WEBB — The Charleston High School Tigers made it 34 wins in a row over their cross-county rivals, the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws, with a 42-6 victory here Friday night in the annual "Battle of the Golden Egg."
In a rare feat, the Tigers' special teams scored on both a punt return and a kickoff return.
During the opening drive of the second half, a Choctaws assistant coach was ejected by officials after he ran onto the field and shouted in protest of a ruling. On the previous play, officials said the Charleston quarterback's arm was going forward when he was hit and lost the ball. It was scooped up by a West Tally defender inside the CHS 40, but the play was ruled an incomplete pass instead of a fumble.
The score was 22-0 at the end of the first quarter and 36-0 at halftime and at the close of the third period.
By mutual consent of both head coaches, the entire second half was played with a continuously running clock.
The Choctaws gave the home fans something to celebrate and avoided a shutout when Ja'Quarius McGee scored on a 23-yard toss sweep against Tigers reserves at 10:02 in the fourth quarter. Charleston made a wholesale defensive change before the two-point conversion attempt and subsequently stuffed the run play.
On the ensuing kickoff, Charleston's Quentin Carter answered with a 76-yard return for a touchdown. West Tally's Arlanders Stovall batted down the ball in the backfield on the conversion pass attempt.
Rod O'Bannon passed for two touchdowns — a 53-yarder to Dre Riley at 6:52 in the first quarter and a 39-yarder to Omar Wilson at 11:29 in the second. He hit Jaylon Brooks for a two-point conversion after the first.
Latese Edwards ran for a 7-yard score at 4:48 in the first period. Little more than a minute later, after a West Tally fumble, Carter exploded for a 33-yard touchdown run, then tacked on the two-pointer on a personal carry.
Riley snared his second touchdown of the game on a 30-yard punt return with 4:23 remaining in the second quarter. Edwards carried for the conversion.
Next Friday, Charleston will host North Pontotoc at Tiger Stadium. West Tallahatchie will welcome O'Bannon to Choctaw Stadium.
