By Staff
Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
ALL JUMBLED UP Newton County's KendrickWindham(1) scored as Terrance Patrick (10) and Michael Johnson (74) opened up the path. Newton County won 34-6.
By Jeff Byrd/The Meridian Star
Nov. 10, 2001
DECATUR Morton dared Newton County to pass. It turned out to be a big mistake.
Freshman quarterback Colby Amis threw for two touchdowns and set up two others following long completions to help lead unbeaten Newton County past Morton 34-6 on Friday night in a first round Class 3A playoff game here at Cougar Stadium.
Newton County, now 11-0, will move on to the second round to face West Lauderdale who trounced Forest on Friday. Morton ends its season at 6-5.
Cougar Head Coach Jeff Breland said he needed Amis to step up against a stacked Morton defense.
Amis finished six of 10 passing for 139 yards. Both of his touchdown passes (34 and 19 yards) went to senior end Adam Bout.
Both touchdown passes came after Morton turned the ball over. The first was on a muffed punt which the Cougars recovered at the Morton 19.
Two run plays netted nothing against the 10-man front of the Panthers. On third down, Amis hit Bout on the 19-yard TD pass. The kick by David McConnell was wide leaving the score at 20-6 with 2:33 left in the third quarter.
Amis' second TD toss came after an interception by Trellis Skinner at the Morton 37. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Amis hit Bout on a 34-yard crossing route for the touchdown. McConnell's kick made it 27-6 with 11:52 left in the game.
A strip and recovery by Terrance Patrick put the Cougars inside Panther territory for a third time. Amis went to work hitting Dusty Rose for a 23-yard gain to the six.
Darryl Mapp then powered in for the score. McConnell's kick accounted for the 34-6 margin with 6:37 left in the game.
Morton looked good at the start opening with a 45-yard kickoff return. Six plays later, Greg Walker darted in from the 12 to make it 6-0 just three minutes into the game. The try for two failed.
Newton County came right back driving 69 yards in only three plays. A 48-yard rumble by Kendrick Windham set the march in motion. Mapp got the touchdown on a 15-yard run. McConnell booted the kick to put the Cougars ahead 7-6 with 7:40 left in the quarter.
The Cougars were stopped on a fourth-and-two at the Morton 47 early in the second quarter. The Cougar defense, though, came right back stuffing a quarterback sneak by Morton's Eliah McDonald for no gain on a fourth-and-one at the 45.
Morton Head Coach Doug Merchant thought McDonald got the first down.
With 2:56 left in the first half, Amis hit his first big pass on a 51-yard toss to Patrick. The play carried to the Morton two. On second down, Windham drove it in for the score. McConnell's kick made it 14-6 with 48.6 seconds to go in the half.
Morton did excellent job of limiting Mapp to just 33 yards rushing. Windham came through with 93 on 14 carries. Newton County had 151 rushing and 139 passing for 290 total.
McDonald led Morton with 68 yards passing and 35 rushing. He was five of 17 with one interception.
Jeff Byrd is a sports writer for the Meridian Star. He can be reached at 693-1551 or by e-mail at jbyrd@themeridianstar.com.