A hot and humid gridiron battle kicked off Friday night football for Amanda Elzy High School and Leflore County High School, where Elzy came away with a 16-14 win over the Tigers.
The first quarter got underway and Leflore marched down the field, but an interception by Elzy’s Caleb Brownlow, his first of two, brought the drive to a halt.
Elzy’s first drive would stall, forcing a punt, and Leflore’s quarterback, Kyle Moore, punched it in. The Tigers opted to go for two and Moore made good on the call, giving Leflore an 8-0 lead.
Multiple delays of game began to halt the Leflore offense, but the Tigers were able to string together some positive plays and get in scoring position. Moore threw a dart to junior D’Arnez Dell for their second touchdown of the night. The Tigers went for two again, but came up short. Leflore led the game 14-0 with eight minutes left in the half.
Elzy struggled to run the ball in the first two quarters, never being able to string together some positive plays. While the run game couldn’t find its steam, sophomore quarterback Jevarion Glover began to hit a passing grove. Glover strung together an impressive drive with his arm, scrambling out of the pocket and finding open receivers for positive gains. On the drive, Glover found junior Jordan Smith in the end zone for a touchdown reception. The Panthers went for two and Glover tossed it to junior Jason Wallace for the extra points. The Panthers brought the score to 14-8 with 3:45 left in the half.
Delays of games and various penalties began to halt any momentum the Tigers brought into the third quarter. Leflore’s offensive line wasn’t able to move the Elzy defenders like they could in the first half, and Leflore’s head coach said conditioning was a problem throughout the game.
“We knew going into the game that conditioning was a problem,” Eric House said. “Elzy looked like they were playing in midseason form. We just couldn’t match their energy.”
Mistakes by both teams headlined the third quarter. Offside penalties, delay of game penalties and even targeting calls were being made. Leflore maintained a tight lead over Elzy headed into the fourth quarter until a bad snap on fourth down for the Tigers left Elzy knocking on the end zone. Glover punched it into the end zone, and then threw a pass to junior Kaleb Williams for the game sealing two-point conversion with under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Leflore wasn’t able to put a drive down the field, and Elzy held off the Tigers to win it.
Elzy head coach Morris Bush said he is excited about the win.
“It feels great. It’s been a long time coming. We were looking to start the season off with a win, and I’m glad we were able to.”
Glover finished 10-of-12 passing for 200 yards with an interception. He also ran for 51 yards on four carries.
Don Powell tacked on 62 yards on nine carries, and Jordan Smith had three receptions for 58 yards. Williams had three grabs for 32 yards.
Eldred Horton led the defense with eight tackles (four for loss), and Jaheim Jones had six tackles and two assists.
Jaquavius Hayes had seven solos and two assists, and Isaac Harris had five tackles.
Elzy is at Noxubee County next week, and Leflore County hosts South Delta.
-Contact Jared Conerly at 662-581-7237 or jconerely@gwcommonwealth.com.
