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Lions down rival Cardinals By CLAUDE VINSON
Sports Editor  | Photo by Ronnie Day
Sandwiched
H.W. Byers running back Trelorenz Stephen (21) tries to shed a couple of Cardinals, Demaris Edwards (53) and Randy Love (87). |
The H.W Byers Lions got a double jolt of pride last Thursday evening. First,
the junior high Lions defeated the junior Cardinals 52-36 before the
Lions and Cardinals did battle with Byers winning it, too. The
Cardinals are not playing a varsity schedule this season; however, one
would not know it, just to look at the way they perform. The Cardinals
hadn’t lost a game this season. The Lions were coming off of a big 60-0
win over Jumpertown. The Cardinals had first
possession and the first play from the huddle was a completed pass
which was fumbled and lost at the end of the run. It gave the Lions
great field position. Their third play was an end-around which ended at
the two. Trelorenz Stephen made his way into the end zone for six. He
used the left side to double up for two and a score of 8-0.  | Photos by Ronnie Day
Nice snag
Jamarquis Foster (21) of Potts Camp goes high to reel in a pass as Terrell Simmons (9) of Byers defends. |
Brantley
Harris was leading the Potts Camp offense. He made a hand-off to
Jamarquis Foster which went for a first down. A pass interference moved
them to the 30. The Cards lost ground on the next play. Harris hit his
tight end for good yardage but it was called back. Facing third and
very long yardage, Harris used good protection and a good receiver,
Foster, to connect on a fake delay which went to the 13. After an
incomplete, Harris had to scramble out of the backfield and was brought
down at the 9. Penalized, the Cardinals went out on downs after Byers
covered all their receivers. The Lions took over on their 14. Under
rushing attack, Christopher Echols unleashed a long one which was just
outside the reach of his intended receiver. Trying to operate on a
third and 12, the Lions fumbled and an alert Cardinal picked it up and
rushed into the end zone. They tied the score on a two-point
conversion. It was tied 8-8. The quarter ended on
the Lions’ second play. The Cardinals recovered a Lion fumble at the
30. Harris hit Foster on a crossing slant and he put Potts Camp at the
17. Harris then pitched out to Foster on the next two plays. On the
second he went in standing up. They faked the kick but came up short
on the two-point attempt. But they took the lead 14-8. Stephen
fielded the kick for Byers and he made a 24-yard return. He came back
and picked up a first down. Then Dominic Jones got the call. He went up
the middle twice with good gains. Ronnie Dennis was the target for
Echols and he got the first down. Ladarrius Jones took a wide flare,
shook off would be tacklers and shook the pylon as he evened the score
on a 43-yard play. The point-after try failed. It was 14-14 with 3:35
left in the first half. The Byers defense was
attacking in full force. The Lions were correctly anticipating and
meeting the ball carriers. Mitchell Wilson, Eric Hunter and Quinton
McKinney were getting to and sacking the quarterback. The Byers offense
also rose to the occasion after receiving the punt. They scored on a
long pass over center to Dennis. They didn’t convert the try for two
but were in the lead 20-14. Potts Camp got the
ball back with 35 seconds left in the half. Javeon Allen broke out of
the backfield and through the defense to put the Cardinals on the 25.
But after an interception, the Lions killed the half with a kneel-down.
The score was 20-14. Both teams had completed two quarters of
hard-hitting football with very few penalties. Byers
received to start the second half. Echols called his own number and ran
to the Potts Camp 42. The Lions went out on a fourth-down gamble. The
Cardinals had to punt after three downs. The rest of the third was
pretty much a stalemate with both defenses making great stops. Early
in the final quarter, Stephen came out of the backfield on an option
right, picked up a pair of key blocks and just outran everybody. This
time the two-point try was good. They made it 28-14.  | Lion vs. Cardinal
Byers’ Christopher Echols (15) uses the stiff arm as Potts Camp’s Marquis Johnson (23) goes for the tackle. |
Potts
Camp got a break on their punt when the ball was touched by a Lion and
covered by a Cardinal deep in Lion country. However, the Cards fumbled
on the second play and the Lions recovered. The Cardinals would get one
more chance with the ball and the pass was intercepted by L. Jones at
the 5. He almost broke it all the way but was finally stopped at the 28
by two defenders. Time expired and the Lions were winners at 28-14. “The kids played well – the best they’ve played all year,” said James Kimbrough, head coach of the Lions. The Cardinals (3-1) go to Tupelo Christian Thursday, Sept. 30, for a 7 p.m. contest. The Lions (2-3), in an addition to the schedule, will play at Okolona this Friday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. |
