Vicksburg stumbles again|Prep football

Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 19, 2009

Five days of rain left Memorial Stadium’s field a muddy mess. The same thing could be said of Vicksburg’s homecoming game with Lawrence County.

The visiting Cougars got three touchdowns from Trevor Havis and two from Alexander Montgomery to crush the winless Gators 48-7 on Friday night.

Vicksburg coach Alonzo Stevens can only hope his team can salvage something of its 2009 season as it enters region play next week at Grenada.

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“Can you just requote me from last week,” Stevens said, shaking his head after a fourth straight blow-out loss. Vicksburg (0-4) has been outscored 185-20. They had three more turnovers, including the opening kickoff, to give them 20 on the season.

The defense, which had been a plus, took a step back as Lawrence County rushed for 314 yards and six scores. Special teams weren’t much better as Montgomery ran back the second half kickoff 85 yards for one of his two TDs.

“This was by far our worst defensive game. I’m just afraid that on that side of the ball we could start bleeding because of what’s happening with the offense. It’s something I’ve got to address when I get them in the locker room,” Stevens said.

Havis, who scored on a 10-yard run right after the Cougars (2-3) recovered the fumbled opening kickoff by the Gators, said his offensive line bailed out an injured backfield.

“Both me and Alexander are the backups because our two starters are hurt,” Havis said. “I just tried to do my best. Our line stepped up. On defense, we just stayed with our responsibilities.”

Havis added a 6-yard TD run at the 6:13 mark, then kicked the PAT to make it 14-0. Montgomery got the first of his two scores on a 1-yard run following the Gators’ third lost fumble of the first quarter. A 29-yard TD run by Havis made it 28-0 with 5:15 left in the second quarter.

Montgomery’s kickoff return for a touchdown capped his night. He finished with 153 yards rushing on nine carries, and 238 yards in all-purpose yardage. Havis converted six of his seven PAT attempts.

Tremaine Brown had the Cougars’ last score on a 9-yard run.

Vicksburg avoided a shutout when Stefan Demby picked up a fumble and ran it back 48 yards for a score with 3:32 left in the game.

For Vicksburg, quarterback Cameron Cooksey led the team on 6-of-18 passing for 49 yards. Alventray Tarleton caught three passes for 19 yards and Namonta Gaines had one catch for 22 yards. The Gators had just 35 yards rushing on 20 carries.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com