PREP UPDATE: Parker outlasts Carver for win; MA volleyball clinches area title
Carver running back Elijah Tarver stretches for and extra yard in the Wolverines’ battle against Parker at Cramton Bowl on Thursday. Parker won, 41-21. (Tim Gayle)
By GRAHAM DUNN
The Parker Thundering Herd broke open a tie game with three second-half touchdowns to earn a 41-21 victory over G.W. Carver on Homecoming Night at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.
The two teams were tied 21-21 at the half but Parker scored twice in the third quarter and added another score early in the fourth for the win.
The Herd took the lead late in the first quarter on a Martrez Drake 8-yard run but Carver returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for its first points. Mekhi Williams zig-zagged his way to the score with just over a minute left in the quarter, tying the score at 7-7.
Quarterback Rakaveon Goldsmith would answer for Parker with a 6-yard score with 8:53 remaining in the first half but the Wolverines answered with Elijah Tarver’s 9-yard score to make it 14-14.
Parker’s Jeremiah Jackson broke the tie on a yard run with 4:05 left in the half but Carver answered before halftime on Jayden Tyus’s 77-yard pass to Natorian Green with just under three minutes to go.
Jackson would score twice in the third quarter on runs of 3 and 77 yards, giving the Herd a 34-21 lead in the latter stages of the third quarter. Goldsmith capped the scoring with a 17-yard strike to Zaylin Nash with 9:32 to play.
Goldsmith finished with 251 yards passing on 16-of-21 attempts. He added 50 yards rushing on eight carries. Jackson led the rushing attack with 158 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Nash led the Parker receivers with seven catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Tyus finished with 162 yards passing on 8-of-15 attempts. Green had three receptions for 93 yards and a score.
Carver (3-3) returns to Class 6A, Region 2 action next week against JAG while Parker (5-1) faces Huffman.
VOLLEYBALL
Montgomery Academy 3, Trinity 0
Montgomery Academy celebrated Senior Night on Thursday with a sweep of Trinity, giving the Eagles the Class A Private Area 4 title and the top seed for the upcoming area tournament in October.
Montgomery Academy honored its five seniors -- Bennett Britt, Elinor Grace Hines, Addison Kitchens, Rehmat Sidhu and Morgan Springer -- and then swept the Wildcats 25-16, 25-13 and 25-15 to secure the area title and the top seed in the upcoming area tournament on Oct. 15.
Montgomery Academy improved to 6-0 in area play with two games remaining, while Trinity dropped to 3-2 with both losses to MA. Prattville Christian is in third at 3-3, followed by St. James at 2-5 and Alabama Christian at 1-5.
Britt had 13 kills and nine digs, Hines had 13 kills, an ace and 10 digs, Kitchens had seven kills and two digs, Sidhu had two kills, nine digs and 38 assists and Springer had eight kills, one block, an ace and three digs.
In addition, Caroline Wood had four kills and six digs, Lizzie Campbell had three aces and 20 digs and Kathleen Johnston had two aces and nine digs.
Montgomery Academy (17-4) will play host to St. Paul’s Episcopal on Friday at 3:30 p.m., then travel to Birmingham to play in a tournament at Briarwood Christian on Saturday.