By Kevin Williamson
South Jones is one of the best venues in south Mississippi to watch high school football. The Braves’ fans are loud and supportive of their team. The band and dance teams are outstanding, and the atmosphere is friendly. But North Pike no doubt left Ellisville Friday night feeling like the Braves were just downright inhospitable.
South Jones spotted the visiting Jaguars an early 6-0 lead, blocking the PAT, and then trailed briefly, 13-7 with 4:18 left to play in the opening quarter, but that was about the only enjoyment the Braves would allow North Pike to experience all night. The Braves would go on top, 14-13, when quarterback John Mitchell went straight up the gut of the Jaguars’ defense with 7:08 left before halftime. Mitchell ran behind the power of his offensive line, which cleared the middle of the North Pike defense for their quarterback. Earlier, at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter, Mitchell had tossed a 10-yard score to Kameron Flowers for South Jones’ first score of the evening.
North Pike used eight plays on their next possession to drive as deep as the South Jones’ 1, but on fourth down Terrell Keys blew up running back Malik Butler for a 3-yard loss. The Braves were then staring at 96 yards of grass between them and the Land of Milk & Honey. No problem for Mitchell & Company . . . the Braves covered the long field in nine plays, with Mitchell doing the honors again from 5 yards out. His fake to tailback Ricky Boleware, who sprinted out wide, fooled the North Pike defense, leaving the center of the defense vulnerable. The junior signal-caller went in standing up with 38 ticks left until intermission.
The first half excitement was not over. After the kick-off, the visitors had a first-and-10 at their own 32. On the hand-off exchange, the ball popped into the air and was grabbed by Jason Jerrell, who scooted all the way to the North Pike 11. Boleware wasted no time covering those final 11 yards, spinning off a tackler near the goal line to tack on another score for the Braves before the break. Mark Diers was true with all the PATs.
Diers added a 28-yard field goal with 3:06 left in the third quarter, and Boleware waltzed across the goal line twice more in the final quarter, the last one on a 66-yard burst with just over six minutes left that buried any hopes the Jaguars had of a comeback.
The Braves will host West Jones next week in a colossal Region 3-5A showdown. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
