Last week Tupelo clinched their place as the number 1 seed for the state football championships and this week they played their first playoff game against the DeSoto Central Jaguars.

The Tupelo Golden Wave won the game 34-14 due in large part to their offense and a bevy of explosive plays on the ground and in the air.

DeSoto Central put themselves in scoring territory with their first drive of the game before the offense stalled out on the edge of Tupelo’s red zone, back-to-back sacks forced a turnover on downs.

Tupelo used the opportunity to score a touchdown in only 3 plays, being capped off with a 64-yard touchdown pass to Wide Receiver Tyreke Darden.

Darden scored another touchdown reception before halftime off of a play-action pass from Quarterback Jeremiah Harrell before the end of the half.

Tupelo’s offensive performance led to a successful outing on 3rd down, as they converted on 10 of their 15 opportunities. Conversely, near-constant pressure from Tupelo’s defensive line led to a 3rd down conversion rate of 1 of 10 for DeSoto Central, the Tupelo defense sacked DeSoto Central quarterback Eric Perry 7 times during the game.

Tupelo’s defense also didn’t allow any points after half-time for the second week in a row,

Tupelo amassed more than 200 yards of offense both on the ground and through the air. Running back JJ Hill led the team with 18 carries for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns, including back-to-back runs for 35 and 27 yards respectively to convert a first down from 2nd and 38 and score a touchdown.

Next week Tupelo continues their playoff run against the Madison Central Jaguars on Friday, November 17th.