Morton
Friday night when Morton traveled to Jackson for their season opener there was threatening weather all around the capitol city. When the game got underway the Panthers ran into a storm of their own in the form of the Lanier Bulldogs. Lanier struck first and took a 6-0 first quarter lead before the visiting Panthers came roaring back to take a 7-6 lead into halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Morton extended their lead to 13-6 before the Bulldogs came to life and mounted a comeback in front of their home fans that had braved the nasty weather. The loyal fans would watch Lanier score 16 unanswered fourth quarter points and ultimately secure the victory 22-13.
Morton starts the season 0-1 after the tough loss but will look to even up their win-loss record this week. For their second game they will make the short trip to the home of the cross-county Scott Central Rebels. The Rebels have high expectations this season and started their 2018 football campaign with a victory over Enterprise last Friday night. Both teams will be geared-up and ready to go this Friday night at Scott Central. The game will get underway with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Lake
The Lake Hornets hosted the Pelahatchie Chiefs to open their season. Pelahatchie jumped out to a 16-0 lead early in the first quarter and put the Hornets in an early hole. As the Hornets offense came to life and their defense stiffened the Chiefs lost their rhythm and the Hornets started to dig themselves out of the early deficit hole. Lake found the endzone with six minutes left in the first half and pulled within eight of the visiting Chiefs. The score would remain 16-8 throughout the entire third quarter as both defensive units refused to give-up.
Finally, in the fourth quarter the Hornet offense decoded the defensive lock down the Chiefs had protected for almost two full quarters of football. With 11 minutes left in the game the homestanding Hornets knotted the score at 16-16 and felt they had taken the all-important “Big Mo” (momentum) heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. But just as the Hornets were ready to complete the comeback and bring home a win, Pelahatchie found the offense rhythm that had disappeared after their two early scores.
After Lake tied the game, the Chiefs went on a scoring spree over the ensuing 8 minutes scoring 20 unanswered points eliminating all hopes of a come-from-behind victory and ultimately downing the Hornets 38-16 in a game that was closer than the score implicates. But when the final horn sounds the only indicators that count is the number of points lit up in the box beside each team’s name, and on that Friday night the visiting Chiefs had 38 and the Hornets had 16.
After their opening loss in Death Valley, Lake will travel to Sebastopol, the home of their cross-county rival, to take on the Bobcats who started the season 1-0 with an impressive win over Clarkdale. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m., so if you’re looking to get a good seat this Friday night under the lights on Hwy 21 North, you better get there early.
