NO. 1 TORNADOES TAKE VICTORY OVER QUITMAN PANTHERS

The Philadelphia High School Tornadoes improved to 5-0 on the season last Friday night when they soundly defeated the Quitman Panthers 44-15 in prep football action at Harpole Field. The margin of victory was what it was, despite the fact that the Tornadoes had two long kick returns called back. The Tornadoes are currently ranked No. 1 in the state among Class 2A teams, according to The Clarion-Ledger and Associated Press prep football polls. They will be back in action Thursday night when they visit Choctaw Central. “Right now, we are playing very well,” Coach Teddy Dyess said. “It was a complete game.” The Tornadoes have been playing with two quarterbacks with junior Ahyunte’ Crosby and sophomore Trey Crockett both taking snaps. Now they have three as senior Malik Hickman joined the rotation in the Quitman game. “We want for Malik to have 10 to 12 touches during each game and this was the best way for that to happen,” Coach Dyess said. “The competition at the position has made us better. They cheer for each other and help each other. But all of them want to give their best performance. “Having Hickman at quarterback will make us better. We saw something Friday on film and decided this would be a good way to slip him in.” Philadelphia 44, Quitman 15 Quitman took the opening kickoff. On second down, Jalen Griffin intercepted a pass and the Tornadoes took over on the Tornado 40-yard line. On first down, Hickman slipped into the quarterback position and ran for 14 yards. Griffin then caught a pass and the Tornadoes were on the QHS 30-yard line. Running back Cortney Smith picked up seven yards. Then Stetson Moore caught a 23-yard TD pass from Crosby. Crosby ran in the two-point conversion and the Tornadoes led 8-0 with 9:12 remaining in the first quarter. Quitman took the kickoff and put together an 11-play drive that resulted in 25-yard field goal by Tyler Hines. The Panthers made it to the PHS 5-yard line and the Tornado defense pushed them back to the nine-yard line on third down. With 2:35 left in the first quarter, the Tornadoes led 8-3. Griffin took the kickoff and ran 85 yards for a touchdown. But a “holding” call brought it all back. The Tornadoes ran eight plays and made it to their own 43-yard line. On third down, a bad snap resulted in a 16-yard loss as the quarter ended. Philadelphia punted the ball. But a roughing the punter penalty gave them an automatic first down. The Tornadoes attempted to punt four plays later. This time the ball was high and resulted in a 25-yard loss. Quitman took over on the PHS 24-yard line and made it to the 16-yard line before the Tornado defense held. On first down, Griffin broke for a 69-yard run that put the Tornadoes on the QHS 15. Smith ran the ball three times in a row, and scored on a three-yard run. Crockett passed to Moore for the two point conversion and the Tornadoes led 16-3. That’s how it stood at the half. The Tornadoes recovered a fumble midway through the third quarter and set up a nine-play scoring drive. Nine plays later, Smith scored on a 25-yard run. Crockett ran the two-point conversion and the Tornadoes led 24-3. Quitman got a long return on the kickoff. Then 15 yards was added after Philadelphia was called for a personal foul and the Panthers had the ball on the PHS 18-yard line. Three plays later, Brandon Hicks scored on a six-yard run. The extra point try failed and the Tornadoes led 24-9. The Tornadoes had another long kickoff return called back on a holding call. But two plays later, Griffin caught a 73-yard TD pass from Crosby. The extra point failed and the Tornadoes led 30-9. Hickman scored early in the fourth quarter on a 34-yard run. The run failed and the Tornadoes led 36-9 with 11:31 remaining. Quitman took the ensuing kickoff and drove 51 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Tydrekius Carpenter scored on a three-yard run. The pass failed and the Panthers trailed 36-15 with 7:23 left. A failed onside kick gave the Tornadoes the ball on the QHS 40. A 25-yard run by Griffin game the Tornadoes a first down on the QHS 14-yard line. Smith carried it the rest of the way on the next play for a touchdown. Deiondre Fox ran in the two-point conversion to end the scoring. Griffin finished with 93 yards rushing and 106 receiving yards, giving him 199 total offensive yards. Smith had 136 rushing yards on a 21 carries while Hickman had 81 yards on six carries. Crosby completed 5-of-8 passing attempts for 123 yards while Crockett completed 4-of-9 for 26 yards. Chris Griffin was the leading tackler with 13 while Stefun King added 12 tackles and Malek Collier had nine tackles. Javon Pickens had a sack. The Panthers drop to 2-3. They will visit Bay Springs Friday night.

NO. 1 TORNADOES TAKE VICTORY OVER QUITMAN PANTHERS

Photo Credit: Quitman Athletics

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