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Thursday, May 17, 2012 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | New Photo Gallery |
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Teams tune up at Byhalia jamboree By CLAUDE VINSON
A periodic drizzle couldn’t dampen the spirit and enthusiasm displayed by the six teams taking part in Byhalia’s first spring football jamboree Saturday. The two-quarter games began with a duel between the Benton County Buccaneers and the Cougars of Coldwater. The Cougars shut the Bucs out to a tune of 32-0.
The Buccaneers had a short respite before going against the Lions of H.W. Byers. The Bucs were over the ball first at the 30-yard line. They were four and out. The Lions lined up in a power “I” with Trelorenz Stephen calling the signals with a lone setback. The quarterback called his own number and swept the left end for a swift six, catching the Bucs completely off guard. He took another direct snap and went off right tackle for the deuce. Byers stopped the Buccaneers cold again. Stephen faked a handoff, kept and sprinted around left end, eluding all would-be tacklers and going into the end zone upright. Backed up by a penalty, Stephen pitched a two-point strike to Ronnie Dennis. The Lions were up 16-0.
Benton County fumbled on its next possession, first play. It was covered by the Lions. Quantario Stigger took a screen for six. Marquis Moore scampered up the middle for the extra two, making it 24-0. The Bucs were again forced to turn over the ball after four. The Lions wasted little time in heading for paydirt again. Stephen threw a quick strike to Dennis which went for about 48 yards. He then made a running pitch out to Stigger, who ran in for the TD. Another two-point conversion and the Lions’ lead was 32-0. Byers denied Benton County again and then threw a long pass to Dennis and the Lions were threatening once more. They threw an incompletion but followed it with a handoff to Moore for the tally. Stephen benefited from a trio of blocks and upped the score to 40-0. The Buccaneers are in their second season of football and have a new head coach. They had a big play called back, nullified by a holding penalty, and the scrimmage ended at 40-0. Byers-Manassas The Lions took the gridiron again after their rest and this time faced a much more experienced foe. The Manassas Tigers out of Memphis, Tenn., had the ball first at the 30 with Jordan Pegues at quarterback. He sent Melvin Bond on a 25-yard pick-up. There were some miscues on the Lions’ side and Bond broke a 47-yard carry for a score. Pegues kept and added the two-pointer. The Tigers went up 8-0. H.W. Byers went three and punted. The Tigers were on the prowl again. This time with Bond finding Rayford Albright for a quick six. He caught the ball in the midst of a trio of defenders. Manassas connected for a two-point conversion and a 16-0 lead. The Lions threw a pick on the first play of their next possession and it turned into a six for Manassas. There was no two but the score was 22-0. The Byers team was settling down a bit and the defense was taking a harder line. Joseph Gomez recovered a fumble at the 39 for Byers. Stigger broke a first down run. Stephen picked up another. Moore gave the Lions a third for a first and goal at the seven. They moved up to the 3-yard line. They tried a straight buck up the middle but the Manassas line was solid. Stephen used a fake delay and hit Dennis for the score. No PAT, but Byers was on the board at 22-6. The Tigers scored on their next possession but the Lions denied the two-point try. H.W. Byers went to a ground game and picked up some valuable yards on two successive plays. Stephen broke out for a first at the 44. He came back with another good carry and was awarded a first down by the officials on a late hit. The Lions went to the air with a short clock and the drive fizzled after a pair of incompletions. Time ran out on the 28-6 score. This game wrapped up the spring drills for the Lions. Byhalia-North Delta
The fifth game of the afternoon was a contest between the Green Waves of North Delta and the hosting Byhalia Indians. North Delta had played the third game against the Coldwater Cougars and tied it at 14. The Green Waves were given the ball on the 30-yard line and they had a wiry Tyler Pirtle at quarterback. They immediately started to gain ground. They tried a pitch-back and an alert defender, Byhalia’s D’Andre Buchanan, picked the ball out of the air and he went all the way for six. The Indians failed on the conversion attempt and the score was 6-0. Pirtle was mixing up the plays with maximum effectiveness for the Waves. A couple of handoffs and a drop-off pass and they were at the 30. A convincing fake to the set-back and Pirtle ran all the way to the 8. Taylor Morris burst up the middle for the score. He reprised the role and took defenders in for the conversion and an 8-6 lead. Markeise Rodgers was calling the signals for the Indians. Andrey Collins moved the chains with two productive runs. Rodgers then teamed with Kenneth Wilson for another first down. Collins got the call three times and scored, then came back and swept the left end for two more. The Indians had the lead 14-8. The Waves and Pirtle went on a steady march downfield. However, they ran into trouble at the 42 and went out on downs. There was a break in the action and Frank Rayford came out under center for the Indians. They went four and out. Skyler Lawson was QB for the Waves when they came back out. They, too, went out on downs. Rayford launched a missile just beyond the grasp of Antonio Wilson, his intended receiver. He came back with the same play which was picked by Tyler Beard of North Delta. They tied it at 14 a few plays later. North Delta scored again a couple of possessions later and ended with a 22-14 win.
Byhalia-Manassas The Indians held the Tigers to no gain in their first possession. Byhalia’s Rodgers led the team into the red zone in three plays after taking over and then Collins dipped and dodged his way into pay dirt. The Indians booted the PAT and went up 7-0. The Manassas Tigers have a reputation of being hard and stout but the Indians were running to them with force on defense. When the Indians took over on offense, they ran the ball straight at the center. They upped the tempo and Terence Phinisee ran it in off of right tackle. Again their PAT kick was successful and they were up 14-0. The Tigers had a TD nullified on a holding call and went out on downs. The Indians coughed up their first down, giving it to the Tigers at about the 40. Manassas still did not have a productive offense and the ball changed hands again. Neither team had attempted a pass in almost two dozen plays. Then the Indians got the ball back with about a minute and eight seconds left. Rayford launched an aerial for Buchanan, who made a one-handed grab while being heavily defended. He recovered his balance and made it inside the pylon. The PAT was partially blocked and fell short. But Byhalia had shut out the Tigers 20-0. |
     
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