CLINTON — Tupelo scored on its first four possessions to swamp turnover-prone Clinton 42-14 in a first-round Class 5A playoff game at Arrow Field Friday night.

Standout running back Ken Davis ran for a game-high 199 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Golden Waves (9-3) into a second-round matchup with South Panola. That game will pit Davis against fellow Ole Miss commit in South Panola running back Darius “Tig” Barksdale.

“We know we’re going to have to play physical against them,” Davis said of the rematch with the Tigers. Tupelo lost to South Panola 22-9 in Region 1-5A action earlier this season. South Panola won its nation-best 72nd straight game, ripping Provine 42-7 in Batesville in first round action.

Davis credited the short passing game of quarterback Chris Garrett in opening things up for him.

“I think we showed the speed of our wide receivers and that opened up the run for us,” Davis said. Garrett completed an efficient 11 of 16 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown.

Garrett connected on five of his first six passes for 66 yards in leading the Golden Waves to a pair of first quarter touchdowns, both on Davis runs.

Clinton (8-4) came back with an 80-yard march in 14 plays to narrow the gap to 14-7 on a 1-yard TD run by Wesley Mounger. Tupelo answered with a six-play, 72-yard march capped by a 40-yard TD run by George Noflin.

Then the Waves cashed in on the first of seven Clinton turnovers when Garrett tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Parker Ball for a 28-7 lead with 7 minutes, 29 seconds left in the second quarter.

Clinton showed a quick strike ability as Mounger tossed a 61-yard TD pass to Marti Shelby to close back to 28-14 at the 5:48 mark of the second quarter.

The Arrows then lost two more fumbles inside the Waves’ 20 in the final two minutes of the first half to prevent them from pulling closer.

It only got worse in the second half. Mounger had a pass intercepted on Clinton’s opening possession of the second half. The Arrows then lost a fumble on a second-and goal from the Tupelo on the 10 on the following drive.

After Tupelo turned the ball over for the fourth time on a lost fumble at its own 11, the Arrows missed a fourth-down conversion from the two by a half-inch.

They never recovered.

Garrett completed two passes to Chris Bumphis for 8 and 35 yards to set in motion a game-clinching 98-yard drive. Davis got the score on a 13-yard run.

“He showed why he is a Dandy Dozen, one of the 12 best players in the state,” Clinton coach Scott Brown said of Davis. “There were some big plays but they beat us straight up.”

Mounger, a senior, finished 14-of-32 for 206 yards with two interceptions. He had another 84 yards rushing to end the year with 975.

Briarfield 32, N. Delta 13

Jeffrey Graham ran for three touchdowns to lead Briarfield Academy to within one game of a return to the Academy A championship game.

Graham scored on runs of 1, 15 and 30 yards and the Rebels used a 19-point third quarter to break up a close game at halftime. Graham ran the ball 29 times for 152 yards and also threw for 76 yards. The Rebels gained 421 yards of total offense.

Jon Jon Taylor scored on a 30-yard run and also recovered two fumbles on defense. Jordan Jong scored the Rebels’ final touchdown on a 5-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Stephen Hernandez, Jacob Hopkins and Sam Minsky all had interceptions in the win.

Briarfield is scheduled to host Bayou next Friday night at 7. With a win, the Rebels will return to the championship game against either Glenbrook or Huntington. Last year, the Rebels were beaten by Trinity Episcopal in the title game.