Hayti football team beats Caruthersville 26-16 to win new Battle of the Bootheel trophy

Photo provided by Jerry and Kim Taylor
The Hayti football team with the new Battle of the Bootheel rivalry trophy after beating Caruthersville 26-16 Friday night.

The annual Battle of the Bootheel between the Hayti Indians and Caruthersville Tigers took place on Friday night at Hopke Field. This season, the teams were playing for a new Battle of the Bootheel Trophy, which the winner would hold for at least a year until the next meeting. The project was spearheaded by Mark Manley with the assistance of the Hayti and Caruthersville Booster Clubs.

Hayti won the toss and deferred their possession until the second half. The Tigers took advantage of that decision as Jermaine Alexander took the opening kickoff 90 yards to put the Tigers out front 8-0 after the two-point conversion. The back and forth tug of war would continue with no progress until 4:25 left in the first quarter when Hayti scored on a five-yard TD run from running back Adreian Stevenson. The two-point try was unsuccessful and Caruthersville led 8-6, a score that would remain unchanged until the second half.

In the third quarter, Hayti pushed down the field until they found the end zone again courtesy of Stevenson on a two-yard touchdown run to take their first lead of the night, 12-8. However, the Tigers' special teams would strike again less than three minutes later on a 65-yard punt return touchdown by Dundi Hamilton. The two-point conversion was good and Caruthersville led once again, 16-12. Just 47 seconds later, Hayti would respond with a 64-yard touchdown run by Stevenson, his third on the night, and take the final lead change of the night, 18-16. Hayti's Trevontae Stevenson would provide the Indians a little breathing room on a 32-yard touchdown run. Hayti would finally convert a two-point attempt and take a 26-16 lead with 11:16 left in the game. The Hayti defense would then shutdown Caruthersville for the rest of the game to secure the victory and be the first to hold the Battle of the Bootheel trophy.

Leading the way for the Tigers were Dundi Hamilton (65 yard punt return for a TD, 4 catches for 81 yards), Jermaine Alexander (90 yard kickoff return for a TD, 3 carries for 32 yards), Ja'Marion Rodgers (10 carries for 64 yards) and Devin Russell (7/20 passing for 124 yards, 3 INTs and 10 carries for 25 yards). On defense, Hamilton led the way with 9 tackles (7 solo, 4 assists, 1.5 for a loss), Billy Cobb had 7.5 tackles (5 solo, 5 assists, 1 for a loss) and Desmond Davis had 7 tackles (6 solo, 2 assists, 1 sack, 4.5 for a loss).

For the Hayti Indians, leaders on offense were Adreian Stevenson (20 carries for 105 yards, 3 TDs), Trevontae Stevenson (6 carries for 75 yards, 1 TD), TreCharles McCoy (18 carries for 143 yards) and Trayvon Thomas (13/20 passing for 128 yards, 7 carries for 39 yards). Defensive leaders were Adreian Stevenson (5 solo tackles, 2 for a loss), Trevontae Stevenson (3 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack, 1 for a loss), Kortavion Johnson (3 solo tackles, 1 interception) and Elijah Burnette (2 interceptions).

Caruthersville falls to 6-2 on the season and will host the 5-3 NMCC Eagles to close out the regular season this Friday night.

The Hayti Indians improve to 7-1 and will host the 2-6 Portageville Bulldogs on Friday night.

Hayti 26, Caruthersville 16

Photo provided by Jerry and Kim Taylor
Hayti's TreCharles McCoy tries to cut around the Caruthersville defense in Hayti's 26-16 victory Friday night.