Staff Report
MaxPreps.com
National Top 25 Recaps
Thursday’s Games
Rock Hill (S.C.) – 10
No. 1 South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.) - 31
South Pointe clinched the 4-4A district title behind an outstanding performance from quarterback Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore threw for 142 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown strike to Devin Wherry, and also ran for 119 yards on 13 carries to lead the Stallions. South Pointe stormed to a 17-0 halftime lead behind a Graham Tuttle field goal, Gilmore’s long touchdown pass, and an 18-yard touchdown run from Quentin Darby. In the fourth quarter with South Pointe clinging to a 24-10 lead, Gilmore erased all thoughts of a comeback with a 38-yard touchdown run.
No. 10 Trinity (Euless, Texas) - 30
Hurst Bell (Texas) - 20
Euless Trinity capped off an unbeaten regular season behind 118 rushing yards from sophomore Tevin Williams. Williams got the Trojans on the scoreboard with a 27-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and added his second on a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Denarius McGhee ran for a 14-yard touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Stetson Smith for the defending 5A-Division I state champions.
Friday’s Games
Western (Davie, Fla.) – 3
No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) - 51
Giovanni Bernard ran for a pair of touchdowns on six carries and wide receiver Duron Carter finished with 94 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Raiders rolled. St. Thomas Aquinas set a Florida state record by claiming its 50th straight district victory. Ronnie Kennedy returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to pace the Raiders.
Santiago (Corona, Calif.) – 30
No. 4 Corona Centennial (Calif.) - 42
Centennial’s Arthur Burns rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries to help his team clinch the Big VIII League title. Taylor Martinez scored on a 59-yard touchdown run to follow up Burns’ opener to give Centennial a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Martinez added a second touchdown run and a touchdown pass to Eddie Lopez to pace Centennial to the league clinching victory.
Spartanburg (S.C.) – 3
No. 5 Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) - 28
Dorman capped off a perfect regular season and had a pair of rushers that eclipsed the century mark. Walt Canty rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns, while Ashlin Butler added a game-high 152 yards on the ground for Dorman.
No. 7 Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) – 35
Warner Robins (Ga.) – 14
Khary Franklin and Greg Reid both rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown as the Vikings picked up their 24th straight victory. Franklin finished with 181 yards on the ground to lead Lowndes to its third unbeaten regular season in school history. The Vikings held Warner Robins to 112 total yards, 73 of which came on one play.
Forest County Agricultural (Brooklyn, Miss.) – 20
No. 8 Wayne County (Waynesboro, Miss.) – 41
In the Class 4A playoffs, Demarcus Henderson threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns to lead the War Eagles. Sharice Cunningham reeled in three touchdown grabs from Henderson for Wayne County. Henderson threw for all four of his touchdown strikes in the first half coming after Dewayne Davis opened the contest with a 3-yard touchdown run. Wayne County led 35-6 at intermission.
Dutchtown (Geismar, La.) – 7
No. 9 Destrehan (La.) – 42
By clinching the District 5-5A crown, Destrehan stretched its win streak to 24 games. Henry Lenox only needed nine carries to finish with 122 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Wynrick Smothers completed 9-of-11 through the air to finish with 128 yards and two touchdowns. Corey Videl and Brandon Armstrong caught touchdown passes for Destrehan.
Boiling Springs (Spartanburg, S.C.) - 6
No. 11 Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) – 42
Junior running back Marcus Lattimore scored two touchdowns to lead the Rebels. Lattimore scored on a 5-yard touchdown and reeled in a 38-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Chas Dodd. Dodd also added another touchdown on a 7-yard run. Byrnes held Boiling Springs to 62 rushing yards on 46 carries and only allowed 32 passing yards in the rout.
Compton (Calif.) – 13
No. 14 Long Beach Poly (Calif.) – 40
Long Beach Poly continued its dominance over Moore League competition, clinching another league title and stretching its winning streak to 77 games against league opponents. The loss was the first of the season for Compton. Morgan Fennell threw three touchdown passes for the Jackrabbits, two going to Kaelin Clay. Fennell’s other touchdown strike was to Daveon Barner from 43 yards out to give Poly a 16-0 lead with 7:13 left in the first quarter.
Wylie (Texas) – 28
No. 15 Allen (Texas) – 31
Quarterback Matt Brown led the Eagles to a crucial District 7-5A victory by totaling 306 yards of offense. Brown threw for 196 yards on 18-of-26 passing and two touchdowns, but was uncharacteristically picked off three times for Allen. Brown also added 111 rushing yards and a touchdown. Dakarai Peckonis hauled in both of Brown’s touchdown strikes for the Eagles, who suffered one loss in the regular season to Euless Trinity.
Blue Springs (Mo.) – 0
No. 17 Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.) – 48
Nathan Scheelhaase once again proved why he was a highly sought after quarterback prospect by a number of major college programs. The University of Illinois verbal opened the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run to kick-start a first half Hawklet scoring explosion. Scheelhaase would add four touchdown passes in the first half as Rockhurst took a 35-0 lead into intermission. For Scheelhaase, the payback was especially sweet. Rockhurst avenged its only loss of the regular season, a 28-21 overtime setback in September.
