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FAYETTE — Jefferson County High School senior quarterback Marques Smith threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers took care of the Humphreys County High School Cowboys 46-20 in the season opener Friday night.

Smith completed seven of 13 passes with just one interception as Jefferson County jumped out to a 34-6 halftime lead and never looked back. The Tigers scored 16 points in the first quarter and 18 points in the second quarter.

Humphreys County (0-1) couldn’t do much offensively until the fourth quarter, but by then the game was completely out of reach. The Cowboys did score two touchdowns in that quarter to make the final score more respectable.

Kendrick January had three catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns while Jamar Kaho Jr. had two receptions for 80 yards and two scores. Jamarion Claiborne led the Tigers’ ground game with 47 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.

Xavian Williams had seven tackles and one interception while Evan Murphy had three tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery and one touchdown to lead the defense.

Jefferson County (1-0) plays at Crystal Springs High School at 7 p.m. Friday.

WCCA 24

Riverdale Academy 22

WOODVILLE — For the second year in a row, Riverdale Academy gave Wilkinson County Christian Academy all it could handle. And for the second year in a row, WCCA escaped with a close victory.

This time it was the defense that saved the day for the Rams in a 24-22 victory Friday night despite being shut out in the second half and losing three fumbles to the Rebels on kickoffs.

Not only that, Riverdale outgained WCCA 217 yards to 173 yards and won the turnover battle five to four. Yet one of the Rebels’ own turnovers proved to be huge as Roderick Bailey intercepted a Witt Almond pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown with 5:14 left in the second quarter. Ben Sessions added the extra point for a 21-7 lead.

The Rebels jumped out to an 8-0 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter on a 13-yard run by Almond and his two-point conversion pass to Jake Messenger. However, the Rams struck quickly on an 81-yard punt return by KeKe Anderson with 55 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Andrew Sessions scored on a one-yard run, but the extra point was blocked, giving WCCA a 14-8 with 8:00 left in the second quarter.

Almond got Riverdale (1-2) back in the game with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jake Messenger and Paul Messenger ran in for the two-point conversion wit 1:25 to go until halftime to make it a 21-16 game.

Ben Sessions made a 27-yard field goal with just seconds left until halftime and the Rams led 24-16 at the break.

The only score of the second half was a 40-yard touchdown pass from Witt Almond to Parker Almond with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter, but the two-point conversion pass that would have tied the game at 24-all fell incomplete and the Rams maintained their two-point lead from that point on.

Andrew Sessions went 9-for-16 passing for 135 yards and two interceptions. Anderson had two carries for 35 yards as well as four catches for 73 yards to go. Bailey had three catches for 60 yards as well as nine tackles, one interception, and one sack on defense.

Ryan Fisher had a team-leading 10 tackles, RJ Fisher had six tackles and one fumble recovery, and Hayden Oliveaux had six tackles.

WCCA (3-0) will take on Union Christian Academy Friday at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined. A decision on that will be made Sunday night.

“We started preparing for them last week when we found out Bowling Green canceled last week. We’ve concentrated on defensive responsibilities. On offense, we need to control the line of scrimmage. It’s going to be a sloppy field. Being able to stop the ball and run our plays.”

North Pike 63

Franklin County 13

MEADVILLE — It was a rough Friday night for the Franklin County High School Bulldogs in their season opener as they lost the North Pike High School Jaguars 63-13.

Franklin County was held to 243 yards of total offense and turned the ball over four times. And for the second year in a row, North Pike’s rushing attack had its way with the Bulldogs’ defense to the tune of 269 yards and six total touchdowns.

Despite being picked off three times, Bulldogs junior quarterback Ja’marlin Green had a seven-yard touchdown run for the game’s first touchdown and he threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Louis Davis late in the third quarter.

North Pike (1-0), on the other hand, racked up 420 yards of total offense and did not turn the ball over even once. The Jaguars even scored on an 81-yard kickoff return and a 25-yard interception return.

Green was one of the Bulldogs’ leading rushers with 58 yards on 17 carries. Josh Ford had five carries for 74 yards.

Franklin County (0-1) hosts Wesson Attendance Center Friday at 7 p.m.