McComb was plagued with slow starts and turnovers throughout the first five games of the season but corrected those issues and jumped out to a 29-point lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter to open the Region 6-4A season at South Pike Friday night.
The Tigers cruised to a 45-20 victory against their local rivals, although South Pike made things closer down the stretch. McComb led 45-6 in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles scored two late touchdowns to narrow the gap.
“The biggest thing that we have to do now is we’ve got to work on finishing,” McComb head coach Jeffery Gibson said. “The guys played hard tonight. It’s good getting a ‘W.’ We’re 1-0 in the district. That was the goal.”
After the Tigers (3-3, 1-0) won the opening coin toss and chose to kickoff, the Eagles (3-3, 0-1) lost 18 yards when center Gerald Husband’s snap went behind quarterback William Carter. Carter was the quarterback for the second straight week in place of Dontavious Turner, who is out with a broken collarbone.
South Pike was forced to punt from its own 19-yard-line one play after the bad exchange.
McComb quarterback Venchenza McCray responded with 23 and 7-yard runs before throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Gary Butler to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
South Pike had three bad exchanges between the quarterback and center.
“That’s part of the game,” Eagles head coach Brinson Wall said. “I think maybe nerves took part of it a little bit. We’ll see if we can correct that this week.”
South Pike was forced to punt after a three and out on its next possession. Carter had a 2-yard run, Eagles running back D.J. Slocum gained no yards after a hard tackle by Tigers nose guard Lucky Davis and an incomplete pass forced the punt.
Davis said the win was a team effort and credited assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Dedrick Johnson for making sure the Tigers were prepared.
“Coach Johnson has been on us day in and day out since our off week, so I had to come in and show the little ones how to do it, and I came in and hit on all full cylinders,” Davis said. “At practice, if we drop a ball, we run. On defense, if we miss a tackle, we run, so it’s just hard work. Hard work makes you work harder.”
Venchenza McCray completed a 43-yard pass to his nephew, wide receiver Gerkithis McCray, to set up a 25-yard Ali Henson touchdown run on the ensuing drive to extend the Tigers’ lead to 14-0.
McComb defensive lineman Devin Wall recovered a fumble the first play on South Pike’s next possession on a bad exchange between the quarterback and center.
The Tigers started at the Eagles 41-yard line and moved the ball to first and goal at the 6 on a 35-yard completion from Venchenza McCray to Gerkithis McCray. However, three penalties — including one where a Venchenza McCray 6-yard touchdown run was called back — gave McComb a third and goal at the South Pike 31.
Venchenza McCray rolled to his right and threw a jump ball to Butler for a 31-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 22-0 lead with 2:22 remaining in the opening quarter.
“When I scrambled out, I saw him, and I just threw it up and prayed that he got the ball,” Venchenza McCray said. “He came down with it. I can’t take credit for it. We all just played a good game and had fun. They knew we were going deep, but we all just played ball and knew what we had to do.”
Venchenza McCray threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Henson to extend McComb’s lead to 41-0 with 10:45 remaining in the first half.
“They controlled the line of scrimmage,” Coach Wall said. “Especially on the defensive line, they gave us trouble all night. The quarterback made some great throws. Receivers made great catches, and we got behind real quick.”
McComb created four turnovers on the night, as defensive lineman La’darius Martin had a fumble recovery, while free safety Lavarion Wells and defensive back La’Monte Kelly had one interception each. However, the Tigers were penalized 14 times for 105 yards.
“When we run the ball outside, our tackles, we’ve got to work on those guys, keeping their hands inside, but it was not effort mistakes,” Gibson said. “It was stuff that can be fixed.”
Carter fell on the ball in the end zone with 5:50 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend McComb’s lead to 45-6.
Carter threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to freshman Alex Adams for South Pike’s lone score in the first half. Adams was forced into action when Turner — also a freshman — went out with his injury.
Eagles safety Danny Gibson returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown when Tigers third-string quarterback freshman Rodtravious Monley lost a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Carter also threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Downs with 1:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We got off to a 3-0 start, and I think expectations got a little high for us,” Coach Wall said. “I think we just need to refocus, and we need to try to be a good football team Monday and not wait till Friday to be a good football team.”
McComb hosts Lawrence County (2-5, 1-0), while South Pike hosts Richland at 7 p.m. Friday in district matchups.
“I just thank the community for coming out and supporting us,” Coach Gibson said. “We’re about to try to make this run in the district.”
McCOMB 45, SOUTH PIKE 20
Score by Quarters
1 2 3 4 Tot.
McComb 22 14 0 9 — 45
South Pike 0 6 0 14 — 20
Scoring Summary
(First Quarter)
McComb — Venchenza McCray 12 pass to Butler (Patel kick), 9:04
McComb — Henson 25 run (Patel kick), 5:54
McComb — Venchenza McCray 31 pass to Butler (Zachary Wall 2-point conversion), 2:22
(Second Quarter)
McComb — Venchenza McCray 41 pass to Henson (Patel kick), 10:45
South Pike — Carter 12 pass to Adams (2-point conversion fails), 7:00
McComb — Venchenza McCray 34 pass to Gerkithis McCray (Patel kick), 0:32
(Fourth Quarter)
McComb — Venchenza McCray 20 pass to Simmons (Patel kick), 10:40
McComb — Carter falls on ball in end zone for safety, 5:50
South Pike — Danny Gibson 70 fumble return (2-point conversion fails), 3:35
South Pike —Carter 42 pass to Thomas Downs (Carter to Williams for 2-point conversion), 1:04
Team Statistics
McComb South Pike
First Downs 21 6
Rushes-Yards 45-259 13-0
Passing Yards 252 138
Total Yards 511 138 Punts-Avg. 1-30 4-33.75
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-2
Penalties-Yds. 14-105 1-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing
McComb — Venchenza McCray 12-94, Henson 7-50, 1 TD, Thornton 4-41, Crockett 8-39, Johnson 9-32.
South Pike —Thomas Downs 2-8.
Passing
McComb — Venchenza McCray 14-21 for 252 yards, 5 TDs.
South Pike — Carter 7-22 for 138 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs.
Receiving
McComb — Gerkithis McCray 5-135, 1 TD, Butler 4-58, 2 TDs, Henson 3-42, 1 TD. Simmons 1-20, 1 TD.
South Pike — Adams 3-57, 1 TD, Magee 2-32, Thomas Downs 1-42, Slocum 1-4, Williams 1-3.
Defense
McComb — Wells 1 INT, Kelly 1 INT, Devin Wall 1 fumble recovery, Martin 1 fumble recovery.
South Pike — Danny Gibson 70-yard fumble return TD, Armstrong 15 tackles, Smith 13 tackles, Shields 12 tackles, Quadarrius Downs 11 tackles, 1 sack, Hall 8 tackles, 1 sacks.
