Kobe Smith ran farther into West Point’s record books Friday night with his second showing of at least 300 yards this season.

Now, the unstoppable senior’s within realistic reach of the county’s rushing record.

Smith put on his latest show in a 49-21 pounding of Class 4A No. 8 Priceville, going off for 309 rushing yards and a quartet of touchdowns on 20 carries.

With the effort, the tailback, whose scores covered 26, 68, 50 and 81 yards, is up to 2,048 yards and 24 TDs on the ground on 240 total totes.

Don’t have a calculator handy? That comes out to a lofty average of 8.5 yards a carry.

More importantly, it puts Smith within just 166 yards of the Cullman County standard for most rushing yards in a single season. The record (2,214) has been held by Vinemont’s Ty Jones since 2013. He took it over from Hanceville’s Diamond Simmons, who had 2,106 the year earlier.

Smith will have the chance to etch his name in county history next week in the 5A playoffs, which the Warriors had believed they were out of as late as Thursday morning. That was about the time news spread of J.O. Johnson’s forfeiture of four region wins for using an ineligible player, ousting the Jaguars from the third seed and moving Lawrence County and West Point up from their original fourth and fifth positions.  

The Maroon and White (6-4) will head to 10th-ranked Alexandria (8-1) next Friday for the first round with a full head of steam following a pummeling of Priceville that featured a lot more standouts than solely Smith.

Tanner Rusk hit Hunter Appling for a 46-yard touchdown on third-and-32 to cap off the scoring late in the fourth. The quarterback also tossed a 31-yard TD to Cameron Moore, who returned the opening kickoff close to 80 yards for six points.

Rusk finished 8 of 16 for 160 yards and an interception. Moore, who also had a kickoff return for a touchdown the week prior, turned three catches into 72 yards, chipped in five carries for 49 rushing yards and even added an 18-yard pass to Brandon Farley for a 2-point conversion that’d been backed up by a penalty.

Tanner Young picked off a pass, and Ryan Smith, Austin Smith and Alex Hernandez were good for sacks. Aaron O’Neil and Moore were involved in tackles for losses. O’Neil also recovered a fumble.

Third-year head coach Don Farley had a laundry list of folks he felt were deserving of shoutouts, particularly the offensive line — Kobe Smith would certainly agree — and the coaching staff.

“When you have a 2,000-yard rusher and kickoffs being returned for touchdowns and all that, those things don’t happen unless everyone is doing their jobs,” he said.

---

Six-Man Football

Cullman Christian is heading back to the state championship.

The Lions dominated Clay County Christian Academy 64-14 in the first round of the playoffs on Friday night to set up a 2014 rematch against Victory Baptist.

Cullman Christian lost last year’s contest 42-0 but defeated the Eagles 14-12 back in September.

“It was a tough outing, but we had four turnovers, a few penalties and two touchdowns called back,” coach Chase Cantrell said. “These seniors know it’s their last chance to win. We’re real confident going into it.”

The Lions (9-0) had no such trouble with their opponent on Friday evening, thanks in large part to Brett Perry.

The senior had 236 rushing yards and four touchdowns on eight totes and added 38 receiving yards and two more scores for good measure. It didn’t stop there, either, as Perry nabbed nine tackles and a pick on the defensive side of the ball.

Teammate Luke Barlow (nine carries for 143 yards, two touchdowns and eight tackles) and quarterback Will Siegenthaler (79 yards passing, two scores, 44 rushing yards and four tackles) also had big days.

The championship game will take place in Prattville at 7 p.m. Friday.

---

Middle School Basketball

Vinemont moved to 2-0 on the young season following a 46-30 victory against Parkside on Thursday night.

Eighth-grader Jayden Sullins scored a squad-high 26 points for the Red and White, while Katch Johnson contributed six.

Parkside’s Cade Stevens collected 12 points, while Jack Brown and J.T. White each had seven.