McComb put up 552 yards of offense and created four turnovers en route to a dominant 51-0 road victory against cross-country rival North Pike on Friday at Southwest Mississippi Community College to secure a playoff berth.
The Tigers (5-4, 3-1) are in second place in Region 6-4A and travel to Richland at 7 p.m. Friday, where a win would secure a first-round home playoff game.
“The kids, they played well,” McComb head coach Jeffery Gibson said. “They really wanted this game, and I told them not to underestimate these guys, come out and play hard, and that’s what they did, and so I’m proud of them.”
The Jaguars (4-6, 1-3) and South Pike are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in Region 6-4A and face one another at North Pike Middle School at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner will advance to the playoffs, while the loser’s season will come to an end.
“That’s the thing. This one’s over,” North Pike head coach Chris Smith said. “We leave it alone, and we’ll work on Monday on some of our mistakes and get focused. Basically, it’s a one-game playoff game to get into the playoffs Friday night.
“Hopefully, we’ll take that challenge. The guys didn’t give up. They kept playing hard. We just had too many mistakes tonight to make that much racket against a good football team like McComb.”
McComb broke things open Friday night with 23 points in the second quarter to take a 30-0 halftime lead.
McComb senior quarterback Venchenza McCray completed a 30-yard pass to his nephew, senior wide receiver Gerkithis McCray, for a first down at the North Pike 17. Junior running back Vincent Jones capped off the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run with 10:51 remaining in the first half to extend the Tigers lead to 14-0.
The Jaguars drove the ball to the McComb 24 on the ensuing drive thanks to runs from freshman quarterback Alijah Martin, sophomore running back Larry Dillon and senior running back Bryceon Magee. A McComb holding penalty put North Pike at the Tigers 38.
Venchenza McCray threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to senior wingback Ali Henson on a screen two plays later to extend the Tigers lead to 22-0 with 7:38 left in the first half.
Two Magee runs put North Pike at its own 38-yard line on the ensuing drive, but the Jaguars lost a fumble on an exchange the next play. McComb senior lineman Nick Harris recovered the fumble, but he lost the ball on the same play. North Pike junior wide receiver Dylan Adams recovered the ball at the Jaguars’ 15 with 5:49 remaining in the first half. The drive ended on a punt.
Thanks to a McComb false start and a sack from North Pike senior linebacker Damarcus Montgomery and sophomore defensive end Jace McCoy, the Tigers had a fourth and long at the Jaguars 37. Venchenza McCray threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Gerkithis McCray just before halftime.
“We just didn’t make the plays,” Smith said. “We had a lot of chances the first half to make plays, and we dropped balls, didn’t hit the holes where the blocking was. We had chances to make plays. We just didn’t capitalize on a lot of it.”
Tigers freshman free safety Leededrick Brown recovered a Dillon fumble on the game’s opening kickoff by McComb sophomore Tejay Patel. That gave McComb the ball on the North Pike 20, and Venchenza McCray capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
North Pike senior free safety Austin Wanzo recovered a Venchenza McCray fumble at the Jaguars 36 with 5:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.
McComb senior defensive back La’Monte Kelly recovered a Dillon fumble two plays later giving the Tigers possession at the North Pike 36.
McComb senior free safety Lavarion Wells had about three tackles and broke up several passes.
“We played very good,” he said. “Everybody was on their stuff and held each other accountable. Everybody did their job. Everybody wasn’t slacking.”
Differences of opinion took center stage late.
McComb had a first and goal at the North Pike 9-yard-line ahead 45-0 when Venchenza McCray took a knee for three straight plays.
North Pike had the ball back at its own 25 with 1:39 remaining, ran two plays with Dillon and threw a pass.
Tigers’ senior defensive back Jamarcus Johnson intercepted the pass at the North Pike 47 with seven seconds remaining. Venchenza McCray threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Gary Butler as time expired.
“We were going to down it, but they kept throwing the ball,” Gibson said. “The last drive, they threw the football. They kept going for it, so my boys wanted to take a shot. They said, ‘They’re throwing.’ They work hard. We were trying to show some class. I don’t know why he would do that, but we took a shot and it was good for us.
“We had decided as a staff to go ahead and down it. We figured he would take suit. That’s what you should do, and he didn’t.”
Smith had no response to Gibson’s comments.
McCOMB 51, NORTH PIKE 0
Score by Quarters
1 2 3 4 Tot.
McComb 7 23 7 14 — 51
North Pike 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
(First Quarter)
McComb — Venchenza McCray 5 run (Patel kick), 10:13
(Second Quarter)
McComb — Jones 17 run (Patel kick), 10:51
McComb — Venchenza McCray 72 pass to Henson (Wall 2-point conversion), 7:38
McComb — Venchenza McCray 37 pass to Gerkithis McCray (2-point conversion), 0:02
(Third Quarter)
McComb — Henson 16 run (Patel kick), 6:45
(Fourth Quarter)
McComb — Venchenza McCray 97 pass to Gerkithis McCray (Henson 2-point conversion), 10:14
McComb — Venchenza McCray 47 pass to Butler (Patel kick fails), 0:00
Team Statistics
McComb North Pike
First Downs 13 14
Rushes-Yards 26-174 36-92
Passing Yards 378 105
Total Yards 552 197
Punts-Avg. 1-40 4-40.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-3
Penalties-Yds. 7-46 7-50
Individual Statistics
Rushing
McComb — Venchenza McCray 11-77, Jones 8-56, 1 TD, Henson 2-20, Thornton 4-10, Davis 1-1.
North Pike — Martin 18-44, Magee 9-32, Dillon 5-16.
Passing
McComb — Venchenza McCray 11-23 for 378 yards, 4 TDs.
North Pike — Martin 8-23 for 105 yards, 1 INT.
Receiving
McComb — Gerkithis McCray 4-175, 2 TDs, Butler 2-65, 2 TDs, Henson 3-122, 1 TD, Thornton 2-16.
North Pike — Adams 4-69, Lee 3-24, Miller 1-12.
Defense
McComb — Johnson 1 INT, Brown 1 fumble recovery, Harris 1 fumble recovery, Kelly 1 fumble recovery.
North Pike — Adams 1 fumble recovery, Wanzo 1 fumble recovery.
