Tornadoes advance past Water Valley
The Philadelphia High School Tornadoes advanced to the second round of the Class 2A state football playoffs with a 48-15 victory on the road over Water Valley Friday night.
The Tornadoes improved to 4-7 on the season with the win. They will travel to Charleston this Friday night in the second round of the playoffs. The Tigers took a 50-6 win over Walnut in their first round game and come in at 9-2.
“They are like the Bay Springs of North Mississippi,” said Philadelphia coach David Frey. “They are a run heavy team but they can throw it. They are big and they like to run the ball. We are going to have to play a good game like last week. We can’t have turnovers and have to cut down on penalties.”
The Tornadoes scored on their second series when C.J. Rush scored on a 34-yard TD pass from Bernard Parker. Rush ran in the two-point conversion and the Tornadoes led 8-0.
The Tornadoes added another touchdown in the second quarter when Rush scored on a 25-yard run. Dee Burnside scored the two point conversion and Philadelphia would lead 16-0 at the half.
Water Valley scored on a run to cut the Tornadoes’ lead to 16-8 with 8:41 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Tornadoes recovered a loose ball on the Water Valley 26-yard line. Four plays later, Parker scored on a six-yard run. The extra point try was no good and the Tornadoes led 22-8.
Water Valley scored on a 36-yard run with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. The kick was good and Philadelphia led 22-15.
Rush returned the ensuing kickoff 80-yards for a touchdown. Parker scored the two-point conversion and Philadelphia led 30-15 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Tornadoes scored again in the fourth quarter when Parker ran 20 yards for a touchdown. The extra point try was no good and the Tornadoes led 36-15 with 7:46 left in the game. Rush added two more touchdowns on runs of 69 and 20 yards to wrap up the victory.
“This was the best we’ve done all year,” Frey said. “We really got after them on defense.”
Rush was the leading rusher with 189 yards on 19 carries. Parker rushed for 98 yards on 10 carries and completed four passes for 51 yards.