Week 1 Football Roundup: Milan knocks off South Gibson on Johnson TD pass

Milan’s Carmelo Jones (9) scores a touchdown against South Gibson during a Week 1 high school football game at Johnnie Hale Stadium on Aug. 17, 2023.

After falling behind 14-0, the Milan football team seemed to figure it all out in the final three quarters as it outscored South Gibson 28-7.

With 2:36 to play, Milan sophomore Will Johnson hit senior Carmelo Jones for a 21-yard touchdown for the 28-21 win.

Milan’s defense held South Gibson on 4th-and-11 to secure the win.

In Week 2, Milan (1-0) travels to Chester County, while South Gibson (0-1) hosts Hamilton.

South Gibson quarterback Heath Howe scored on runs of 15 yards and 26 yards to give the Hornets the 14-0 lead with 11:09 left until halftime.

But a 19-yard run by Milan’s Jones on the next possession cut the South Gibson lead in half (14-7).

And that was looking like the halftime score as South Gibson went back to punt with under a minute to play. But a bad snap that went to the back of the end zone was recovered by Milan’s Jaydon Peete with 18 seconds remaining to tie the game 14-14.

Milan came out in the second half and put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive to take a 21-14 lead on a three-yard Peete run with 5:20 left in the third quarter. South Gibson responded with a nine-play, 61-yard drive capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Howe to Jonathan Reed to tie it up 21-21 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.

West Carroll 45, Gibson County 28: While the Pioneers had a seven-point lead at halftime (22-15), the War Eagles scored 30 unanswered points to start the second half to secure the win.

West Carroll (1-0) hosts Harding Academy in Week 2, while Gibson County travels to Tipton-Rosemark.

West Carroll’s Jayden Milton scored five touchdowns on 294 yards rushing.

A six-yard touchdown run by Jay Allen with 5:28 until halftime put Gibson County up 22-15.

But West Carroll came out firing in the third quarter. A 12-yard run by Milton with 5:05 left in the third quarter and a two-point conversion pass to Daelon Drasal put the War Eagles up 23-22.

Milton then had a 43-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run for the 31-22 lead, a 67-yard touchdown for for the 37-33 lead and 38-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run for the 45-22 lead.

Gibson County scored a touchdown with 4:33 to play on a 47-yard pass by Jaxon Bailey.

USJ 14, Peabody 7: DJ Smith scored with 50 seconds remaining to cut the Bruins’ lead in half, and Peabody recovered the onside kick. But the offense couldn’t get to the end zone quick enough to try and tie the game.

Peabody (1-0) hosts Jackson Christian in Week 2 action.

Peabody had chances to score early on, but fumbles cost them in the red zone. USJ scored with 11:03 left in the first half for the 7-0 lead on a Noah Spencer 50-yard run.

And it wasn’t until the 2:47 mark in the third quarter when the Bruins doubled the lead to 14-0 on Spencer’s second touchdown run.

McNairy Central 33, Humboldt 14: The Vikings couldn’t get the opening win against a Class 3A school, falling behind in the second half.

Humboldt (0-1) travels to Scotts Hill for Week 2 action.

McNairy Central quarterback Jackson Overton ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third touchdown in the win.

Humboldt scored on the second play of the game on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Taylor from Jay Taylor.

But the Bobcats responded with a touchdown, and then on the final play of the first half, McNairy Central returned an interception 102 yards for the 13-7 lead at halftime.

To start the second half, the Bobcats blocked a Humboldt punt, and Overton scored on the next play for the 20-7 lead.

McNairy Central scored 33 unanswered points before Agnew threw a 70-yard bomb.

WEAKLEY COUNTY

Dresden 40, Westview 34: With 3:17 remaining, Cameron Schlicht hit Nick Turnbow with an 11-yard touchdown pass to give the Lions’ their second lead of the night, and this one stuck for the victory.

Westview took a 20-6 lead late in the first half as quarterback Miles Vincent hit Donteze Joy for a 66-yard touchdown pass, Cam Davis for a 49-yard touchdown pass and Cooper Spaulding for a nine-yard touchdown pass.

But with 2:33 to play, Dresden’s Schlicht connected with Reese Bell for a 27-yard touchdown pass to end the half, and three plays in to the second half, Tristan Jett ran 52 yards to cut Westview’s lead to 20-18.

Vincent hit Joy for a 36-yard touchdown, but Jett scored from two yards out and then again from 16 yards out to give Dresden the 34-27 lead with 10:18 to play.

A third touchdown on the connection of Vincent to Joy from 70-yards out tied it up 34-34 with 9:21 to play before the game winner.

The game featured close to 900 yards of total offense.

Vincent threw five touchdown passes and over 450 yards, while Schlicht threw for three touchdowns and close to 200 yards.

In Week 2, Westview (0-1) hosts Obion County, while Dresden (1-0) travels to McKenzie.

Perry County 34, Greenfield 7: The Vikings scored the first five touchdowns before Greenfield scored with 43 seconds to play.

Quarterback Easton Sullivan hit Landon Clark with a 44-yard touchdown for the Yellowjackets’ score.

Perry County racked up 400 yards off offense in the win.

Greenfield (0-1) travels to Stewart County in Week 2 action.