By Brad Greer

There was not a lot to cheer about as the Water Valley seventh and eighth grade football squads spoiled Pope Junior High’s home-opener Tuesday night with a 36-0 shutout win over the Bulldogs.

The offensive backfield trio of Ross Ingram, J. T. James and Quez Towns combined for 197 of Water Valley’s 241 yards rushing as the Blue Devils took a 14-0 halftime lead before adding three additional touchdowns in the second half.

James and Ingram scored two touchdowns each while Towns led a balanced rushing attack with 73 yards and one rushing touchdown.

Ingram added 61 yards on seven carries with James collecting 63 yards on six totes. Ingram was also three-of-eight passing for 64 yards and two interceptions. Chris Sims hauled in two passes for 40 yards while Jalin Morgan contributed with one catch for 24 yards.

While Water Valley was chewing up yardage, the Blue Devil defense forced five turnovers while holding the Bulldogs to 31 yards of total offense while running only 16 plays from scrimmage. Jack Pritchard and D. J. Spearman led the defense with one interception each.

Jamian Johnson was the lone bright spot for Pope as the lanky eighth-grader rushed for 17 yards on seven carries to go along with 49 yards on three kickoff returns and one interception on defense. Markel Gleaton had one carry for 20 yards. D’Andre Johnson also registered a pass interception.

After both teams exchanged turnovers on their opening possessions, Water Valley got on the board by marching 64 yards on six plays before Towns scored from 13 yards out with Ingram adding the two-point conversion with 7:02 remaining in the first half.

The Blue Devils capitalized on Pope’s second turnover in as many plays as James raced 20 yards for the score to cap a four-play, 47-yard drive to make the score 14-0 after the two-point conversion failed.

Water Valley extended its lead to 20-0 in the third quarter on Ingram’s one-yard plunge. Towns’ runs of 12 and nine yards aided the drive. The visitors rounded out the scoring in the fourth quarter on a James three-yard run with 7:54 left in the contest. Ingram added a 20-yard run with 1:46 remaining then tossed the two-point conversion to Towns for a 36-0 Blue Devil advantage.

Pope will host Coffeeville Tuesday at 6 p.m.