Philadelphia wins fifth straight over Rockets

By By Jim Luke / special to The Star
Sept. 14, 2002
PHILADELPHIA It was appropriate that the final points put on the scoreboard here Friday night would be on a defensive play as the Philadelphia Tornadoes won over the Neshoba Central Rockets 25-7 for their fifth consecutive victory in the series.
With 9.5 seconds left to play in the game, the defensive front for the Tornadoes swarmed over Neshoba Central quarterback Josh Palmer in the endzone for the safety to cap a night of rugged defensive play by both teams.
Philadelphia opened the game with a gift to the Rockets as the opening kickoff return was fumbled by Tyler Threadgill and recovered by Justin Porter at the Tornado 37-yard line. The Rockets were able to move the ball as deep as the Tornado 13, but gave the ball up on downs on the 19.
The Tornado offense responded to the defensive stand immediately. Threadgill threaded his way through the Rocket defensive front and then exploded through the secondary for an 81-yard touchdown run with 9:13 left in the first quarter. Philly opted to run for two and Daniel Puckett found the endzone to give the visitors an 8-0 advantage.
Neither team would be able to successfully penetrate the other's defense until Philly scored on a 12-yard pass from Threadgill to Orie Hudson on the opening play of the second quarter. Hudson ran for the two-point conversion and the Tornadoes had a 16-0 advantage.
The home-standing Rockets would take advantage of a miscue by the Tornadoes to put points on the board. After failing to take advantage of a 74-yard kickoff return by Ricky Sorrell, Neshoba Central would get the ball back from the Tornadoes on a mishandled pitch on the Philly 22-yard line. Four plays later Palmer found William Adkins alone in the endzone for the touchdown with 9:02 remaining in the first half. Kyle Vowell added the extra point and the score stood at 16-7.
The only other scoring in the game came with 3:55 left in the second quarter when Threadgill escaped from pressure as he dropped back to pass and weaved his way through the Rocket defense for 35-yards and the touchdown. Porter Jordan added the extra point to make the score 23-7.
The start of the year has been tough for the 0-3 Rockets and tonight's game was no exception.
He was not, however, down on his team. The Rockets did not quit during the contest and played hard throughout the game.
The Rockets will be back in action Friday night as they travel to Decatur to take on Newton County. The Tornadoes, 3-0, will play host to division foe Choctaw Central.