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TALLULAH, La. — The Vidalia High School Vikings made a defensive stand late in the game that preserved their stunning 24-18 road win over the Madison Parish High School Jaguars Friday night in an LHSAA District 2-2A game.

“It’s a great day to be a Viking,” Vidalia first-year head coach Michael Norris said. “I’m really proud of these kids, especially the four seniors. Our coaches put together a good game plan and our kids executed it for the most part. We made some mistakes that need to be cleaned up.”

Vidalia jumped out to an 8-0 lead before the defense gave up a pair of long touchdowns to go down 12-8. But the Vikings’ defense clamped down and that allowed their offense to retake the lead.

The Vikings led 24-18 when the Jaguars were marching down the field for a potential go-ahead scoring drive before the defense stopped them in their tracks.

“We stopped them on 4^th and 9 with about 3:30 left,” Norris said. “We picked up a first down and they started calling time outs. We got another first down and ran the clock out from there.”

Norris said that his team scoring on all three of its two-point conversions and Madison Parish (3-3, 2-3) not scoring on any of its opportunities was the difference in the outcome.

Norris said that Vidalia (1-3, 1-3) will have to build on this win, but it will not be easy when the Vikings play at Class 2A No. 9 and district foe Mangham next Friday at 7 p.m. The Dragons upset No. 1 and defending state champion Ferriday 42-36 on the road.

WCCA 49, Calhoun Academy 8

WOODVILLE — The Wilkinson County Christian Academy Rams used a prolific rushing attack and a strong defense to defeat the Calhoun Academy Cougars 49-8 Friday night in the first round of the 2020 MAIS 8-Man Class 1A Playoffs.

WCCA, the No. 2 seed, ran just 13 offensive plays the entire game and still racked up 423 yards of total offense. Roderick Bailey had four carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns while KeKe Anderson had three carries for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Andrew Sessions completed two of six passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. R.J. Fisher had one catch for 76 yards and one score while Anderson had one reception for 25 yards and one score.

Bailey scored on a 54-yard run and Anderson had a 74-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Then put the game completely out of reach with four touchdowns in the second quarter, highlighted by a 74-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Sessions to R.J. Fisher and a 62-yard touchdown run by Anderson.

The only thing that went wrong for WCCA was that Ben Sessions had one extra point blocked and he missed another — both in the second quarter. The Rams went into halftime with a 40-0 lead.

Calhoun Academy, the No. 7 seed, finally got on the scoreboard when Austin Stroup scored on a 65-yard run and ran in for the two-point conversion at the 4:36 mark of the third quarter. That made it a 40-8 game and the Cougars would get no closer.

Bailey scored on a 65-yard run and with 1:49 remaining in the game, the Rams recorded a safety when a bad snap on a punt attempt by Calhoun Academy resulted in its punter being tackled by Grant Murray and Hayden Oliveaux in the end zone.

Ryan Fisher led a Rams’ defense that gave up minus-4 total rushing yards and 178 yards of total offense with 16 tackles while Bailey had 14 tackles. R.J. Fisher had 10 tackles and one interception while Oliveaux also had 10 tackles.

WCCA (11-0) will play host to No. 3 seed Briarfield Academy in the Class 1A semifinals next Friday at 7 p.m. Briarfield took care of No. 6 seed Tensas Academy 50-26 in another first-round match-up.

South Jones 31, Natchez High 30

ELLISVILLE — The Natchez High School Bulldogs came up just short of earning a berth in the 2020 MHSAA Class 5A Playoffs as they lost to the South Jones High School Braves 31-30 Friday night in a Region 3-5A game.

Traylon Minor had three rushing touchdowns and Mike Williams scored on a 73-yard touchdown run to lead Natchez High’s offense. Devin Winchester had 10 solo tackles to lead the Bulldogs’ defense.

Natchez High nearly came back from a double-digit deficit only to be on the wrong end of final score as South Jones celebrated Senior Night with a hard-fought victory.

