A huge second half explosion propelled Yazoo City’s Indians to a 34-18 win over Gentry.
The win improved Yazoo City’s record to 5-4 on the year, placing them squarely in the playoffs.
Yazoo City head coach Timothy Johnson is proud of his team’s resiliency and fight to make the playoffs for the first time in years.
“It’s huge for our team,” Johnson said. “We made some goals before the season started, and this was a big one. We saw that we could play together as a team and win.”
The first half of the contest was a sloppy game, marred by multiple blocked punts, fumbles, and bad snaps, and the Indians could get nothing going whatsoever.
At the half, Gentry held a 6-0 lead over the Indians.
In the second half, however, the Indians came out and hit one explosive play after another, outscoring Gentry 34-12 in the final two quarters to win the game 34-18.
The biggest difference between the first and second half was the play at quarterback.
Johnson made a move to bring back his old quarterback, who finally became healthy once more.
“Last week Roncedrick (Weekly) was still hurt,” Johnson said. “We went with Kory (Price) in the first half, but we needed a spark in the second half. We put Roncedrick in, and he came through with five touchdowns in only a half. It started with the opening kickoff in the half. We almost returned it all the way. We scored on that drive, and we started clicking.”
Weekly had a big game in the win, completing 4-of-5 passes for 128 yards with three touchdowns. He also had 175 more yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries.
Senior running back Jared Waters was a problem for Gentry. He finished the night with 201 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Tommy Washington had two catches for 60 yards and two scores.
Rorecoss Willis caught three passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he picked off a pass.
Torey Haymer was a defensive force up the middle. The senior had a team-high nine total tackles, six of which were for loss, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
Talyn McCalster also tied for a team-high in tackles with nine.
Javarious Grady had eight total tackles and two sacks in the victory.
Stanleigh Bentley had three tackles and two interceptions in the big victory.
Yazoo City has an important game on Friday night against Rosa Fort in terms of playoff seeding. Rosa Fort is 3-5 on the season after their 37-24 loss to Clarksdale on Friday night.
Johnson understands the importance of having a good opponent early in the playoffs, so he’s come up with a plan to defeat Rosa Fort.
“The throw the ball around a lot,” Johnson said. “They have three great receivers and a really good quarterback. We’ll try to play keep away and keep the ball out of their hands. We’ll try to milk that clock. They’re a team that plays up to their competition. They’re better than their record. It’s a big game for the seeding of the playoffs. The winner will be the #3 seed, and the loser will be the #4 seed. We want to give ourselves the best possible chance in the playoffs.”
Kickoff against Rosa Fort is set for 7 p.m.
