MOOREVILLE, Miss. Mantachie had kept the game within a touchdown and worked its way into Mooreville territory when Kolby Hart intercepted a fourth-down pass early in the second quarter. A few plays later, Kason Mathis was running away from the Mustangs down the sideline.
That change of possession, followed by Mathis’s second touchdown run, opened the stretch that decided Mooreville’s 42-0 homecoming win Friday night at Steve Bass Field. The Troopers scored three times in the second quarter to take a 28-0 halftime lead, then added two more touchdowns in the third.
Mathis scored twice on the ground. Cameron Cady threw touchdown passes to Jett Hussey and Blaine Richey, while Levi Gray and Spike Fain each added a rushing touchdown. Hart’s interception and two by Sam Goff helped Mooreville turn defensive stops into scoring opportunities.
The opening touchdown belonged to Mathis. After Cady kept a drive moving with a run, Mathis took a handoff, broke through a tackle and reached the end zone. The extra point put Mooreville ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Mantachie found room to run on its first possession. Jon Luke Hood took direct snaps, and MacIah Morgan broke outside for a gain that helped the Mustangs move out from deep in their own territory. A bad snap put them behind the down and distance, though, and the possession ended with a punt.
The Mustangs then got the stop they needed. On fourth-and-short, Brantley Scott stopped Mooreville’s ball carrier to give Mantachie possession. Canon Jones connected with Mason Jenkins and Carson McMillen as the Mustangs moved the ball again, and the quarter ended with Mooreville still leading just 7-0.
Mantachie kept that possession going into the second quarter. Jones found Jenkins on fourth down to extend it, but Mooreville’s defense forced another fourth-down pass. Hart intercepted this one, leaving the Troopers backed up near their own goal line but with the ball.
Backed up near his own end zone, Mathis broke free, turned up the near sideline and outran the pursuit for his second touchdown. With 7:56 left in the half, Mooreville led 14-0.
Mantachie recovered Mooreville’s ensuing onside kick, but could not turn that opportunity into points. After another Mustang punt, Cady found Hussey during the next drive and then went back to him for the touchdown pass that made it 21-0 with 3:26 remaining in the half.
Goff intercepted Jones on Mantachie’s next possession, giving Mooreville the ball in Mustang territory, and Gray finished the ensuing possession with a touchdown run. The Troopers had stretched a one-score game to 28-0 before halftime.
The same pattern continued after the break. Goff intercepted another pass on Mantachie’s opening possession of the third quarter. Mooreville then struck through the air, with Cady finding Richey for the touchdown that pushed the lead to 35-0.
Jenkins caught a pass on Mantachie’s next possession, but Fain forced a fumble and Mooreville took over again. Fain later finished the scoring himself, taking a handoff into the end zone. The extra point made it 42-0 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Mantachie continued moving the ball in the fourth. A completion to Jenkins and a roughing-the-passer penalty helped the Mustangs advance, but the drive ended after Lawson Nichols stopped Hood on a pass reception and Mooreville took possession at its own 19.
Neither team scored in the final quarter. Mantachie had put together possessions and earned an early fourth-down stop, but the interceptions, the fumble and Mooreville’s answers after them kept those stretches from changing the game. The Troopers finished with six touchdowns and a shutout.
