HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Alabama defeated Mississippi 40-10 on Saturday in the 39th annual Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Football Game at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the University of Southern Mississippi campus, extending its winning streak to six games in the series.
The victory gave Alabama a 28-11 lead in the all-time series.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted but to spend the week with these guys and these coaches was fantastic and I’m blessed,” said Mississippi Head Coach Ryan Earnest of Laurel. “It was a blessing. I got to be a coach and a fan today. Watching a lot of these guys on film and being a huge fan of them, and I got to coach them today.”
Alabama outscored Mississippi 20-0 in the second quarter to take control after trailing 3-0.
Mississippi scored first on a 30-yard field goal by Will Uselton of Hernando with 4:49 left in the first quarter after D’Iberville’s Caleb Triplett forced and recovered a fumble.
Alabama responded with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Landon Duckworth to Ce’Derian Morgan, a 7-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jaden Bush and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brock Bradley to Zion Crumpton to lead 20-3 at halftime.
Alabama extended the lead to 27-3 on a 20-yard touchdown run by Ezavier Crowell on the opening drive of the second half.
DeSoto Central’s Eric Perry scored on a 4-yard run to cut the deficit to 27-10 with 2:02 left in the third quarter.
Bradley threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Corey Barber and Duckworth added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
“I would’ve loved the outcome to be different but they made more plays than us,” said Earnest. “This means a lot to represent Mississippi in this game and to be a part of the most prestigious all-star game in the country. We told the guys all week to make memories and for five days they did that.”
Perry completed 5 of 9 passes for 38 yards and rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown to lead Mississippi.
Triplett was named Mississippi’s Most Valuable Player after recording a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a sack and a blocked punt.
“I just came out here and played my game and this is the result. It was crazy going up against the best from Alabama and to be the Mississippi MVP is amazing,” Triplett said. “I’m glad I came out here and played my best and represented D’Iberville.“
