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By Winston Mullins
The Simpson Cougars opened the season with Columbia Academy on Friday night in Columbia. Simpson received the opening kickoff to open the game. Simpson drove to the Columbia 10 yard line before the Columbia defense forced a fumble. Columbia took two plays to find the end zone on a Preston Sauls 90 yard run, the two point conversion attempt was no good and with 8:14 to go in the first quarter Columbia led 6-0. Simpson bounced right back and drove 48 yards in six plays capped off by a Aubren Kennedy 7 yard run, the PAT was no good and with 5:29 to go in the first quarter the game was tied at 6-6. The Simpson defense forced a three and out and took advantage of a bad punt snap to set up the Simpson offense on the Columbia 26 yard line. The Simpson offense scored in four plays with Aubren Kennedy taking it in from 2 yards out, the two point conversion attempt was no good and with 1:57 to go in the first quarter Simpson led 12-6. The Simpson defense forced a fumble on the next series recovered by Tyler Varnes. The Simpson offense drove 15 yards in two plays and scored on an Andrew Smith run, Jaden Wedgeworth tacked on the PAT and with 21 seconds left in the first quarter Simpson led 19-6. The Simpson defense forced another turnover when Tyler Stanford intercepted a Columbia pass. Simpson scored in eight plays when Brentley Berry connected with Caden Coulson from 46 yards out, Jaden Wedgeworth added the PAT and with 8:10 to go in the half Simpson led 26-6. The Simpson defense forced a Columbia punt on the next drive. The Simpson offense took seven plays to drive 73 yards capped off by an Aubren Kennedy 4 yard run, Jaden Wedgeworth’s PAT was good and with 2:13 to go in the half SImpson led 33-6. The Simpson defense forced a turnover on downs. The Simpson offense took over and ran out the clock, at halftime Simpson led 33-6. The Simpson defense forced a Columbia punt on a three and out. On Simpson’s first play of the second half Brentley Berry connected with Aubren Kennedy from 46 yards out, the PAT was no good and with 9:24 to go in the half Simpson led 39-6. The rest of the game was a back and forth affair with Columbia scoring on a Kris Ginn 49 yard run, the two point conversion attempt was no good and with 7:45 to go in the game Simpson led 39-12 which was the final score. The win improved Simpson’s record to 1-0 on the season. Team stats Simpson had 376 yards of total offense, 166 rushing yards, 210 passing and picked up 23 first downs. Columbia had 220 yards of total offense, 191 rushing yards, 29 passing yards, and picked up 6 first downs. Simpson was led in the rushing game by Andrew Smith with 14 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown and Aubren Kennedy 11 carries for 75 yards and 3 touchdowns. In the passing game Brentley Berry had 10 completions for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Cougars were led in receiving by Caden Coulson 3 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, Aubren Kennedy 2 catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, and Tyler Stanford 1 catch for 41 yards. The Cougars were led on defense by Andrew Smith with 5 total tackles, Matt Adcock, Tyler Stanford, and Kyle Walker each had 3 total tackles. Getting tackles for loss were Andrew Smith, Matt Adcock, Tyler Stanford, Jake Milner, Jayden Priest, and Aubren Kennedy with 1 each. Getting turnovers for Simpson were Tyler Varnes a fumble recovery and Tyler Stanford an interception.
Simpson will host Jackson Academy in Junior High on Thursday, August 27, with the 7th and 8th Grade game at 5:30p.m. and the 9th Grade to follow. The Cougars will host Jackson Prep on Friday, August 28th with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.
MageeNews.com is an online news website covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
