Quitman, Enterprise at home in playoffs

By By Robby Atkinson / staff writer
Nov. 14, 2003
Clarke County sure has a right to call itself one of the hot spots for high school football in Mississippi.
Both Enterprise and Quitman will be hosting second round playoff games at the same time on Friday night for the first time in many years. The Bulldogs will be taking on St. John of Gulfport, while the Panthers will be squaring off with George County.
"It will be a huge night for Clarke County and this is very good for our community as a whole," Enterprise head coach Joel Speed said. "We are looking forward to coming back home and playing in front of our fans as well.
Other playoff games taking place in the South Area this week include Wayne County at Southaven, Heidelberg at Perry Central, and Briarfield Academy at Heidelberg Academy.
The EHS Bulldogs are coming off a great first round win over Hinds AHS by a final score of 29-12 and Enterprise hopes for the offense to continue to pour out against St. John.
"They are not a very fancy team and they are the type of team that does the little things well," Speed added. "We hope that we can contain them on defense and come away with the win."
The Bulldogs had a little bit of a different feel on offense last week with a pair of touchdowns from Ike McKelvain. Adam Simpson kept his scoring way going with a three-yard rushing touchdown as well. St. John is coming off a 16-0 shutout win over Philadelphia.
St. John had rushing touchdowns from Ro'Man Martin and Antonio Hayes to led the team from Gulfport to victory.
George County
at Quitman
Quitman enters this week with the huge task of taking on a very talented George County team. Quitman went on the road to St. Stanislaus and took a 38-16 win over the Rockachaws last week.
"It was a great win last week and the key was the running game," Quitman head coach James Holloman said. "I guess if it's not broke then don't fix it."
Mike McLendon has been the spark plug for the Panthers the entire season and proved that to be very true last week. McLendon had three rushing touchdowns and collected over 100 yards of offense once again. Randy Carter also had a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown and Sam Parks also notched a two-yard run to round out the offense for Quitman.
George County had no problems moving the ball last week in its win over McComb by a final of 45-21. George County had 475 yards of total offense in the win and Holloman knows that his defense will need to play well.
"They have a very explosive offense and we are going to need to play well on that side of the ball," Holloman added. "I think that are kids are just ready to get the game started."
George County was led by Skyler Lawrence with 122 yards on seven carries to go along with two touchdowns. Reggie Scott had 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns to give George County a huge night on the ground.
Wayne County
at Brookhaven
The War Eagles hope to keep the march toward Jackson going with a win this week on the road at Brookhaven. Wayne County has found a new ingredient to the offense and it has been in the form of freshman quarterback Drexler Johnson.
Johnson drew the start at signal caller for Wayne County for the second week and racked up three touchdown passes. Breck Mills also added a 41-yard field goal in the win to give the special teams a little action.
Brookhaven took a 35-20 win at home last week over Pearl River Central to advance into the second round. Ronnie McNulty had rushing touchdowns of 46, 10, and 4 in the win for Brookhaven last Friday.
Heidelberg
at Perry Central
The Oilers look to keep the state of Mississippi talking after a big upset victory over Loyd Star last week by a final of 28-13. Heidelberg snapped the undefeated streak of Loyd Star and is looking to win another road game this week against Perry Central.
Keyoung Arrington had the biggest play in the win last Friday night with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Cedric Charles also had a big play on special teams as well with an 88-yard kickoff return for a score that proved to be the difference.
Perry Central took a 20-0 win on the road last week at Lake. Brandon Sumrall was the heart of the offense for Perry Central with three rushing touchdowns.