Rebels cruise to 55-21 victory over Pillow Academy

After two tough losses on the road, the Leake Rebels were glad to get back to Madden.

The Rebels scored seven first-half touchdowns and cruised to a 55-21 win over Pillow Academy before a large homecoming crowd.

Leake improves to 4-3 on the season and will host East Rankin in a district 2-5A contest this week.

The Rebels used a dominant offense that piled up 513 yards to steamroll the Mustangs as junior quarterback George Wilcox threw for 358 yards and five TDs.

“I thought George had his best game of the season,” Leake coach Brian Pickens said. “He made some big throws and put a lot of pressure on their defense. I was proud of how the offensive line protected him and how we ran the football when we needed to. The defense only gave up one big play and the other two scores were on the reserves. It was homecoming and you always worry about that butI thought our kids came out focused and played really well.”

After punting on their first possession, Leake went 66 yards in six plays as Wilcox hit Matthew Nowell on a. 43-yard touchdown pass. Nowell also hit the PAT and Leake led 7-0 with 6:54 left in the first quarter.

Nowell then got the ball right back as he recovered a Pillow fumble at midfield. Wilcox then hit Matthan Weaver on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 3:42 left in the first. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 14-0 lead.

Pillow made things interesting when they scored on a 68-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 14-7.

But Leake went to the air again and went 65 yards in five plays. After a 26-yard completion to Matthan Weaver, Wilcox hit Nowell on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 2:03 left in the first quarter. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 21-7 lead.

The Rebels added another first-quarter score when Wilcox hit Weaver on a 33-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the quarter. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 28-7 lead.

The Rebels continued to add to their lead as they scored three more times in the second quarter. The first was an 11-yard run by Wilcox to make the score 35-7. The second was a 23-yard pass from Wilcox to Nowell with 6:03 left in the half to extend the lead to 42-7. The third was a 47-yard interception return by Nowell to extend the leads to 48-7 with 4:29 left in the half.

Pillow added a 19-yard touchdown pass with 2:08 left in the half to make the score 48-14 at the half.

After forcing Pillow to punt to start the second half, Leake went to the ground game and put together a 14-play, 86-yard drive as Garrett Adcock scored on a 9-yard run with 1:19 left in the third. Nowell’s PAT gave Leake a 55-14 lead.

Pillow scored on the last play of the game on a 4-yard run for the final margin.

Leake had 513 yards of total offense with 358 passing and 155 rushing. Adcock had 85 yards rushing on 16 carries with one TD while John David Gill. Had 57 yards on 11 carries. Wilcox had two carries for 13 yards with one TD.

Wilcox was 21-of-34 passing for 358 yards with five TDs and one interception. Weaver had seven catches for 131 yards with one TD while Nowell had three catches for 99 yards and three TDs. Majure Chandler had five catches for 71 yards while Jack Harkins had four catches for 34 yards with one TD.

On defense, Coby Kemp led the Rebels with 11.5 tackles while Owen Hitt had 4.5 tackles. Caden Monk, Brayden Welch and Tyler Winstead each had four tackles apiece while Grayson McDonald had three tackles. Nowell had two tackles and two interceptions while Jack Johnston, Gage Bennett and Gavin Gomillion each had two tackles apiece.

The Rebels will be at home again this week as they host East Rankin.

The Patriots are 2-6 on the season with wins over St. Aloysius (29-14) and Amite (37-31). Their losses are to Pillow (56-14), Oak Forest (55-7), Winston (26-13), Simpson (42-17), Copiah (41-0) and MRA (44-14).

“Last year, they gave us fits so we will have to be prepared on defense,” Pickens said. “We need to have a good week of practice and stay focused.”

Last year, Leake beat East Rankin 68-35.