No. 18 Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.) – 55
Bloomington North (Ind.) - 16
Tanner Riley and Luke Swift combined for 334 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the rout. Riley finished with 201 yards and scored on runs of 74 and 82 yards. Swift ran for three touchdowns to go along with 133 yards on the ground as Center Grove finished with 525 rushing yards.
No. 19 Warren Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) – 32
Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) - 23
Eric Williams rushed for 110 yards to lead Warren Central and added an interception on defense in the postseason win. George Cheesebourough would finish with 115 rushing yards on 18 carries for the Warriors. Williams scored on runs of 20 and 19 yards to pace Warren Central to a 19-3 halftime lead. After Lawrence Central kicked a pair of field goals to close the gap to 19-9, Jamal Boldin busted free on a 44-yard run to help add more distance between Warren Central and the visitors.
Middleton (Tampa, Fla.) – 3
No. 20 Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) – 48
The Hawks capped off their second straight unbeaten campaign behind a three touchdown effort from Tavari Grant. Clinging to a 2-0 lead after the first quarter, Grant exploded to score on runs of 5, 19, and 30 yards on three straight possessions. Before halftime following an onside kick, Mywan Jackson hit Rob Jones on an 18-yard touchdown pass to give Armwood a 31-0 halftime lead. The Hawks held Middleton to 12 yards of offense in the first half.
Hernando (Miss.) – 10
No. 22 Noxubee County (Miss.) – 36
Patrick Patterson put on another clinic for Noxubee County, catching six passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns. Termarcus Conner completed 12-of-19 passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Tigers. Earnest Harmon rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers, who dominated in all phases of the game. Noxubee County held Hernando to minus-21 rushing yards on 22 carries in the victory.
Caledonia (Mich.) – 7
No. 23 Lowell (Mich.) – 35
Kyle Nichol rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns to lead Lowell to a Division 2 playoff victory. Lowell pounded its way to 334 rushing yards in the victory. Austin Graham added a pair of touchdown runs for Lowell in the victory, while Nichol’s touchdown runs covered 33, 15, and 3 yards.
Gaffney (S.C.) - 6
No. 24 Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.) – 20
Northwestern trailed 6-0 early before storming back with 20 unanswered points to claim the victory. Justin Worley threw for three touchdowns to lead the come-from-behind effort and finished with 267 passing yards. Worley hit Jarrett Nealy, Robert Joseph, and Deveon McCleod on touchdown strikes in the victory. Labris Adams led the Northwestern receiving corps with 115 yards on seven catches.
No. 25 Barbe (Lake Charles, La.) – 42
Westgate (New Iberia, La.) – 14
Barbe, clinging to a 21-14 lead at halftime, went into overdrive in the second half to pull away. Barbe scored 35 unanswered points in the victory. Barbe finished with more than 500 yards of offense in the victory, 300 of them coming on the ground.
Saturday’s Games
No. 2 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) - 34
Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 0
Junior quarterback Ryan Kasdorf completed 18-of-23 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns in lead Notre Dame to huge victory. Kasdorf has thrown for a school record 30 touchdown passes this season. James Flynn caught three touchdown passes from Kasdorf, pushing his season total to 16. Notre Dame’s defense recorded six sacks in the victory.
No. 6 St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) - 56
Covington Catholic (Park Hills, Ky.) - 0
Rolandan Finch rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns to lead St. Xavier to an emphatic victory. The victory caps off an unbeaten regular season. The Tigers rushed for 339 yards, with Brian Buehner adding 78 rushing yards on seven carries and a touchdown pass for St. Xavier.
No. 12 Elder (Cincinnati, Ohio) - 13
Northmont (Clayton, Ohio) - 10
Elder set up a huge game with Colerain next week by barely surviving a challenge from Northmont. Tony Milano booted a 31-yard field goal with 2:09 left in the game to give Elder the victory. Junior quarterback Mark Miller completed 14-of-15 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown to lead Elder to the victory. Trailing 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Milano drilled a 22-yard field goal with just over eight minutes left to play.
Hudsonville (Mich.) - 6
No. 13 Muskegon (Mich.) - 12
For the second time this season, Muskegon won a struggle against Hudsonville. Jason Hannett rushed for 140 yards on 20 carries and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run. Elan Banks hit Dominique Maybanks on a 60-yard touchdown pass and would also finish with 105 rushing yards on 12 carries. On Oct. 3, the Big Red downed Hudsonville 29-26.
No. 21 Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio) - 23
Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) - 0
Sophomore running back Tyler Williams rushed for three touchdowns while junior signal caller Greg Taber added 145 yards on the ground to lead Colerain into its highly-anticipated showdown with Elder next week. Sophomore fullback Traylon Williams added 125 yards on 18 carries as Elder finished with 361 yards in the victory.
