RAYMOND – In a first game full of mistakes, visiting Humphreys Academy made one more than Central Hinds Academy and it proved to be the difference.

Central Hinds’ Austin Biggs tackled Humphreys’ Ethan Helms on an ill-advised toss sweep from Humphreys’ own 1-yard line for a safety late in the third quarter to put the Cougars up 9-0.

The Cougars (1-0) went on to win the season opener 9-6, surviving a late blocked punt for a touchdown by Humphreys.

Humphreys coach Benny McClendon gave a pretty accurate assessment of the opening contest.

“They scored on our mess-ups and we scored on theirs. Other than that, it was a pretty evenly matched game,” McClendon said. “We may have had more yards but you can’t go by stats.”

Neither team could do much in the first half until Central Hinds uncorked a 63-yard touchdown pass from Trey Latham to Connor Brown late in the second quarter. The one play accounted for nearly half of the Cougars’ total offensive output.

“It was an out route and the guy missed the tackle,” Brown said of his 10-yard catch followed by

a 53-yard, zig-zagging run to the end zone. Latham’s kick made it 7-0 with 3:09 left in the second quarter.

Central Hinds got its second big break six minutes into the third quarter when Gene Jordan blocked a Rebel punt and recovered it at the Humphreys 23. The Cougars moved the ball to the 3 before fumbling it away but Humphreys was left stuck deep in its own end.

They then made a strange call on third down. Facing a third-and-long on his own one-foot line, Helms took a pitch and was met by Biggs five yards deep in the end zone for the safety.

“Yeah, it was a pretty easy one,” Biggs said of his tackle and two points earned.

The Cougars defense was pretty solid until Humphreys went on a long, fourth-quarter drive that ate up nearly nine minutes of the clock. They reached the Cougar 8-yard line before running out of downs.

“We played pretty good defense, but it was an ugly football game,” new Central Hinds coach Bobby Allen said. “The good thing is, we can improve on this.”

The Rebels avoided a shutout when they blocked a Cougar punt and Landon Domino recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. The PAT snap was botched, leaving the score at 9-6 with 2:10 left.

The Cougars recovered the onsides kick and then ran off the remaining time.

Allen said the Cougars offense took a blow when sophomore Hunter Farrior left the game with a bruised shoulder.

“It threw us off when Hunter left. We run a lot of things with him,” Allen said.

The Cougars finished with just 124 yards in total offense. They had 50 rushing while Latham was 3-of-8 passing for 74 yards.

Humphreys had 150 yards in offense with 120 coming on rushing. But of their 45 carries, 28 resulted in gains of two yards or less.

Briarfield 27, Prairie View 19

Jeffrey Graham scored two touchdowns to lead Briarfield past Prairie View in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

Graham finished with 138 yards on 22 carries as the fullback in the Rebels’ new Wing-T offense of first-year coach Ben Durham. He scored on runs of 2 and 3 yards and added a two-point conversion in the second quarter to hand Briarfield a 14-13 lead at the half.

Prairie View’s Jonathan Spiers put the Trojans back in the lead at 19-14 on a 15-yard TD run in the third quarter. Briarfield went back ahead on Blake Lovell’s 6-yard score. Graham’s kick made it 21-19. Jacob Hopkins finished the scoring on a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter that made it 27-19.

Spiers opened the scoring on a 30-yard run and the Trojans’ other score came on a 76-yard interception return.

Defensively, Ken Collins led the way with three solos, nine assists and one sack. Graham had three solos and four assists.

Glenbrook 26, Tallulah 6

Tallulah Academy stayed with mighty Glenbrook, but the firepower of the defending MPSA Class A champions proved to be too much.

Hunter Leppert threw a pair of touchdown passes, Jake Jiles and Jake Byrd each ran for a TD, and Glenbrook pulled away after leading just 7-0 at the half. A 65-yard touchdown pass from Tallulah quarterback Jes Shivers to Sebe Wise cut it to 20-7 with 5:04 left in the third quarter. Glenbrook held on from there and salted it away on Byrd’s 1-yard run with 2:47 to play in the game.

Darren Lott five solo tackles and 10 assists for Tallulah, which held Glenbrook to 244 yards of offense.

8-man footballTensas 56, Calvary 40

Jim Lentz ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown pass as Tensas Academy held off Calvary Baptist in its 8-man debut. Lentz scored on runs of 49, 73, 12 and 33 yards, and caught a 5-yard pass from John Truman James. He also scored on a pair of two-point conversions.

James completed 8 of 11 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns for Tensas, and also ran for a TD. Mitch Lansing caught four passes for 87 yards and a TD, and returned a fumble 48 yards for a score.