Locals off to good start in ‘21
Philadelphia’s Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin returned the opening 100-yard kickoff for Mississippi State as the Bulldogs went to 2-0 with a 24-10 victory over North Carolina State on Saturday night in Starkville.
The stingy Mississippi State defense came to play and shut down North Carolina State’s running game. This week, the Bulldogs travel to Memphis to take on the Tigers at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Will Hall won his first game as head coach of the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles with a 37-0 blanking of Grambling. The Eagles (1-1) were led by running back Frank Gore Jr. who raced for a career-high 162 yards, which included a 51-yard TD run. The Eagles will host Troy (1-1) this Saturday night. The Trojans fell to Hugh Freeze and Liberty last Saturday, 21-13.
No. 20 Ole Miss (2-0) used five touchdown passes from Matt Corral to down out-manned Austin Peay, 54-17. The Rebels duo of Dontario Drummond and Jonathan Mingo each caught two touchdowns. This Saturday night, the Rebels will host Tulane (2-0) at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
SEC action
Kentucky (2-0) outlasted a stubborn Missouri Tiger crew (1-1), 35-28. In non-conference games, Arkansas (2-0) welcomed future SEC member Texas to the conference as the Razorbacks blasted the Longhorns, 40-21. Vanderbilt (1-1) recorded their first win, 24-21, at Colorado State. Texas A&M (2-0) struggled to win at Colorado, 10-7, while South Carolina escaped with a 20-17 win over East Carolina. Tennessee (1-1) was the only SEC school to lose this past Saturday, falling to Pittsburgh in the Johnny Major Classic, 41-34. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia and LSU all won big. This week, we have three games that should be worth watching as Alabama hits the road to Florida, Auburn visits Penn State and South Carolina goes to Georgia.
Hunter leads Auburn rushers
Former Neshoba Central standout Jarquez Hunter has been outstanding in Auburn’s first two games. He is averaging 15.1 yards per carry and has scored two touchdowns. He has rushed 17 times for 257 yards, including a 94-yard TD run against Alabama State Saturday in the Tigers’ 62-0 win.
JSU & DSU perfect
Jackson State (2-0) steamrolled Tennessee State, 38-16, behind Shedeur Sanders, son of Tiger coach Deion Sanders, who passed for 362 yards and three scores. JSU heads to Louisiana Monroe Saturday night for their next action. Alcorn drove 92 yards in 10 plays in the final period to clip Northwestern State, 13-10. The Braves (1-1) will travel to South Alabama this week. Mississippi Valley (0-1) was open this past weekend and will head to Stephen F. Austin this Saturday.
Delta State (2-0) romped for the second straight week as Patrick Shegog passed for three scores and ran for two more in a 45-17 win over McKendree. This week, the Statesmen travel to West Georgia. Belhaven (1-1) fell to Southwestern, 34-27, last Saturday in their American SW Conference opener. This week, the Blazers travel to Hardin-Simmons. Millsaps (0-1) and Mississippi College (0-1) were idle this past weekend. The Majors travel to Southwestern while the Choctaws will play at Fort Lauderdale.
Odds & Ends
Florida State (0-2) lost for the first time in program history to a FCS school as they fell to Jacksonville (AL), 21-17, on a 59-yard pass with no time to play.
Dale McKee, a Waynesboro resident, has been writing sports since 1973.