Lausanne reaches a lofty milestone with its blowout win over Harding Academy

Nov. 13, 2015.

That’s the last time Lausanne experienced the bitter taste of defeat. Since then, the Lynx have won 29 consecutive games, which includes Friday’s 49-7 clobbering of Harding Academy.

The aforementioned winning streak is now the longest in history by a Shelby County school, breaking Memphis University School’s 28-game stretch.

Like many of Lausanne’s victories throughout the unprecedented run of success, running back Eric Gray stole the show. On the team’s first two plays from scrimmage, he scored touchdowns of 52 and 92 yards respectively. The Michigan commitment finished the night with 321 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns.

In two games this season, Gray has rushed for 569 yards and six touchdowns. He needs 30 more scores to break the Tennessee record for career touchdowns.

Quarterback Sky Forest provided a pair of rushing touchdowns and added a couple of touchdown tosses as well.

The 2-0 Lynx will face Whitehaven at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7 at Rhodes College. 

Is ECS for real?

By virtue of its 47-7 blowout over First Assembly Christian on Friday, the Eagles are inching closer to declaring themselves back.

The win is ECS’ third in three games this season, making the Eagles 3-0 for the first time since 2011. They’ve outscored their opponents (Knoxville Webb, Hillcrest and FACS) 105-31.

Jonas Rodriguez’s team spread the wealth in what was the Division II AA West Region opener for both squads. Jaylen Greenwood scored three times, while Matthew McMeans and Joseph Welch put up a pair of touchdowns.

“We’ve had a number of guys step up and take on the load of moving the football and scoring,” Rodriguez said. “We’re playing two quarterbacks right now and we’ve got good depth at running back, receiver and a few other spots. We’ve got guys buying into sharing roles, so it’s really been a team effort. And that makes us harder to defend.”

ECS hosts St. George’s (1-2) at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7.

TRA road warriors early on

The schedule makers have made things difficult for Tipton-Rosemark Academy, as the Rebels are playing their first four games of the 2018 season on the road.

But, after a narrow loss at Gibson County in Week 1 and 42-point setback to Davidson Academy, TRA got back on the winning track with Friday’s 62-12 victory over Rossville Christian.

The Rebels meant business from start, getting an 83-yard kickoff return from Howard Gray for a touchdown. Gray would rush for another score, yet he wasn’t the only TRA player with multiple TDs. Mac Fullen had a pair on the ground, while Clayton Brown did too, but he also hauled in a 29-yard scoring strike from QB Peyton Ryan.

Jake Roane and Ryan Hill added TDs for the Rebels, who visit Greenfield next week before hosting Zion Christian on Sept. 14.

Pare a dangerous weapon

Houston rebounded from a three-touchdown loss at Germantown last week by taking down Arlington 48-21 in the Region 7-6A opener for both teams.

The Mustangs rode the legs of halfback Lincoln Pare, who scored five touchdowns a week after scoring at least twice on runs of 60 yards or more versus Germantown.

Houston is off to a 2-1 start under first-year coach James Thomas, a longtime Mustangs assistant who is just the school’s fourth head coach. Thomas, a Houston alum, will lead his team against Bolton (0-3) at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7.

Collierville QB leads the way

The famed Collierville student section must have loved every minute of this one.

The Dragons hosted Bartlett in the Region 7-6A opener for both teams, and by the time the dust settled, there were 633 passing yards in a 34-20 Collierville victory.

Getting the job done for the Dragons (2-1) was junior quarterback Mitch Austin, who lit up the night sky by completing 25 of 37 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was Justin Stonework. The senior finished his evening with 11 catches for 209 yards and two scores.

Doing his best to help the Panthers secure their first region win since Halloween 2014 was senior QB Preston Raines and his 293 yards through the air on 13 of 26 attempts. Raines tossed three touchdowns, including a pair to Dailan Jones.

Both schools are at home next week, with Collierville against Germantown and Bartlett (2-1) entertaining Sheffield.

Chris Van Tuyl contributed to this report.