Water Valley looked to bounce back on Friday night against Booneville after losing to Kossuth last week. The Battle of the Blue Devils winner would clinch a home playoff spot in the first round of the 3A playoffs. Water Valley used a big time performance from CJ Telford to defeat Booneville 56-27.

The Water Valley offense jumped on the Booneville defense early as Telford hit Savion “Sasa” Freeman for a 63-yard score. Telford would have three more touchdown passes in the first half as he hit Marion Morgan for a 67 yard and 42-yard score, along with a 62-yard pass to Que Carothers. The highlight of the first half was a 95 yard kickoff return for Touchdown by Chris Harris to put the Blue Devils up 28-14.

The Water Valley ( 5-3, 2-1 Region 1-3A) defense allowed an early 37 yard touchdown by LJ Shumpert but forced two Booneville turnovers highlighted by a fumble recovery by Jack Woodard and interception by Marion Morgan to shut down Booneville the rest of the half.

“We had a big response from our guys after what happened last week. We had a spot in this game where we had multiple bad snaps and a penalty that backed us up, and we didn’t flinch,” said Water Valley coach Brad Embry.

In the second half, the Water Valley offense continued to roll, but this time on the ground as Telford scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to make the score 42-14 after the PAT. The Blue Devils would score on another run by Telford from 1 yard out and a 28-yard run by Brayden Buford to put the game out of reach for Booneville (5-4, 2-2 Region 1-3A). The Blue Devil defense would lockdown in the second half forcing two turnovers highlighted by a fumble recovery by Dre Mccray and a 4th down stop by Jaden Morgan.

Telford would finish the night with a total of 6 Touchdowns and 259 yards passing.

“You want your team to click the first game of the year, but sometimes it takes some time. I am proud of the way our guys played tonight and handled adversity,” said Embry.

Water Valley closes the regular season, and Region 1-3A play next Thursday as they travel to Glen to play Alcon Central. Water Valley will host in the first round of the MHSAA 3A playoffs the next week.