“A few bad calls along with us turning the ball over at crucial moments,” Bulldogs head coach Randy Craft said when asked what he felt was the difference in the outcome. “Kids played hard. It was back and forth, full of big plays. Kids played hard from down 24-14 at the half.”

While South Jones (3-4, 2-2) will be in the playoffs, Natchez High saw its season come to an end. The Bulldogs finished at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in region play.

Block 36, Montgomery 32

MONTGOMERY, La. — Led by Dexture Jefferson and Zavion Green, the Block High School Bears ruined Senior Night at Montgomery High School with a stunning 36-32 win over the Tigers Friday night in an LHSAA District 3-1A game.

“Dexture had two touchdowns. He threw for a touchdown. Offensively and defensively, he had a good game,” Block head coach Benny Vault Jr. said. “Zavion Green had a good game. He had over 100 yards rushing.”

Block led Montgomery (2-3, 1-2) 22-12 early in the third quarter and held on from there.

“Overall, we played pretty well. We still made some mistakes. But we’re getting better,” Vault said. “I’m happy with the direction we’re going in.”

Block (2-4, 2-1) was scheduled to host district opponent Northwood-Lena next Friday night, but that game has been canceled due to students at Northwood-Lena having to quarantine because of COVID-19. The Bears will now play non-district opponent Arcadia High School on the road next Friday at 7 p.m.

Forest 54, Franklin County 20

MEADVILLE — Forest High School senior quarterback Dashun Lofton accounted for five touchdowns, three passing and two rushing, to lead the Bearcats to a 54-20 win over the Franklin County High School Bulldogs Friday night in the first round of the 2020 MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

Lofton completed 11 of 16 passes for 171 yards and the three TDs with no interceptions. He also had a pair of 4-yard touchdown runs in the second quarter to help give Region 5-3A No. 3 seed Forest a 20-6 halftime lead.

Tyrese O’Neal and Ja’marlin Green did their best to keep Region 7-3A No. 2 seed Franklin County in the game in the third quarter, but a pair of TD passes by Lofton and a 17-yard TD run by Larry Patrick allowed Forest to maintain its double-digit lead.

Forest entered the postseason on a three-game losing streak, but didn’t play like it Friday night. The Bearcats (5-5) had 216 total rushing yards, 387 total yards of offense and turned the ball over just once.

Franklin County, which finished with an overall record of 5-5, was held to eight first downs and 181 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs didn’t help themselves with four turnovers.

Morton 64, Jefferson County 30

MORTON — Morton High School senior running back/wide receiver/cornerback Tay Simms scored eight touchdowns as the Panthers used a fourth-quarter surge to defeat the Jefferson County High School Tigers 64-30 Friday night in the first round of the 2020 MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

Simms had seven rushing touchdowns and added a 45-yard punt return for a score nearly midway through the fourth quarter.

Region 5-3A No. 2 seed Morton (8-2) seemed to have the game in hand with a 43-12 before Region 7-3A No. 3 seed Jefferson County (4-5) scored three touchdowns to make it a 44-30 game with 9:25 left. It was all Panthers from there as they would score the game’s final 20 points.

Kemper County 46, Wilkinson County 12

DEKALB — The Region 5-3A champion and No. 1 seed Kemper County High School Wildcats defeated the Region 7-3A No. 4 seed Wilkinson County High School Wildcats 46-12 Friday night in the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

Kemper County improved to 8-2 overall while Wilkinson County finished its abbreviated season with an overall record of 1-4.

Cedar Creek School 50, Sicily Island 0

SICILY ISLAND — The Cedar Creek School Cougars ended their two-game losing streak with a 50-0 win over the Sicily Island High School Tigers Friday night in an LHSAA District 2-1A game. No other information on this game was available.

Cedar Creek improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in district play while Sicily Island fell to 0-5 overall and 0-4 in district play. The Tigers play at Oak Grove High School next Thursday at 7 p.m.