Greenwood High School made Todd Lott’s return to the Mississippi Delta a painful one.
Lott, the former head coach at Washington School in Greenville and Mississippi Delta Community College, saw his New Albany team absolutely engulfed by GHS Friday night. The Bulldogs continued their winning ways at home in the postseason, rolling to a 50-0 victory to move to 12-0.
“We’re moving on; we don’t care about the style points even though that was nice,” Greenwood coach Clinton Gatewood said.
Lott and his team finished 8-4 for the season.
Greenwood advances to face nemesis Louisville next week in the third round of the North 4A playoffs. Gatewood’s team moved to 12-3 at home in the postseason during the coach’s 10-year tenure at Greenwood.
GHS hopes its postseason magic at Bulldog Stadium continues against Louisville (11-2), which won 52-0 over Pontotoc Friday.
“This is the one we have been waiting on all year,” said Gatewood, whose team lost 17-14 to the Wildcats in the third round a year ago.
New Albany simply had no answer for the suffocating Bulldog defense, which came in allowing the fewest points per game in all of Class 4A at 7.9.
That unit recorded its fourth straight shutout as Davin Anderson led the way with 14 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception. Quontavious Lymon dominated the line of scrimmage, winding up with 12 tackles and two sacks. Sophomore linebacker William Stewart added 10 stops.
Those players have helped drive a defense that now has five shutouts on the season.
“Those guys on defense have really come on down the stretch. They are rounding into championship form,” Gatewood said.
Senior Jamarion Addison paced the balanced Bulldog offense with 14 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns and also added a 26-yard TD reception in the second half.
Sophomore quarterback DeAndre Smith only put the ball in the air 15 times, completing 11 of them to six different receivers for 272 yards and three touchdowns.
Greenwood opened the game against New Albany with a 55-yard, seven-play touchdown drive that ended with a 8-yard scamper by Addison. It needed just two plays to cover 81 yards on the following possession as Smith hooked up with Kobe Chambers for a 66-yard touchdown toss.
The Bulldogs led 20-0 with five minutes to play in the first quarter after Smith hit Daylin Metcalf across the middle on a crossing route. Metcalf plowed over a pair of New Albany defenders at the goal line for the score.
Chambers had three catches for a team-high 85 yards, while Metcalf added 71 yards on three catches.
Next week’s winner advances to the North 4A finals against the Corinth-Itawamba AHS winner.
Greenwood is seeking its fourth appearance in this game in the last six seasons and first state championship game since 1988.
nContact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
