The Scott Central Rebels claimed a 26-0 shutout victory over the Lake Hornets under last Thursday night’s lights. The teams seemed evenly matched early on, but as the night progressed, the Rebels flexed their offensive muscle and their defensive wall held firmly against Lake’s offense.
With a record of 9-0, Scott Central maintained its rank of number one in the 2A division, and is now ranked 20 in the state of Mississippi. This most recent loss at the hands of the Rebels puts the Lake Hornets record to 6-2. The Hornets put up a respectable fight, but could not handle the might of 2A’s number one team from Scott Central.
The first quarter began and ended with a score of zero for both teams. The teams duked it out until the first quarter was over, and neither team scored a point.
Lake coach Tate Hanna said, “We came out moving the ball very well on the opening drive and had to punt after a questionable illegal formation call that brought back a touchdown. We played great defensively for three quarters. Scott Central is a very explosive team and we did a good job of keeping them from getting the big plays. We held them scoreless until under 20 seconds before halftime.”
The Rebels scored first blood in the second quarter in which Scott Central scored six points. They scored seven points in the third quarter and 13 more points in the fourth quarter.
Coach Hanna said, “We had 52 yards of offense on 32 plays. Scott Central had 289 on 63 plays. We did not do a good job of putting drives together on offense and that hurt us late in the game. They had 31 more offensive plays than we had and that is not good in a big game. Our defense wore out at the end because we didn’t get them off the field.”
In spite of the loss, Hanna said, “I am very proud of how far our team has come since opening the season. We have got to continue to work hard each day and improve. Offensively we have got to get better. We made several mental mistakes on offense that put us in bad situations.” Practice makes perfect. Keep in mind that Scott Central typically wins by a vast margin, 58-0 against Newton County, 43-0 against Southeast Lauderdale, 64-0 against Union, all of which are strong teams. When the score between Scott Central and Lake is compared to Scott Centrals other games, the fact that the Hornets kept the Rebels score at 26 is an impressive feat. Against a single team, a score of 26 is the lowest Scott Central has ended a game with.
This Friday, the Lake Hornets have a game at home and will face off against the Philadelphia Tornadoes. Coach Hanna said, “We will face another tough team this week when we travel to play Philadelphia. They are very physical on offense and very sound on defense. They are very well coached and will be ready to play. We have got to do a good job of bouncing back this week and ready to play hard for four quarters. We knew coming into the season that the final four games were going to be tough.”
As of this week, the Tornadoes are ranked number two in the 2A division, whereas the Hornets are ranked 17 in 2A. The Hornets, whose record is 6-2, will have their work cut out for them as they combat the Tornadoes, whose record is an impressive 9-0.
Scott Central will also be traveling this week as they go head-to-head against the Pelahatchie Chiefs. The Rebels remain in the number one rank of the 2A division, while the Chiefs are in the 20 slot. With a 9-0 record, the Rebels will put their number-one rank on the line against the 6-3 Chiefs.
