Rockets, Bearcats eye past glory

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Sept. 6, 2002
Both the Rockets of Neshoba Central and the Bearcats of Forest have been football powers in the state in recent years. Both would love to return to that status.
Right now, both would just like to get their first win of 2002 when they meet Friday at L.O. Atkins Field at Forest.
Down only 19-14, the Rockets saw any chance of a comeback against Quitman last week disappear with a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown by the Panthers.
Josh Palmer was 5-of-11 in the air for 135 yards. William Adkins had two catches for 54 yards with Kevin Marshall having one reception for 60 yards. Marshall led the Neshoba ground game with 78 yards on 17 carries.
Forest lost 28-6 at Newton County last week after spotting the Cougars a 21-0 first quarter lead. Prentiss Vivians led the Bearcats with 73 yards on 12 carries. He also caught a 6-yard pass for Forest's only points.
Forest holds a 12-6 lead in the series with Neshoba taking last year's game 34-6.
Philadelphia at Noxapater
The Tornadoes took advantage of six turnovers and senior quarterback Tyler Threadgill in waylaying Kosciusko 50-14 last week.
Threadgill ran seven times for 100 yards and a touchdown and completed 4-of-9 passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. He also had three field goals and an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Matt Corrigan led the Tornadoes' defense with 12 tackles.
Noxapater was unable to dent the scoreboard in a 40-0 loss to Weir last week.
The Tornadoes hold a 12-0 advantage in the series which began in 1926 with a 44-6 Philadelphia victory.
Kemper at Choctaw Central
Though they lost 24-6 last week to Ackerman, the Warriors did keep the defending Class 2A state champions somewhat in check.
Kemper lost a 28-8 decision to Nanih Waiya last week.
Choctaw Central won last year's game 41-0 and holds a 3-0 series lead.
Leake at Manchester
The Rebels of Leake racked up 451 yards total offense in last week's 35-34 loss at Indianola Academy, but were unable to score from inside the IA 5 late in the fourth quarter as they came up just short of pulling off a major upset.
Brett Moore completed 6-of-10 passes for 164 yards. Joshua Chamblee had three receptions for 116 yards, while Drew Thomas caught three passes for 97 yards.
Chamblee and Allen Byrd led the Rebel defense with nine tackles apiece. Ben Melton had seven.
The Mavericks defeated Leake 30-14 last year to trim Leake's series lead to 6-3. Ironically, Manchester was Leake's second opponent ever as the Rebels won 12-6 in 1970. They wouldn't meet again until 1994 when Manchester cruised 34-7.
Raleigh at Nanih Waiya
Ken McMullan's Warriors opened their year with a 28-8 win at DeKalb over Kemper County last week. This week finds the Warriors hosting a Class 3A Raleigh squad that went 0-9 in 2001.
The two did not play last year. The date became available when Nanih Waiya's previous opponent, Sturgis, consolidated with Maben and is playing Maben's schedule this fall.