In another game that featured a wet, soggy playing surface, the Itawamba AHS Indians took another stride toward their goal of a Division 1-4A championship with a 28-7 win over the Tishomingo County Braves in Iuka last Friday night.

Junior quarterback Maikhail Miller accounted for all four of the Indian touchdowns including a pair of TD tosses to tight end Dillon Mitchell. Miller also ran for two more.

The Indians took the opening kick and began a drive at their own 32 and took only four plays to get on the board. Ashton Shumpert picked up 14 yards on the first play, then Miller followed suit with a 19-yard run to place the ball at the Tishomingo County 35.

Then Miller connected with Jimmy Ruff for a 9-yard pass, but the Indians were hit with a 5-yard false start penalty to bring up a 2nd and 6. Miller dropped back and fired a perfect ball to a wide-open Mitchell, who made a great over-the-shoulder catch, and he stumbled into the endzone for a 33-yard touchdown. A penalty on the extra point against the Braves led to a 2-point conversion attempt, but it failed, leaving the score at 6-0.

The Indian defense continued to play at a high level and swamped the Braves offense after a decent gain on their first play.

An intentional grounding call against Tishomingo County forced the Braves into a 4th and 31 punt from midfield.

Starting at the Braves 34, Miller fired a bomb that a streaking Asian Ruff hauled in for a 57-yard gain before his momentum carried him out of bounds at the Tishomingo County 9 yard line.

On the next play, Miller called his own number with a quarterback draw. The 6-foot-3, 235-lb. junior lowered his shoulder and absolutely flattened a Brave defender as he trucked into the endzone for the Indians' second touchdown. The two-point conversion was good, as Miller hit Devonta Jackson on a quick out route to bring the score to 14-0, where it stood until the end of the first quarter.

Two big tackles in the backfield recorded by Shumpert and Dan Huddleston handed the Braves another long fourth and 9 from near midfield, but a penalty against IAHS rewarded them with a more manageable 4th and 4.

The Braves were unable to convert, as the pass fell incomplete, turning the ball back over to the Indian offense at the IAHS 37.

Miller and Jackson picked up good yards on consecutive rushes to move the ball into Brave territory. Miller then fired a strike to Jackson for 15 yards and a first down at the Brave 26, but on the next play a pass was intercepted to turn the ball over to Tishomingo County at their own 23.

The Indian defense didn't allow much on the next Tishomingo County possession, as a nice open-field tackle by Kevin Marks and another tackle for a loss by Trae Bobo halted the drive and forced a Brave punting situation.

The punt was muffed, allowing Tishomingo County to recover and retain possession, but Huddleston broke up a pass attempt and a flag forced a passing situation.

On third and 15, Marks intercepted a Brave pass and returned it 83-yards for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a block in the back. The penalty negated the big return, but it handed the ball to the Indians at their own 30.

The Indians punted right back to the Braves after a three and out. Then Tishomingo County returned the favor with a fumble that was recovered deep in Brave territory by Bobo.

With a first and 10 from the Brave 15, Deshawn McGaughy and Shumpert powered the ball to the 1-yard line where Miller kept the ball on a sneak to score his second rushing touchdown of the game. Glynn Brown added the extra point for a 21-0 score.

Nick Stegall and Matt Harris recorded back-to-back quarterback sacks on Tishomingo County's next possession and forced a punt back to the Indians.

The Indians took over at the Brave 23, where Miller connected with Mitchell on two pass plays to eat up all the yards between them and the goal line. The second was an 8-yard TD strike in the back of the endzone, and Brown's extra point gave IAHS a 28-0 lead going into the half.

With the game seemingly in hand, the IAHS starters called it a night early while the JV went in to close it out.

Running backs Brandon Chambers and freshman Charles Moore had some nice runs out of the IAHS backfield to eat up most of the clock to help preserve the Indian victory.

Although the Braves finally struck against the defense with a 52-yard run with 2:59 in the third quarter, that's all they would get as the youngsters closed the deal with a 28-7 final score.

The win propelled the Indians to an 8-0 record overall, with a 3-0 record inside division 1-4A. The win also sets up next week's showdown with Pontotoc, and the much anticipated season finale against the Shannon Red Raiders.

Around 1-4A, Shannon and Pontotoc engaged in a contest between the other two unbeaten teams, with the Red Raiders edging the Warriors 25-13 at Shannon. New Albany also throttled North Pontotoc, 42-20.

Next week, along with the IAHS/Pontotoc matchup at Indian Stadium, Tishomingo County travels to North Pontotoc with both teams looking to break into the win column and keep their playoff hopes alive, and Shannon will travel to New Albany.

Homecoming activities will take place during halftime of this week's game against Pontotoc. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.