Hope QB Smith finds TD touch

MAGNOLIA — Hope senior quarterback Drew Smith accounted for 376 yards and all seven touchdowns as the Bobcats (4-6, 3-4 5A-South) beat rival Magnolia 49-13 Friday at Panther Stadium.

Smith was 16 of 23 passing for 329 yards (304 in the first half) and 6 touchdowns, while rushing for 47 yards and the other score. He completed 13 consecutive passes at one point.

“He’s a really tough kid,” Hope Coach Jay Turley said of Smith. “He took some real shots, but he got the ball to our receivers and I was real proud of him.”

Magnolia (0-10, 0-7) fumbled at its 6 on the first play, and Smith ran around the right end for the 7-0 lead.

Smith and the Bobcats offense, though, sputtered early. He hit just two of his first eight passes and had an interception. Meanwhile, Magnolia was using Justin Dockery in the Wildcat, driving 77 yards to tie on his 6-yard run.

It took Hope six plays to answer with Smith’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Love. But Dockery ran 75 yards on Magnolia’s first play to pull the Panthers within 14-13. Two plays later, Smith hit Javon Westmorland with a 57-yard touchdown pass, then threw 37 yards to K.J. Thompson for a 28-13 lead.

Smith hit Thompson with a 19-yard scoring pass on the next possession and threw a 4yard scoring pass to Dewayne Jones just before halftime. He added a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kerrick Brown to start the running clock for the mercy rule.

“I felt like we probably needed to get it in the hands of our best athletes, and our best athletes are receivers,” Turley said. “We had a hard time protecting early, but we picked up some of their blitzes and did a good job.”

Dockery rushed for 156 yards on 16 carries for Magnolia, 148 in the first half.