By By Jamie Sullivan/Special to The Star
October 6, 2001
The Neshoba Central homecoming festivites were ruined not only by mother nature, but also by the Green Wave of West Point High School. The Rockets dropped to 1-5 Friday night as the West Point Green Wave had their way with the Rockets in a 33-7 victory.
After three consective three and out drives, West Point struck when Charlie Brown scored from 11 yards out. The PAT was blocked by a host of Rockets.
Later in the second quarter, Tavoris Carter rambled 21 yards for the next Green Wave score. The two-point conversion was no good. The last score before halftime came with 1:34 left in the second quarter, when James Shelton found a wide open T.C. Harris for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Shelton and Harris connected again for the two conversion to make it 20-0 at the halftime intermission.
The Green Wave came right back from the locker room, and went to work again in the third quarter. Shelton connected with Harris again to make the score 26-7. The two-point conversion was no good.
Late in the third quarter, Neshoba Central crossed the 50-yard line for only the third time in the game. Finally, they scored when Andrew Robinson sprinted 15 yards for the touchdown.
Scott Sherden added the PAT to make the score 26-7. The final score of the game came when the Green Wave marched to the Neshoba 11 yard line. When Cadrick Wells ran in from 11 yards out. Patrick Thompson added the PAT to make the score 33-7.
Coach Jim Ray said,"We start back from ground zero Monday, trying to get better. We just gotta work to get better, that's all we can do."
BYU wins
PROVO, Utah (AP) Luke Staley ran for 207 yards and four touchdowns and caught a 28-yard scoring pass from Brandon Doman as No. 20 BYU beat winless Utah State 54-34 on Friday night.
Staley took the suspense out of coach Gary Crowton's play-calling. As his yardage and scoring mounted in the second half, 65,396 fans chanted, Lu-u-u-u-uke! Lu-u-u-u-uke!'' if the Cougars got within 15 yards of the end zone.
Staley didn't disappoint them, scoring three times in the third quarter as BYU (5-0) erased a 27-21 halftime deficit to beat Utah State.
(0-5) for the 16th time in the last 17 meetings.
Doman was 24-of-34 for 293 yards and four TDs with one interception. In the fourth quarter, he was 7-of-8 for 110 yards and two scores.
Staley piled up 311 total yards. He also caught four passes for 44 yards, returned a kickoff 49 yards and, in the first quarter, completed an 11-yard pass to Reno Mahe.
In a shootout that featured lots of hard hits, long returns and penalties, the Cougars were tested by the Aggies, who for the second straight week stayed with a nationally ranked opponent through three quarters.
Last week, it was Oregon that won 38-21. This week, Staley made the difference, gaining the most yards by a BYU running back since Ronney Jenkins had 250 against San Jose State in 1998.
Staley also had a pair of 1-yard runs and scored untouched on a 37-yard run after breaking through the line to pull the Cougars to 34-27 with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Utah State standout Emmett White ran for 144 yards and two TDs but the Aggies hurt themselves with 141 penalty yards.
White had two second-quarter TDs to give Utah State a 27-21 lead at the break, and the Aggies kept the momentum going when Dane Kidman recovered his own onside kick to open the second half.
Six plays later, Jose Fuentes threw a 14-yard pass to Chris Stallworth to extend the lead to 34-21.
The Aggies were driving again late in the third when Jenaro Gilford intercepted Fuentes at the 12, got a great block from defensive end Brett Kiesel and zig-zagged 62 yards to Utah State's 26.
The Cougars needed three plays before Staley swept to the right from the 1, helping BYU tie it at 34-34. Encouraged by the fans, Staley added a 5-yard TD run with 1:33 to play in the third as BYU went ahead for good.