Keith vs. A.L. Johnson ends early, Bears win 24-0

Published 11:55 pm Friday, October 26, 2018

Keith salvaged its homecoming with a 24-0 victory over A.L. Johnson on Friday night at JV Caldwell Memorial Stadium.

The game was shortened to three quarters because of a fight that took place in the middle of the second quarter. No ejections were made. A.L. Johnson (1-8, 1-6 Region 3-1A) was already down to less than 25 players and they ran out the clock.

Keith (4-5, 2-5) moved out of the Region 3-1A cellar, but not the way Bears coach Anthony Lumpkin wanted.

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“It feels good to get the win,” Lumpkin said. “It’s sad we couldn’t play a whole game, but we still got the win. I’m satisfied.”

A.L. Johnson coach Bruce Craig apologized to Lumpkin after the game for the incident.

“We suffered a lot of injuries last week,” Craig said. “We were down to skin and bones. We lost more players tonight.”

The Bears jumped out to an 8-0 first quarter lead on Jared Edwards’ 53-yard touchdown pass to Kendarius Perry.

Edwards connected with Jaylin Jones for the two-point conversion.

Keith padded its lead to 16-0 on Perry’s 26-yard touchdown run with 8:31 left before halftime.

Two plays later, a fight broke out after the Eagles received the kickoff.

Both Lumpkin and Craig had their opinions on what happened and caused a 15-minute break in the contest.

“It was homecoming and our guys were a little hyped,” Lumpkin said. “There was some pushing and shoving. I told the players to just play ball and not respond to anything they were doing. I told them, they were a bunch of talkers. Unfortunately, our guys couldn’t walk away.”

“Their player, number three (Quintavius Woods) hit our player (LaQuarius Anderson) across the head,” Craig said. “Our player hit him back, but the referees always catch the second guy for retaliation.”

The Bears scored the game’s final touchdown on Ledell Jackson’s 23-yard touchdown run and Courtavious Lewis ran in the two-point conversion.

Keith travels to R.C. Hatch in its season finale next Friday. The Bears need a win to finish the season at .500.

Friday Roundup

American Christian 49, Dallas County 0

Dallas County’s winless streak continued Friday night in a 49-0 loss to American Christian.

The Hornets next game is on Friday, Nov. 2 against the winless Ellwood Christian Academy.

“We’re trying to end the season on a good note,” Dallas County head coach Zeke Pigg said. “Ellwood is in the same boat we are, so I think it’s going to be a good football game and a good matchup.”

St. James 44, Southside 6

Malik Johnson scored the Panthers’ only touchdown on an 85-yard kickoff return. Southside (0-10, 0-7) completed its first winless season since 2000 and Panthers coach Daniel Flowers said he was disappointed.

“It was a tough night to start out,” Flowers said. “We didn’t get much practice time this week and not many players showed up. We went to St. James with 17 players. It was a very disappointing season with high expectations.”

Linden 68, Ellwood 0

Ellwood Christian’s losing streak extended to 35 games after the Thursday night loss to No. 2 Linden. ECA’s final game is nextFriday, Nov. 2 at Dallas County High School.

Morgan Academy def. Lyman Ward

Lyman Ward forfeited the Morgan Academy game. Morgan Academy will host Macon East in a first round playoff game on Friday, Nov. 2.

Selma WBB 67, Faulkner 70

In a game with just two lead changes, the Bulldogs fell just three points shy of the Faulkner Eagles on Friday afternoon.

Selma University’s Rebecca Payne and Trinity Totten led the team with 16 points, and Antiochkyo Howard scored 14.

Selma MBB 83, Life University 128

Life had six players score in double digits compared to the four Bulldogs who got into double figures. Selma’s Yurmon Barnes scored 23 points and Keyshawn Baker scored 21.