By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – Jackson Prep’s Wade Smith set a personal high with 188 rushing yards in last week’s season opening win over UMS Wright of Mobile.
It didn’t take long for him to break it.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior running back gained 231 yards and scored four touchdowns – all in the second half – to lead Prep to its second straight victory with a 38-24 win over defending MAIS Class 4A, Division II state champion Parklane Academy Friday night before an estimated 3,000 at Patriot Field.
Prep – ranked No. 3 in MAIS Class 4A and No. 14 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – improved to 2-0 after 42-35 victory over UMS Wright in the season opener. Parklane – ranked No. 5 in the MAIS Class 4A and No. 40 in Mississippi – dropped to 0-2. The Pioneers lost to Gulf Shores High 30-21 last week in Gulf Shores.
Prep had this game circled since last year when Parklane defeated Prep 18-7 at Parklane in McComb. It was the first win for Parklane in the series since 1995 and ended a 31-game losing streak in the series. It is the first time Parklane has lost two games in a row since the 2022 season. The Pioneers had won 23 of their last 25 games entering this season.
For the second straight week, Prep’s offensive line of junior left tackle Jack Woods (6-foot-3, 280 pounds), senior left guard Manning Parks (6-1, 240), senior center Bernie Jones (6-2, 250), junior right guard Logan Harris (6-1, 220) and senior right tackle Jackson Roberts (6-4, 280) controlled the line of scrimmage and produced 453 total yards, 339 rushing and 114 passing. A week ago, Prep had 450 total yards, 335 rushing and 115 passing.
Smith, who had 31 carries a week ago, was the workhorse again with 26 carries Friday. He scored on runs of 60, 38 and 2 yards – all in a 6 minute span in the fourth quarter – and caught a 37-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Luke Essary in the third quarter. Smith caught two passes for 55 yards. In two games, Smith has 419 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards and scored seven TDs. He is on his way to another 1,000 yard season. Smith gained 1,074 yards and scored 16 TDs last year as a junior.
Smith’s Friday night performance was short of the school record of 305 yards, held by Jay Liles against Pillow Academy in 2000.
“Wade ran it well,” said Prep coach Doug Goodwin, who has a 43-11 record in five seasons at Prep after winning 234 games in his 27-year head coaching career in Alabama and being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. “He’s fast and runs hard. Most importantly, Wade has a big heart. Our line, fullback (Brogen McCluskey) and tight end (Rowland Primos) all blocked well. Parklane is a hard nosed group. Their coaches do a great job. There is no quit in those guys.”
“My offensive line gets the credit again like last week,” Smith said. “This game was extra big for us because they beat us last year. We’re just happy to stay undefeated and go into Week Three with a 1-0 mentality.”
“One thing that I believe has helped us run the ball is the experience and chemistry between our offensive line,” Parks said. “Most all of us started last year so coming back with a year of experience has helped us a ton. Everyone is on the same page and we’ve done a good job of blocking the linebackers whether that’s double teaming a linebacker or finding them in open space. Having that chemistry has helped have successful double teams. What makes Wade such a good runner is his ability to cut back. He has a knack for finding cutback lanes and once he gets that first step, he’s gone. It’s a good feeling knowing he can find the open space and take off. It’s also great to have Herrin Goodman. Herrin’s very shifty and makes people miss so it’s great to have the dual threat of those two guys.”
Prep’s other scores came from an 8-yard pass from Essary to Jude Hayden in the first quarter for a 7-7 tie and sophomore Jett Ngo’s 42-yard field goal – his first field goal attempt of his high school career – for a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
Senior linebacker Gaines Reeves led Prep with 16 tackles, senior linebacker Brogen McCluskey had 14 tackles and senior linebacker Owen Brown had 13 tackles.
Parklane coach Ron Rushing – who has won three state titles (in 2024 and 2025 with Parklane and 2014 with Natchez Cathedral) and is in his sixth season in McComb – is going after his third state title in a row.
“I was proud of the effort we played with tonight,” Rushing said. “We have played two great teams and programs and have had a chance to win both going into the fourth quarter. Our schedule is about getting ready for a chance to win three championships in a row (Parklane plays Oct. 2 at Baton Rouge Dunham and Alabama commitment Elijah Haven, rated the No. 1 player in Louisiana and the No. 3 quarterback in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports). Not chasing wins, but preparing for another run. (Freshman quarterback and Brookhaven Academy transfer) Reece (Robinson) had a great night and showed why he is getting a lot of attention. I thought our line played excellent minus a few plays. (Junior) Parker Robinson had a great game at center in his first varsity start. (Senior) James Hollis Smith showed why he is so valuable to us playing his third position on the offensive line. He started at center last year and last week and played right tackle and left tackle last night. We had multiple skill guys step up and make big plays. That’s what playing a tough schedule makes you do. (Junior) DJ Brown showed some really good things at running back, also.”
Reece Robinson – who has already received his first Division I offer from Mississippi native and former Southern Miss coach Will Hall, now head coach at Tulane – completed 6 of 16 passes for 97 yards and TD passes of 15 yards to Kardez Copeland in the first quarter for a 7-0 Parklane lead and 6 yards to Hayden Williams in the fourth quarter to close the Prep lead to 31-24.
Junior Nick Young returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score to open the third quarter for Parklane, which had 238 yards on five kickoff returns, an average of 47.6 yards per return. Brown had 84 yards on 11 carries.
