The Charleston Tigers put up four touchdowns in the first quarter Friday en route to a 40-6 win over Region 3-2A foe Coahoma County on senior night at Tiger Stadium.
Charleston improved to 5-4 while Coahoma fell to 1-7.
The swarming black and gold defense scored two touchdowns, set up another with a fumble recovery, recorded three interceptions and held the visitors to 32 net yards on 32 offensive plays.
“The defense played lights out all night,” said CHS head coach Scott Martin. “It’s always good when your defense scores two touchdowns. We played well.”
He said the entire squad showed good intensity in their regular-season home finale.
“We played hard offensively and defensively,” he noted.
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The Red Panthers found themselves in an early hole following a loss on the opening kickoff return.
Pinned back at their 2-yard line, Coahoma faced third-and-11 when a pass was intercepted by Tyler Tellis and returned 5 yards for a touchdown. Chris Bradford passed to Kristian Gammage for the two-point conversion, giving Charleston an 8-0 lead with 10:38 in the first quarter.
After a loss of 3 yards on the first play of their ensuing drive, Coahoma fumbled the ball on second down and Nathan Randolph recovered at the Red Panthers’ 20.
Four snaps later, Gammage ran for a 9-yard TD. He attempted the PAT kick but the ball sailed to the left. CHS led 14-0 with 7:37 in the first.
On the second play of Coahoma’s next series, Gammage intercepted a pass and returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown. Freshman Terrence Marco tried the conversion kick but it was low. The Tigers led 20-0 at 6:23.
The final touchdown of Charleston’s first-quarter blitzkrieg came on a 34-yard run by Cameron Chambers. Marco hit the PAT, putting the Tigers up 27-0 at 1:13 and setting in motion a continuous running clock for the remainder of the game.
Kenthadeas Davis punctuated another CHS drive with a 16-yard TD scamper at 3:16 in the second quarter. Marco’s kick was blocked.
The Tigers led 33-0 at the intermission.
A.J. Wren had a 70-yard run nullified by penalty in the third quarter, but the possession resulted in an eight-play drive that spilled over into the fourth period, capped by a 3-yard JaMicheal Batteast touchdown run. Marco’s PAT kick was good, giving the Tigers a 40-0 lead with 9:49 remaining in the contest.
Freshman Terrance Hill intercepted a Coahoma pass later in the fourth quarter.
Working against Charleston reserves, the Red Panthers mounted a good late drive and crashed the scoreboard on a 3-yard TD pass from Clint Davis to Lamont Lee with 1 second remaining. The conversion pass failed.
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Gammage completed his only pass of the game, a 24-yarder to Randolph.
Gammage also led CHS rushing with five carries for 57 yards. Batteast had three totes for 37, Chambers one for 34, Markevious Prince two for 29, Anthony Harris two for 20, Keyshun Cashaw three for 16, Davis one for 16 and Clay Taylor one for 10.
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This week’s Charleston at Leland High School game will be played Thursday night at 7 instead of the originally scheduled Friday.
The Cubs, 2-7, are fresh off a 20-14 win over O’Bannon.
“They’re very athletic and real big,” Martin said of Leland. “They get at it on defense. On offense, they have multiple sets and some speedy guys. We’ve got to come ready to play.”
Next week’s regular-season finale, on the road at M.S. Palmer in Marks, will also be played on Thursday night.
Kickoff for the Oct. 31 Halloween matchup will be at 7.
IN THE PHOTO: Charleston running back JaMicheal Batteast (left) crosses the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown Friday night. He rushed three times for 37 yards. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
