Heat, football intensity high; Panthers claim two victories
Published 5:00 am Friday, May 13, 2005
MEADVILLE — There was plenty of heat and plenty of footballavailable Thursday afternoon in Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium. TheCellular South Jamboree attracted a large crowd, many usingumbrellas to shield them from the scorching sun as temperaturescrept into the low 90s.
Coach Tucker Peavey’s Ole Brook Panthers, reigning Class 4Astate champions, unveiled their potential on offense and defense inthe controlled scrimmage. They edged Tylertown 7-6 in the varsityopener and beat Wilkinson County 14-6 in the second hour of actionas the teams took turns running 15 plays on offense and 15 ondefense.
On the other side of the 50-yard line, Lawrence County beatWilkinson County 20-0 and lost to Tylertown 22-3. Franklin Countywas a 21-0 winner over Amite County and a 12-0 winner overJefferson County in varsity action.
“I was pleased with the way Charles (Wilson) ran the ball,” saidPeavey. “Our quarterbacks (Charles Rancifer and Chase McIntyrethrew the ball well.
“Our defense did a pretty good job,” Peavey continued. “We saw alot of things we need to improve on. We have to shore up ourprotection for our quarterbacks and work on (passing) routes.”
Brookhaven 7, Tylertown 6
The Panthers scored on their second possession againstTylertown. A 38-yard pass from Rancifer to Marcus Smith put OleBrook on the scoreboard. Will Thibodeaux drilled the extrapoint.
In three possessions, Rancifer completed 2 of 6 passes for 39yards. McIntyre was 1 of 3 for 19 yards. Wide receiver MontralSmith, an MVP on Ole Brook’s track team, caught 2 passes for 20yards.
Wilson rushed the football 5 times for 7 yards againstTylertown’s stingy defense.
The Chiefs were led by quarterback Myrio Cotton who rushed for30 yards and completed 2 of 5 passes for 8 yards. Cotton ran 4yards for a TD but fumbled the pitchout on the 2-point conversiontry.
In the JV quarter, McIntyre’s late TD broke a scorelessdeadlock. The Chiefs responded with a 4-yard scoring pass from BubBritt to Colton McDaniel and a 2-point conversion run by TarasmincYoung.
Brookhaven 14, Wilkinson Co. 6
Ole Brook overcame a 6-0 deficit as Rancifer ran 7 yards aroundhis right end for a TD and later hooked up with Marcus Smith for 30yards on a leaping catch at the goal line. Thibodeaux kicked bothextra points.
The Wildcats had gone ahead 6-0 on a 1-yard run by LeroyalLanus.
Ole Brook’s Josh Witherspoon had intercepted Wilkinsonquarterback David Lawson on the first play of the half.
Wilson gained 35 yards on 5 carries. Rancifer completed 5 of 10passes for 93 yards. Montral Smith had 2 catches for 47 yards andMarcus Smith had 1 reception for 30.
In the JV quarter, Ole Brook beat Wilkinson 16-0 as CodyRatcliff ran 5 yards and McIntyre scooted 7 yards for TDs. Ratcliffand McIntyre both scored 2-point conversions.
Lawrence Co. 20, Wilkinson Co. 0
Touchdown runs by Marcus Wallace and Taebyus Smith sparked theCougars. Will Harris passed to Danny Powell for the other TD.Travis Stallings kicked 2 of 3 extra points.
Tylertown 22, Lawrence Co. 3
The Chiefs came out smoking on offense, scoring 3 quicktouchdowns on big plays. Eddie Dillon raced 40 yards for a TD andCotton threw a pair of TD passes, the second coming on a 7-yardstrike to Terraz Posey.
The Cougars got a 33-yard field goal from Stallings.
“Our kids competed hard and played physical football,” said LCHShead coach Mike Davis. “Tylertown is a big, strong team.
“We still have a lot of young kids in brand new positions,”Davis pointed out. “Overall, we worked on some things totallydifferent from what we have done in the past.”
Davis said 55 players participated in spring drills. Due to thestate playoffs, several baseball players were late arriving forpractice, plus two assistant coaches.
Franklin Co. 21, Amite Co. 0
Touchdown runs by quarterback Jonte Marshall, fullback D.J. Shawand tailback Preston Griffith directed the Bulldogs past AmiteCounty. Dane Hodges kicked 3 extra points.
Franklin Co. 12, Jefferson Co. 0
Shaw and Marshall ran for scores against Jefferson County andthe Bulldogs authored another shutout on defense.
“Our defense played well,” said Franklin County rookie headcoach Grady McCluskey. “We have nine returning starters ondefense.”
McCluskey said he wants to improve the Bulldogs’ passing game.”We want to throw it a lot more this year, but we fumbled the balltoo many times in the second game.”
McCluskey and his new staff dressed 80 players for the jamboree.His Bulldogs host Brookhaven in their Aug. 26 season opener.
Jamboree Notes: Several senior and juniorcollege coaches were present to scout the jamboree, including MikeTolleson and Oscar Giles from the University of Texas. They wereextremely interested in Franklin County defensive end MarcusTillman and Tylertown lineman Josh Davis.