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Lanier football won its first Mississippi high school football game in 37 years Friday thanks to some big defensive stops, a key touchdown and a big gamble by first-year coach Tommy Kelly.
“I’m just proud of the kids, man, they came out there and played hard in the second half,” Kelly said after his team scored twice and shut out Sumrall in the second half of a 28-21 MHSAA Class 4A first-round win. “I told them when I went to the locker room, ‘We got all our mistakes out the way. I need the best 24 minutes of your life.’ And they gave it to me.”
The Bulldogs’ last playoff win had been during the 1987 season in a 28-21 win over Tupelo, and they had lost seven playoff games since then.
Lanier (8-2) will travel to Forest (10-1) in the second round of the MHSAA 4A playoffs on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run by quarterback Darrell Roberts after a fumble recovery by Langston Clark set Lanier up on its 40-yard line.
“I just told my defense, ‘It’s on us,'” Kelly said. “The offense, start putting drives together, start scoring touchdowns. It’s up to us to stop. So the kids stepped up big tonight.”
Sumrall (1-9) drove to the Lanier 20 before the Bulldogs made a fourth-down stop with 2:30 left, but Lanier still needed a first down to clinch the win.
A gamble by Kelly to try and convert on a fourth-and-1 at the Lanier 29 paid off on a quarterback sneak by Roberts. The sophomore quarterback finished with three touchdowns.
“I told coach (Curtis) Stapleton it’s two-down territory, we going for it,” Kelly said. “We’re gonna lose it going for it. So, it worked out.”
Senior running back Jeremiah Wilson said that the call was intense. However, with the significance of getting a first down, there was no option to not go for it.
“We really just had to be zoned in everybody, all 11,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/first-coachs-gamble-helped-lanier-063529864.html
Author : The Clarion Ledger
Publish date : 2024-11-09 06:35:29
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