandy Dozen in various sports for more than a decade. Wilson rebirthed a similar team five yea...

10/25/2026

JUNIOR QUARTERBACK TRIPP SMITH PASSES FOR 405 YARDS, FOUR TOUCHDOWNS, MADISON CENTRAL RALLIES FROM 19 POINTS DOWN TO DEFEAT MADISON COUNTY RIVAL GERMANTOWN 42-36

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Wyatt Rogers has been around a lot of great quarterbacks in his two decades as a head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Outstanding quarterbacks like Gardner Minshew, Landon Varnes and Rogers’ son, Will Rogers, all Brandon High alumni who are playing or did play at the Division I level and higher, have put up big passing games during their high school days while Rogers was coaching them.
Madison Central junior quarterback Tripp Smith can now be added to that list.
Rogers, in his first year as Madison Central’s quarterback coach, watched Smith pass for a career-high 405 yards and four touchdowns and also run for a score to lead Madison Central to a come-from-behind, 42-36 victory over Madison County rival Germantown in a MHSAA Class 7A, Region 2 game at Madison Central’s Jaguar Field, known as the Jungle.
Madison Central - ranked No. 10 in the Class 7A and No. 17 in Mississippi - improved to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in region play. The Jaguars have now won eight of the nine meetings with the Mavericks. Germantown won for the first time last season in the series that began in 2018 Germantown moved up to the same class as Madison Central.
Germantown - ranked No. 5 in Class 7A and No. 6 in Mississippi - dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in region play.
The 6-foot, 195-pound Smith threw TD passes of 76 yards to senior Tylan Hutchins in the first quarter, 39 yards to senior Jayden Terry in the third quarter, 74 yards to senior Landon Hathorn and 47 yards to junior Adrion Harris in the fourth quarter along with a 5-yard TD run in the second quarter. The TD pass to Harris with 2 minutes, 43 seconds to play was the game-winner for the Jaguars. Smith completed 18 of 29 passes in the game.
Germantown led 29-10 with 4:40 to play before halftime and also led 36-27 with 6:08 to play.
“I thought our kids showed a lot of resilience and character last night,” Madison Central coach Toby Collums said. “At one point we were down by 19 and not executing at all on offense or defense. I think a big turning point was when our defense got the first fourth down stop at midfield and we scored quickly. At that point, we seized the momentum. I thought Tripp had his best night of the year, especially from an ex*****on standpoint and checking us into some explosive plays. It was an all around good game for our kids and community.”
“Tripp is getting better with his eyes and starting to put them in the right spots in the right order,” said Rogers, who has been a head coach at Winston Academy (where he won a state championship), an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Meridian High and Brandon High and now a quarterback coach at Madison Central in more than two decades of coaching. “He threw for 400 yards last night and 375 yards against Oxford (two weeks ago). Our offensive staff does a job kicking ideas around during the week and that’s beginning to pay off as well as Tripp’s development.”
Smith had passed for 1,256 yards and 13 TDs this season going into Friday hight and threw for 1,819 yards and 18 TDs last season as a sophomore.
“I think we were successful in the passing game because of our preparation in practice this week,” Smith said. “We were locked in and focused all week. My offensive linemen had a great game and have continued to grow each week, and I am very proud of them all. My receivers made some insane plays, especially after the catch. They all are a bunch of ballers that I can rely on to make big plays. Coach Rogers, Coach Finley and Coach Collums have been the reasons for my development from last year to this year. They pour so much into me every day and I am blessed that God put them into my life.”
Madison Central senior linebacker and Western Kentucky commitment Corey Wiggins - a member of the Preseason Elite Team and rated as the No. 41 player in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports - had a team-high 28 tackles, 19 solo tackles, and 1 sack. He came into Friday night with a team-high 103 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks this season. Senior defensive back Orlander Edwards had 13 tackles and junior Banks Boyer had 10 tackles.
Germantown senior running back Sy McBeath gained 219 yards on 32 carries and scored three TDs, junior quarterback Langston Branson ran for 160 yards on 16 carries and one TD and passed for 124 yards and one TD and junior Bryce Johnson caught eight passes for 124 yards and one TD.
“I didn’t put our players in position to finish the game,” Germantown coach Russell Mitchell said. “I hate it for our players. The played their hearts out, and they deserve to be put in better position to finish. Credit Madison Central for not giving up when we had them down. Their quarterback threw some really nice balls vs. man coverage that sparked their comeback and they got the key stops in short yardage on four separate occasions when they had to have it.”