By Brad Greer

North Delta had a rather simple game plan heading into Friday night’s opening round of the Academy AA playoffs against Manchester.

Let the offense  control tempo of the game, jump out to an early lead then turn the contest over to a ball-hawking defense that had allowed just 14 points in the last three games.

 Those two components worked perfectly as the Green Wave jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead in route to a 34-0 blanking of the Mavericks. With the win, the Green Wave advances to the second round of the playoffs Friday night where they travel to Mendenhall for the second year in a row to face the No. 3 ranked Simpson Academy Cougars. Simpson eased past Lamar 35-14 last Friday in the first round.

“We are definitely excited to be meeting them (Simpson) again,” said North Delta fullback/linebacker Michael Magee. “They beat us last year so we feel like we owe them something. It is going to be a tremendous challenge for us but it is something we are looking forward to. They have one, if not the best, running back in the state so we have got to be ready to stop him,” said Magee who rushed for 26 yards while leading the Green Wave defense with eight tackles and one quarterback sack.

After forcing Manchester to punt on the opening series, North Delta wasted little time getting on the board as senior quarterback Bryan Nickle raced 73 yards on the first play from scrimmage to the Maverick two yard-line. One play later, senior running back Tres Brasell scored from two yards out for a 7-0 Green Wave lead after Kyle Devazier kicked the first of four successful point after attempts.

North Delta increased its lead less than two minutes later when defensive back John Cody Dalrymple picked a deflected pass off the fingertips of Manchester tight end Russ Allen and raced 40 yards into the endzone to make the score 14-0.

The Green Wave padded its lead to 21-0 late in the first quarter as Nickle connected with Jim Tom Copeland on a 24-yard touchdown reception with 3:08 showing on the clock. The drive was set up by Nickle’s 42-yard punt return to the Manchester 25. Nickle finished the night with 91 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown while passing for 42 yards through the air. Copeland hauled in two passes for 35 yards to lead the receiving corps.

After a scoreless second quarter, North Delta, (9-1), put the game away late in the third quarter as Brasell took a pitch-out from Nickle and walked into the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown run with 1:52 remaining in the stanza to complete a nine-play, 69-yard drive that took 4:01 seconds off the clock.

Nickle tacked on the last score at the 5:01 mark of the fourth quarter with a one-yard plunge to make the score 34-0 after Devazier’s PAT sailed wide left.

The Green Wave defense was again rock-solid as they held Manchester to 96 total yards of offense which included 64 yards on the ground and 22 yards through the air. Sy Pritchard and Blake Snyder registered two quarterback sacks each as the North Delta defense sacked Maverick quarterback Matt Peaster eight times in the game.

Brasell followed Nickle in rushing with 96 yards on 16 carries while Taylor “Lightning” Morris added 59 yards on six totes.

Dalrymple had two carries for six yards and Catlin McArthur had one carry for three yards. Magee and Kasey Livingston each had one reception.

The Green Wave pounded out 257 yards on the ground and 299 total yards of offense.

See the complete Mississippi Association of Independent Schools 2A bracket on B11 of today’s edition.