By Derek Thompson

The Selma Times-Journal

A 20-yard touchdown run from Kerry Ford and a two-point conversion from Brandon Hatcher gave Selma High School the cushion it needed to take down Booker T. Washington Friday in its spring game.

An outstanding performance by the Saints’ defense is what gave the team a leg up in the 8-0 victory, according to Selma High head coach Leroy Miles.

“I knew we were going to be good defensively,” Miles said. “I just thought we were going to be young on the back end not having as much experience as we have had in the past, but they played well. I was impressed.”

While the defense had the biggest impact on the game, Miles was also pleased with the performance of his inexperienced offensive line, which is what the Saints went into spring looking to develop.

“I was impressed with our offensive line,” Miles said. “They were young and they held together pretty strong. They had to make adjustments on the fly and being inexperienced, that’s tough to do. They had perfect snaps. We still have a long ways to go, but I think we are committed to doing it.”

Miles said continued success depends on the players doing what they need to do this summer.

“Some of the keys (this summer) are going to be guys making their workouts,” he said. “We have mandatory workouts that they have to make. We got real good leadership on our team now and our staff has to work together to make them better athletically.”

 

Hornets fall to Fairfield in cloes game

Before Dallas County’s spring game on Friday, Marty Smith hadn’t stepped on the sidelines of John Carroll’s football field since his last year there as its assistant football coach in 2008.

Friday, he infringed on the field as Dallas County’s head football coach, a title he accepted last year.

Smith’s Hornets fell 14-7 to the Fairfield Tigers in three quarters. He said there were many good and bad conclusions he took away from the game on both sides of the ball.

“We wanted to put our kids in tough situations so we knew exactly what we had to work on in order to accomplish things over the summer,” Smith said.

Smith said one of the positives he took from the game was the Hornets’ defense, led by seniors Dominique Walker and Anthony Oliver.

“I was very pleased with our tackling,” Smith said. “I was very pleased with how we played in space and that we did not have any alignment issues. We did have a busted coverage, but we didn’t line up incorrectly from a defensive standpoint. We had four three-and-outs.”

Smith said he was also pleased with the running game and the yards after contact from Alex Kendrick and Derrion Atchison. Kendrick scored the lone touchdown for Dallas County Friday.

Smith said the frustrating part of the game was the big mistakes they made.

Fairfield returned a 45-yard kick for a touchdown, the Hornets gave up a 55-yard touchdown pass in long coverage and put the ball on the ground too much, according to Smith.

“We didn’t trust the calls,” Smith said. “We didn’t communicate well enough. That’s also coaching.”

From an offensive standpoint, Smith said the Hornets are focused on improving their passing game and building on the interior of the defensive line heading into summer.

“We have to continue to build some depth there,” Smith said. “I am very pleased with those guys and leadership.”

 

Bears rally late for win over Highland Home

The Keith Bears were down two scores late in their jamboree game Friday night at Highland Home. Given the situation and that the game didn’t count, many teams would’ve called it a day.

Not the Bears.

Jeremiah Campbell and Domonique Jones scored touchdowns in the final six minutes to help Keith rally for a 22-21 victory. Jones was over 100 yards on the night and Bears’ quarterback Brian Crum was efficient in the comeback. The offense’s performance, combined with a defense that got stops when it needed to most, was just enough.

“That was really impressive,” said Keith head coach Harry Crum. “They could’ve laid down and said this is spring ball and we are not trying to win. But they came back. It felt like a Friday night in September or October.”

Keith scored first only to watch Highland Home score the game’s next 20 points. However, the Bears refused to go away.

“They wanted to finish what they started and I was really impressed with them,” Crum said.