Itawamba Community College’s basketball programs return to action after its holiday break to host Shelton State (Ala.) at the Davis Event Center Monday night. The Lady Indians (3-4) begin the night by hosting the nationally-ranked Lady Bucs at 5:30 p.m. with the Indians (4-2) to follow at 7:30 p.m.
ICC is partnering with Toys for Tots to ensure that needy children in its five-county service district will have Christmas presents this year.
Those who bring a new toy to ICC’s basketball games tomorrow (Monday) night and December 10 and 17 will receive free admission.
“We need toys especially for children ages 2-10 years, but any age toys will be accepted,” said Charles Adkins, Toys for Tots area coordinator. The organization distributed more than 1,000 toys last year.
Toys for Tots is a U.S. Marine Corps-sanctioned organization, and since there is no branch in this area, Adkins and other Marine veterans are coordinating the effort.
Calhoun City picked up an 80-50 win in the first varsity game of the 2009 version of the Houston Thanksgiving Classic while Shannon knocked off host Houston 64-62 and Okolona pulled away from Aberdeen 72-63 in the final game of the day.
FULTON – Being overlooked all year by outsiders worked well for the Lafayette County football team on Friday night.
“Nobody gave us much of a chance tonight coming in,” said Commodores head coach Anthony Hart. “We used that to our advantage.”
And that they did as the Commodores shocked Itawamba AHS, the Daily Journal’s top-ranked large school, 31-6 at Indian Stadium in a MHSAA Class 4A state semifinal game.
But even Hart himself probably didn’t have the foresight to see his team derailing Division 1-4A powers Shannon and Itawamba AHS en route to a state championship game appearance.
VARDAMAN — Durant head coach Ashley Kuhn thinks he has one of the best football players in the state of Mississippi in junior running back Cortez Frizell.
After Frizell’s performance against the Vardaman Rams, he might be right.
The junior back rushed for 228 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in the Tigers’ (13-1, 7-0 Region 2-1A) 30-7 victory over the Rams (9-4, 5-2 Region 1-1A) in the Class 1A North State Championship game on Friday.
“I think he is one of the top running backs in the state,” said Kuhn. “He doesn’t get a lot of credit because he is in 1A, but he is the real deal.”
Frizell, who rushed for 275 yards last week against Okolona, scored on a 51-yard run less than three minutes into the first quarter to put the Tigers up 8-0 after Joffie Hogsett found David Hogsett for the two-point conversion. Frizell put his team up 14-0 after a second Vardaman turnover lead to his 24-yard scoring jaunt at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter.
“We got down 14-0 early, but the kids played hard to get back in it. We just made too many mistakes and against a good football team you can’t make any mistakes like that, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said second-year head coach Justin Hollis.
Vardaman had five turnovers with three resulting in touchdowns for the Tigers.
Chris Armstrong made it a 14-7 game on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone at the 7:19 mark of the third quarter before Joffie Hogsett touchdown run on a fourth and goal with 4:38 remaining in the fourth proved to be the difference in the game.
Durant tacked on a 38-yard fumble return by Travis Johnson to advance to the Class 1A State title game for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2000 and 2001.
“The kids played their hardest against a talented football team. They are going to Jackson for a reason,” said Hollis.
Armstrong finished with 22 yards rushing and one touchdown on 16 carries while freshman quarterback Cody Jenkins completed 7-of-13 passing for 64 yards. Bobo Whaley added 40 yards on three carries while Lavoris Hackett added 26 yards on four carries.
The Tigers will take on Mt. Olive (9-5, 6-1 Region 4-1A) Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson after the Pirates defeated the Sebastopol Bobcats (11-3, 7-0 Region 4-1A) 15-7 in the South State Championship game.
Coach Hollis and Coach Kuhn spoke with GoreSports.net after the game.
Just for the record: Durant was flagged six times for 45 yards while Vardaman was penalized four times for 40 yards.
BOONEVILLE – It happened faster than Booneville can remember and the Blue Devils probably don’t want to.
Aberdeen, ranked No. 2 in the Daily Journal’s Class 3A rankings, punched its ticket to Jackson before the final horn sounded on Friday with a 47-12 win at previously-perfect and No. 1 Booneville (13-1) in the MHSAA Class 3A North finals.
Class 6A North State: South Panola wins battle of titans
BATESVILLE — Forget those state rankings, national polls and Madison Central’s unblemished record.
As South Panola emphatically demonstrated Friday night, the Tigers remain the big boss of Mississippi prep football.
Domonique Carothers and Dandy Dozen pick Nick Parker combined for five touchdowns and SP’s running game rumbled for 410 yards in a convincing 36-21 victory over top-ranked Madison Central before an estimated 10,000-plus in the Class 6A semifinals at Dunlap Stadium.
OAK GROVE — The decorative writing on the windows of the Ocean Springs bus read “Oak who?”
The Greyhounds know now.
Oak Grove advanced to the second state championship game in school history with a 27-6 victory over Ocean Springs in the 6A state playoffs on Friday night.
BAY ST. LOUIS — For just a moment silence swept over this stadium Friday night.
Dylan Favre, St. Stanislaus’ do-it-all quarterback, lay on the ground writhing in pain — his hands flailing, his head shaking and a partisan crowd stunned.
Oh, don’t worry. This is a Favre.
The nephew of that guy named Brett popped off the turf, gave a thumbs up and returned a short time later to toss his last of four touchdowns, leading St. Stanislaus to a 35-16 win over Greene County and a berth in the school’s first state championship game.
Oxford girls picked up a 66-50 win over the Calhoun City Lady Wildcats while the Calhoun City boys held off a late-game rally from the Chargers to take home a 71-63 win on Tuesday night.
Will Kollmeyer/Director of Marketing and Sports Information
David Schumaker, who holds nearly every offensive soccer record at Itawamba Community College, has been named to the NCCAA All-American squad for his play this fall at Atlanta Christian College. Back in mid-October, the striker from Jacksonville, Ala., was named National Player of the Week after scoring a total of four goals and adding six assists against St. Louis Christian and Lincoln Christian College.
“I knew when David moved on, he would continue to do the same things he did here at ICC, which was to score goals and hand out assists,” said Itawamba head coach Mike Sullivan. “David is a special player because he works so hard and he just finds a way every game to make a difference for his team.”
Schumaker left ICC, where he was an all-state and all-Region 23 performer both years, holding the single season record for goals (24), assists (19), and points (67); he also holds the career marks for assists (24) and points (86) and is second in goals scored. Schumaker will graduate from ACC doing exactly the same there as he did at ICC; he owns the single season school records for goals (26), assists (13), and points (65). He will also own the career marks as well, goals (43), assists (19), and points (105).
“I am very proud of David to have been named All-American as that is certainly a very prestigious honor,“ added Sullivan. “And who knows, maybe one day we’ll see him playing on TV in the pro’s.”
Posted by Adam Gore 
