SPORTS

H.S. FOOTBALL: Chester County handles McNairy

KEVIN ODOM
sports@jacksonsun.com

HENDERSON – Chester County used a balanced offensive attack, 231 yards rushing and 251 yards passing, to score 32 straight points and beat rival McNairy Central 38-14.

Though the running game of the Eagles was very effective all night, it was the passing game that brought the packed stadium of fans to their feet most of the night.

Senior quarterback Bo Morris connected on three long touchdown passes in the Eagles win. The first was a 49-yard touchdown completion to a wide open Malcolm Tipler that put Chester County up 13-7 early in the second quarter.

Then with a minute left before halftime Morris connected with Cody Compton for a 65-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 23-7 lead at the half.

Morris’s third touchdown pass was a 35-yard toss that Compton jumped above the defenders outstretched arms to catch for the final score of the game.

“Cody does a good job of getting open and he has worked hard on being a good route runner,” Morris said.

Morris finished the game completing 10 of 17 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

“Bo did a good job tonight of seeing the whole field and finding the open receiver,” Chester County coach Michael Hodum said. “He has been in our system for a long time and he does a good job of keeping his head in the game.”

Chester County’s junior running back Christian Ballard ran the ball 21 times for 117 yards to lead the Eagles’ ground attack.

“I thought we did a good job of mixing up the pass and the run tonight, and the offensive line played really well,” Hodum said.

McNairy took the opening kickoff and marched 59 yards in seven plays to score the opening touchdown of the game. Bobcat quarter back Dylan Crabb hit Will Wallace on a 10-yard pass to give McNairy the early 7-0 lead.

Chester County came right back with a 59-yard drive of its own but missed the extra point to make the score 7-6 Bobcats with 4:18 left in the first quarter.

At this point it looked like it was going to be a shootout in Eagle Stadium, but Chester County’s defense made some adjustments and kept McNairy from scoring until the fourth quarter when they had the game under control.

Chester County (1-1) has a week off before travelling to Ripley on Sept. 11 to open region play.

McNairy (1-1) will host South Side (2-0) next Friday night.