Commodores sail to 50-7 victory
Published 9:45 am Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Lafayette will wrap regular season Thursday night
The Lafayette Commodores had no trouble against the New Hope Trojans on Friday, Oct. 20, as they jumped out to a 22-point lead early and never looked back on their way to a 50-7 win.
Lafayette (5-4, 2-2 Region 1-5A) used three Trojan special team mistakes to take an early 22-point lead in the first half.
The Commodores got on the board early after a blocked Trojan punt when Davion Bell ran in for the easy touchdown. Bell ran for the 2-point conversion and an 8-0 Commodore lead. Bell scored his second goal-line TD to make the score 15-0 after a questionable Trojan fourth down call on its own 26-yard line.
The Trojan’s third special teams mistake on the night came when the Trojans’ muffed punt was recovered by Lawson Fortner. Nick Thompson would capitalize on the mistake with a 36-yard touchdown to J’meire Jones to up 22-0.
New Hope (0-9, 0-4 Region 1-5A) got on the board when Juice Tate found Jaxson Turner for a 14-yard touchdown.
Lafayette then scored 28 straight unanswered to put the game away.
Thompson found Dee Gipson for a 15-yard touchdown pass to go up 29-7. Lafayette tried onside kicks the next two ensuing kickoffs and recovered. The Commodores capitalized on both.
Thompson completed a scoring pass to Chavron Bell for his third touchdown of the night and a 36-7 score. Thompson’s fourth passing touchdown would be a 25-yard score to J’meire Jones to go up 43-7 before the half.
Jarell Wright would add a touchdown later in the game to run the score up 50-7.
The Commodore defense recovered four fumbles and forced one interception on the night.
Commodores who recovered a fumble were Lawson Fortner, Chap Liles, Devin Tanner, and Jerimyah Smith. Davion Bell finished his night with two touchdowns offensively and one interception.
The Commodores will return to action Thursday, Nov. 2, as they host the Corinth Warriors for Senior Night at William L. Buford stadium.
Corinth (3-7, 2-2 Region 1-5A) is looking to bounce back after losing to Clarksdale 41-0 Friday.
The Commodores and Warriors are battling for who will represent the region as the three seed in the MHSAA 5A playoffs.
If Lafayette wins they will play the loser of Holmes County and Canton. If Lafayette loses to Corinth they will play the winner of Holmes County and Canton.