Backyard Blowout: Majors-52 Choctaws-19

by Drew Giudice

sports editor

Millsaps football defeated rival Mississippi College this past Saturday night, the team’s second-straight victory in the series, and it wasn’t even close. The pass rush was suffocating for all four quarters. The expected strength of this year’s team showed up in a big way, giving Choctaws quarterback Jonathon Redd little time to go through his progressions. Majors Jeff Milner, Zach Bell and Joiner Stewart combined for four sacks. However, that doesn’t speak to the multiple occasions the entire front seven was in the backfield, forcing Redd to scramble for his life.

The offense broke the game open with a perfectly executed drive right before halftime. Zac Thrasher led the unit on to the field with 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter, taking over at their own 46-yard line and leading 13-6. Multiple first-down conversions, receivers getting out of bounds to stop the clock, and good clock management by Head Coach Aaron Pelch led to Taz Watson’s four-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds left. Zander Romano ran it in for the two-point conversion and the Majors were up 21-6, with all the momentum, going in to halftime.

Backyard Blowout
photo courtesy Faith Chamness

Romano was a matchup problem all night for the MC secondary, catching five passes for 80 yards and a highlight-reel-worthy touchdown. Mike Barthelemy was a workhorse, toting the rock 28 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. Thrasher was efficient, completing 11 of his 17 attempts for 171 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Beau Brady was perfect for the special teams unit, connecting on all three field-goal attempts and all five extra-point tries.
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