Southside remains winless

Published 11:51 pm Friday, October 1, 2010

Southside High School's Zollie Glover (2) tries to escape a Jemison defender Friday night. -- Dennis Palmer photo

SELMA — After missing the last two games due to injury, junior quarterback Scott Clements went 6-of-11 for 197 yards and three touchdowns to lead the visiting Jemison Panthers to a 42-6 win over winless Southside.

“In the first three games he’d thrown for something like 615 (yards) and eight touchdowns,” said Jemison head coach Brad Abbott. “We missed him the last two ballgames, but he’s back now and we’re glad to see him have such a good ballgame throwing the ball.”

And it didn’t take Clements long to shake off the rust. The first play from scrimmage he took a three-step drop and tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Hubbard.

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After a three-and-out by Southside, Clements struck again with a 28-yard TD pass to Kortlin Zeigler. The scoring drive was aided by a 31-yard run by Javae Swindle, who rushed for 107 yards on 13 carries in the first half.

“We talked about it all week about coming down and getting some success early and not giving them a chance to get going,” Abbott said. “They’ve been in some games lately and we knew after that game with Keith last week they’d have a lot of confidence coming in.”

Southside (0-5, 0-3) head coach Lemuel Jones knew it would take a near flawless performance from his team to notch its first win, but the fast start by Jemison set the tone for the night.

“They have a good ball club, and they’re going to do whatever they have to do,” Jones said. “But we saw some good things from some of the young folks we put in there. They showed promise and we’re getting better, we just have to minimize our mistakes, don’t give up and play good and solid in all areas of the game.”

Southside’s lone touchdown came after a Jemison score when senior running back Wilbert McConico caught the kickoff on his own 20-yard line, dashed up the middle and then broke left across and down the field for an 80-yard touchdown.

Southside QB Rajadavia Phillips was 17-of-32 on the night for 140 yards with one interception. The Southside Panthers had 65 yards rushing on 28 attempts, with McConico gaining 48 yards on 10 carries. Jemison rushed for 141 yards on 27 attempts.

Southside travels to Plantersville on Friday for a region matchup with Dallas County High while Jemison (4-2, 3-0 4A, Region 4) is at home for West Blocton. Both games are slated to kickoff at 7 p.m.