No. 1 War Eagles host tough foe

By By Robby Atkinson / staff writer
Sept. 5, 2003
Wayne County only needed a pair of touchdowns last Friday night to take a big road win over Class 5A power Columbus 13-0 to give the No. 1-ranked War Eagles their first win of the season. According to Wayne County head coach Marcus Boyles the game was everything that he expected.
The War Eagles will return home to Waynesboro tonight against yet another big opponent in Madison Central.
"Our schedule doesn't get any easier and we know that Madison Central will be looking to come to our field and take a big win," Boyles said. "I think that returning home will be very big for our team and our fans are great at showing wonderful support for this great team."
Other games on the South Area schedule for this week include: Sylva Bay Academy at Wayne Academy, Quitman at South Jones, Heidelberg Academy at Central Academy, Port Gibson at Heidelberg High, and Bay Springs at Northeast Jones.
The War Eagles totaled 253 yards of total offense and the defense was equally impressive in pitching the shutout against the Falcons. "Our defense is so strong right now and they played such a hard game to open the year," Boyles added.
J.J. Taylor was the highlight of the evening against Columbus with a pair of rushing touchdowns to lead Wayne County to the opening win.
"It was a very physical game the whole night and we were expecting them to play us very hard," Boyles said. "Getting a big win like the one against Columbus to open the season was very huge for our team."
Sylva-Bay Academy
at Wayne Academy
Wayne Academy (0-2) will be looking for its first win of the season as longtime division rival Sylva-Bay pays a visit to Waynesboro for what is a big game for both teams.
Wayne Academy dropped a tough 3-0 decision at the hands of Presbyterian Christian last Friday night on the road in Petal. The only points of the game came in the third for the Bobcats with a 38-yard field goal by Stephen Stetelman to give Wayne Academy its second loss of the season.
Sylva-Bay (2-0) took an impressive 40-0 win over Hebron Academy for its second consecutive shutout of the season. The Saints used five rushing touchdowns to take the shutout win over Hebron.
Cody Phillips and Dusty McCormick each had a pair of rushing touchdowns in the win for the Saints, while John Thompson and Stephen Gavin each added one touchdown apiece to pace the Sylva-Bay ground attack.
Wayne Academy did score a shutout of its own last season with a 33-0 win over the Saints.
Quitman
at South Jones
The Panthers opened up the season last Friday with a huge win over Heidelberg by a final tally of 31-16. Quitman (1-0) used an unbelievable ground game to score the win over the Oilers. The Panthers totaled 365 yards on the ground to wear down the Heidelberg defense.
Mike McLendon had the big play of the evening with a 75-yard touchdown, while quarterback Justin Hollman had a 22-yard touchdown pass to Breland Clark. Quitman will look for its second win of the season on the road at South Jones.
Central Academy
at Heidelberg Academy
The Rebels will be trying to find its first win of the season as it plays hot to Central Academy
Heidelberg (0-2) suffered two losses to open the young season at the hands of Columbia Academy (20-7) and Lamar School (21-0).
The Lamar defense was able to hold the Rebels to only 89 yards of offense, but Heidelberg hopes that history is on its side. The Rebels did take a 50-0 win over Central last season and will be looking for more of the same.
Port Gibson
at Heidelberg High
Heidelberg (0-1) is looking to rebound after a setback against Quitman by a final of 31-16. The Oiler defense surrendered over 300 yards in rushing to Quitman, but did have a few bright spots on offense.
The Oilers did have a very good first half against Quitman led by quarterback Raphael Jones. Jones hit John Patterson for a 34-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter of action on Friday, while Jones added another passing touchdown to cap the offense on the night for the Oilers. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Heidelberg High.
Bay Springs
at Northeast Jones
Bay Springs (1-0) will be looking for another good performance, but the Bulldogs will be traveling to hostile territory to square off against Northeast Jones. All of the scoring in Bay Springs' 20-0 season-opening win over Stringer came in the second half. Phillip Sims was the highlight on offense for the Bulldogs with a pair of touchdowns.
Sims had a 10-yard rushing touchdown to go along with a 32-yard touchdown reception from Chris Flemming, while Flemming added another touchdown pass to Ronnie McCullum to round out the offense for the Bulldogs against Stringer.