Photos by Robert Smith
Story by Robert Wilson
Taylorsville senior quarterback Ty Keyes ended his spectacular high school career with another outstanding performance.

Keyes passed for 177 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 19 yards and two scores to lead Taylorsville to a 42-0 victory over Calhoun City and its second straight MHSAA Class 2A state championship Saturday afternoon at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.

Taylorsville, which finished 12-1 with its only loss to Class 5A finalist West Jones, won its third state title in the past four seasons and eighth in school history. Saturday’s win was the largest victory margin in a MHSAA state championship game since South Panola defeated Oak Grove 56-14 in 2009. Calhoun City, which was trying for its first state title since 2016, finished 10-3.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Keyes, the Class 3A Mr. Football who has verbally committed to Tulane, completed 13 of 20 passes for 177 yards and ran three times for 19 yards. He completed TD passes of 14 yards and 28 yards to senior wide receiver Tyrese Keyes and 30 yards to senior running back Jeffery Pittman. Ty Keyes had TD runs of 5 yards and 1 yard. The 5-yard TD run gave Taylorsville a 42-0 lead with 10 minutes to play. Pittman gained 162 yards on 12 carries and ran for a 97-yard TD. Ty Keyes finished the season with 2,496 yards and 30 TDs.

Calhoun City’s most serious threat to score was in the second quarter, trailing 13-0. The Wildcats had first and goal at the Taylorsville 3, but couldn’t move the ball on three running plays and a fourth pass fell incomplete. Pittman then ran 97 yards for a TD and a 20-0 Taylorsville lead. Taylorsville led 28-0 at halftime.