GREENVILLE — The Charleston High School Tigers opened Region 3-2A play Friday night with a resounding 32-0 win over the O’Bannon Greenwaves.
CHS improved to 4-3 while O’Bannon fell to 1-5.
“I thought our guys played well,” said Charleston head coach Scott Martin. “They came out and took care of business. It’s always good to get that first region win under your belt.”
The Tigers overwhelmed the outmatched Greenwaves with a ground attack that steamrolled them for 290 yards. Eight CHS players ran the football, and seven of them finished the night with double-digit yardage.
Meanwhile, Charleston’s smothering defense held the home team in check throughout, allowing just 36 yards of offense by O’Bannon.
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The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first quarter when Kristian Gammage carried for a 5-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run failed, but CHS led 6-0 at 5:45 in the opening stanza.
Soon after, the Tigers mounted another drive that resulted in a 25-yard TD run by Gammage. A conversion pass attempt fell incomplete, but Charleston pushed their advantage to 12-0 with 1 second remaining in the act.
Midway through the second quarter, on a fourth-and-4 play from their own 40, AJ Wren ran for a 60-yard score on his lone carry of the night. Quarterback Chris Bradford passed to Gammage for the two-point conversion, giving the Tigers a 20-0 lead with 5:37 in the half.
A pair of CHS defenders drag down an O'Bannon back. (Photo by Kelly Paris)
Eleven seconds later, on the first offensive play of O’Bannon’s ensuing drive, a Greenwaves runner fumbled the football and Charleston’s Brandon Smith scooped it up and dashed 32 yards for a touchdown. The conversion pass failed, but the Tigers led 26-0 with 5:26 before intermission.
The final score of the night came at 3:27 in the third quarter when Cameron Chambers carried for a 6-yard TD. The conversion pass was no good.
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Statistically, Bradford completed 4 of 9 passes for 36 yards and one interception. Wren had two catches for 21 yards, Keyshun Cashaw one for 9 and Gammage one for 6.
Gammage led the ground assault, running six times for 83 yards. Wren had the one carry for 60 yards, Cashaw six for 52 yards, Corterrius Johnson four for 32, Bradford six for 31, Chambers four for 16 and Quinterrius Suggs one for 11. Anthony Harris had one carry for 5 yards.
Defensive stats were not available before press time.
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This week, Charleston returns to the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium for what, at least on paper, shapes up as a pivotal early match in the race for region supremacy.
The 6-0 North Side High School Gators of Shelby, who, like Charleston, are 1-0 in Region 3-2A, enter the game with an impressive statistic on their resume.
Through six games this season, North Side has outscored their opponents 258-6. Coahoma Aggie scored the 6.
Last week, the Gators gobbled up the Leland Cubs 56-0. Leland plummeted to 1-6.
Mind you, North Side’s six wins this year have come against teams that are a combined 12-29 through last week, and only two have winning records — both at 4-3.
Despite that, Martin said the Gators look impressive.
“I don’t care who you play, anytime you give up just 6 points in six ballgames, that’s saying a lot,” he noted.
Martin said one reason North Side’s defense has been so effective is the manner in which they swarm the ball.
“Everybody flies to the football,” he noted. “Sometimes, it looks like they have 15 players on the field instead of 11.”
Offensively, Martin said North Side — formed by the consolidation of Shelby Broad Street and Mound Bayou John F. Kennedy high schools — spreads the ball around, “passing and running about evenly.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
IN THE TOP PHOTO: With the goal line pylon in sight, Charleston’s AJ Wren tries to shake an O’Bannon defender on a play Friday night. Wren ran once for a 60-yard touchdown and caught two passes for 21 yards in the Tigers’ 32-0 defeat of the Greenwaves. (Photo by Kelly Paris)
