Simpson Academy played one of the wildest games in school history last Friday night. The Cougars came up a little short to the Lamar School Raiders, 63-55. The 118 combined points was the highest combined score in school history.
The Cougars received the opening kickoff but were forced to punt. Lamar would drive 91 yards on their first possession capped off by a Joseph Hutchinson to Luke Graham 11 yard touchdown pass. The PAT by Davis Thames was good and with 4:51 left in the first quarter Lamar led 7-0. Lamar added a score with 10:43 left in the half to take the lead to 14-0 on a J.T. McClelland 14 yard run and a Davis Thames PAT.
The Cougars got on the scoreboard on a Dylan Hallman 8 yard run. The PAT was no good and with 5:45 left in the half the Cougars trailed 14-6. Lamar answered right back when D.J. McGrew hit Luke Graham from 40 yards out. The PAT by Davis Thames was good and with 4:20 left in the half Lamar led 21-6. Simpson scored with 1:23 left in the half on a Dylan Hallman 22 yard run. The 2 point conversion run by Caleb Garner was good, and the Cougars trailed 21-14. Lamar scored their final touchdown of the half on a Joseph Hutchinson to Parker Neal touchdown pass from 15 yards out. The PAT by Davis Thames was good and with 27 seconds left Lamar increased the lead to 28-14. The Cougars drove quickly down the field and with 6 seconds left in the half Ethan Flynt connected with Hunter Cline from 33 yards out. Hooks Harvey’s PAT was good making the halftime score Lamar 28 Simpson 21.
Lamar received the second half kickoff and drove 64 yards culminating in a D.J. McGrew 7 yard run, Davis Thames’ PAT was good and with 9:14 left in the third quarter Lamar led 35-21. Simpson marched back down the field, and Ethan Flynt scored from 1 yard out, Hooks Harvey’s PAT was good and with 7:17 left in the third quarter Simpson cut the lead to 35-28.
Lamar answered back when J.T. McClelland scored on a 9 yard run, Davis Thames’ PAT was good and Lamar led 42-28 with 5:26 left in the third quarter. The Cougars would fumble on their next possession, and Lamar would capitalize when Joseph Hutchinson hit Parker Neal from 27 yards out. The Davis Thames PAT was good and Lamar led 49-28 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars never quit and scored with 10:35 left in the game when Ethan Flynt scored from 1 yard out. Hooks Harvey added the PAT, cutting the Lamar lead to 49-35. Lamar added another score when Joseph Hutchinson scored on a 24 yard run. Davis Thames’ PAT was good giving Lamar a 56-35 lead with 9:27 left in the game. Simpson scored very quickly as Ethan Flynt threw a 45 yard touchdown to Hunter Cline. Hooks Harvey added the PAT trimming the Lamar lead to 56-42 with 9:08 left in the game.
The Cougars stopped the Raiders’ next drive and scored on an Ethan Flynt 40 yard pass to Michael Winstead. Hooks Harvey tacked on the PAT making the score 56-49 with 5:30 left in the game. It only took Lamar 9 seconds to build on their lead on a J.T. McClelland 63 yard run. Davis Thames’ PAT was good, making the score 63-49 with 5:21 left in the game. The Cougars scored on a Dylan Hallman 2 yard run, but the PAT was no good and with 2:31 left in the game Simpson trailed 63-55. Simpson would fail to get the onside kick and Lamar would run out the clock to secure the 63-55 win. The loss dropped Simpson’s record to 6-4 on the season and 2-1 in the district.
Leading the Cougars offensively in the rushing game were Cook Weathersby 15 carries for 163 yards, Dylan Hallman 20 carries for 115 yards and three touchdowns, Michael Winstead 6 carries for 85 yards and Ethan Flynt 9 carries for 19 yards and two touchdowns. In the passing game, Hunter Cline had 3 receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns, Michael Winstead 1 catch for 40 yards and a touchdown, Thomas Pepper one catch for 23 yards, and Bryce Caughman 1 catch for 12 yards. Ethan Flynt completed 6 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. The Cougars were led defensively by Caleb Garner and Corbin Hosey in on 11 tackles, and Zach Ainsworth and Cook Weathersby in on 8 tackles. Cook Weathersby had 2 tackles for loss. Daniel Pepper, Thomas Pepper, Corbin Hosey, and Hunter Cline had a tackle for loss for the Cougars. In team stats Simpson had 586 yards of total offense, 384 yards rushing, 202 yards passing, and picked up 29 first downs. Lamar had 578 yards of total offense, 257 yards rushing, 321 yards passing, and picked up 37 first downs.
The Cougars will travel to Copiah Academy in Gallman in a big district game this Friday with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Simpson has played Copiah more than any other opponent in school history. This is the 33rd time that the Colonels and Cougars have faced each other with Simpson leading the series 22-9-1. Simpson won the last matchup in 2008. by a score of 42-0.
