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Tallulah Academy running back Brayson Morson (21) gets around the edge as he breaks a touchdown run Friday against Tensas Academy. Morson had 267 rushing yards and six touchdowns on only eight carries as the Trojans defeated tensas 68-26 in the first round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy football players raise their helmets in the air at the end of the playing of the National Anthem prior to their football game against Tensas Academy on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy quarterback Hayes Hopkins (9) prepares to throw a pass as Tensas Academy's George Tucker (2) bears down on him during Friday's MAIS Class 1A playoff game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tensas Academy's Hunter Calvit is tackled in the first half of Friday's MAIS Class 1A playoff game against Tallulah Academy. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy's Ric Gayle (14) tackles Tensas Academy running back Toby Matthews dring Friday's playoff game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy's J.T. McDaniel (8) tries to throw a pass as Tensas Academy's Ross Crigler (3) wraps him up on a two-point conversion attempt in Friday's MAIS Class 1A playoff game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy tight end Cade Morgan celebrates after catching a two-point conversion pass in a 68-26 win over Tensas Academy on Friday, in the first round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy's Jon Fortenberry (56) celebrates on the sideline with teammate Landon Wells (48) after recovering a fumble in a 68-26 win over Tensas Academy on Friday, in the first round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy football players Denton Ray (12), Logan Hallman (62) and Brayson Morson (21) stand on the sideline near the end of their 68-26 victory over Tensas Academy in the first round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

TALLULAH — Almost every time he kicked off Friday night, Brayson Morson was trying to drop the football in a trash can on Tallulah Academy’s sideline.

He never did, but it wasn’t because he didn’t give himself opportunities.

Morson, Tallulah Academy’s stellar senior running back — and kickoff specialist — rushed for 267 yards and six touchdowns on only eight carries to lead the Trojans to a 68-26 victory over Tensas Academy in the first round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs.

“It’s fun doing everything for the team,” said Morson, who has 970 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in his last three games. “It’s definitely our O-line. Our O-line is working. Every practice they’re getting 10 times better. They’re communicating in the huddle before we go out to make sure we get it right. It’s definitely the line that’s helping me.”

Tallulah Academy (9-3) won a playoff game for the eighth time in its last nine postseason appearances. It advanced to play Lee Academy, Ark. (7-2) on the road on Nov. 3.

“I do like our match-up. They like to run the ball up the middle and I think we match up with that, and I think we’ve got enough speed to get the edge on them,” Tallulah coach Bart Wood said. “Even though we’re the lower seed, we have an opportunity. We couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

Tensas Academy (0-12) got into the playoffs as the 12th and final seed in Class 1A because of the MAIS power points system. Although they seemed overmatched, the Chiefs took the fight to Tallulah early in the game.

Toby Matthews broke off a 59-yard touchdown run and quarterback George Tucker an 11-yard TD to pull Tensas to within 14-12 with 1:29 left in the first quarter. Matthews finished with 129 rushing yards, and Tucker had 73 and three touchdowns.

The turning point for Tallulah came right after Tucker’s touchdown. Morson ripped off a 42-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage, the Trojans recovered the onside kick, and then Morson scored on a 39-yard run on the first snap of the next series.

Along with a pair of two-point conversion runs by J.T. McDaniel, Tallulah’s lead went from two points to 30-12 in a span of 30 seconds.

Morson also had a 40-yard touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, and McDaniel’s conversion made it 38-12 with 8:58 left.

“They came out strong and we didn’t come out too strong. We figured out what they were doing and just came out stronger,” Tallulah tight end Cade Morgan said.

Tensas gave a good effort, but Tallulah’s victory was never in doubt after Morson’s three quick touchdowns. He added two more in the second quarter, on runs of 43 and 56 yards, to make it 54-20 at halftime.

His final touchdown went for 40 yards early in the third quarter and pushed the margin past the 35-point threshold to trigger a running clock. It was the last offensive snap the Trojans had. Tensas had a nine-play drive that ended with Tucker’s 31-yard TD run, and then McDaniel returned the kickoff for a 70-yard TD to make it 68-26 with about seven minutes left.

The biggest game-within-a-game from the second quarter on was whether Morson would actually drop one of his pooched kickoffs in the trash can. He was intentionally kicking the ball out of bounds to assist with field position and was using the can as an aiming point.

One kickoff hit the can but did not go in. The rest missed entirely.

“The aiming point is Coach Bart, but I couldn’t see him so I just kicked it at the trash can,” Morson said. “Then he finally moved it to where he wanted it and it became the aiming point.”

UP NEXT:
• Tallulah Academy (9-3) at Lee Academy, Ark. (7-2)
• MAIS Class 1A playoffs, second round

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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