Yazoo City High’s football team moved 2-0 after defeating Humphreys County 26-6 in a game marred by a plethora of penalty flags.
According to Yazoo City High head football coach Timothy Johnson, it became a difficulty that his team was forced to overcome.
“We had a penalty on just about every big play we had,” Johnson said. “I told the players that it was their job to just play the game. That’s all they can control, but it wore on our guys as the game went on. We had to keep their emotions in check. We had to remind them that there would be another play.
This is the first time since the 2014 season that the Indians began 2-0.
For Johnson, it means a lot that his seniors are finally getting some well-deserved wins.
“These seniors have only won four game altogether,” Johnson said. “It feels really good that we’re halfway there through two games, but we have to keep working. We have to work on the finishing the game part. We had two fumbles and threw an interception in this last game, and we only had one takeaway. We have to continue to focus and get better.”
The Indians struck first in the contest when Roncedrick Weekly hooked up with Rorecoss Willis on a 40-yard touchdown pass to give them a 6-0 lead.
Yazoo City’s high-octane offense flashed once again in the second quarter. Weekly dropped back to pass and fired a ball deep to the left side, where Tommy Washington outplayed a defender and hauled it in for a touchdown, making it a 12-0 game.
With six seconds remaining in the first half, a deep Hail Mary attempt by Humphreys County was tipped around by multiple players’ hands before falling safely into a Cowboy receiver’s grasp, allowing the score to be cut to 12-6 at the half.
Yazoo City bounced back in the third quarter with a Weekly touchdown run, and after the 2-pt. conversion by Jared Waters, the Indians held a 20-6 lead.
Waters put things away for good for the Indians when he rushed for the final touchdown to bring the score to 26-6, which would be the final score of the contest.
Roncedrick Weekly had one of his best ever games as an Indian on Friday. He went 8-for-14 for 2017 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The dual-threat also rushed 19 times for 191 yards and another score.
Senior running back Jared Waters had a big game on the ground for the Indians, rushing 14 times for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Wide receivers Tommy Washington and Rorecoss Willis had nearly identical stats in the victory, each catching three passes and a touchdown. Washington had 87 yards, while Willis had 85.
Jordan Cole and Javarious Grady each had nine total tackles, two of which were for loss. Grady also had a sack and nine quarterback hurries.
Parviz King had eight total tackles and a team-high three sacks.
Latavis Taylor had seven total tackles and a sack in the win, while Talyn McCalster had seven total tackles, two of which were for loss.
Next up for the Indians is the biggest non-conference game of the regular season, The Battle of Yazoo against rival Yazoo County.
The Panthers are 2-0 on the season after blasting Germantown 30-20 on Friday night.
Johnson respects the Panthers and what they are capable of accomplishing, but he feels if his team can clean up a couple of things, the game will be one for the record books.
“We have to clean up what we do as a team,” Johnson said. “You know what they’re going to do. (Kenneth) Gainwell and (Cherokee) Edwards will make some plays. Good football teams have an identity, and they have one. We have some momentum going into this game. We have to focus on what we do as a team. If we can do that, it will be an awesome game.”
The Battle of Yazoo will be at Yazoo City High this year, and kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
