Lamar School's J. T. McClelland cuts back across the field to pick up yardage against Starkville Academy Friday night.

Bolstered by the return of a pair of two-way starters, Will Roberts and J.T. McClellan, Lamar School rebounded from last week’s loss at Simpson Academy to surprise previously unbeaten Starkville Academy 31-13 at Lamar.

Roberts keyed the Raiders rout by catching three touchdown passes from quarterback Davis Harrison of 12, 37 and 63 yards and also had two key pass breakups at defensive back.

McClellan, meanwhile, ran for 57 yards, caught three passes for 36 more, and kept the opposite corner on defense quiet as Lamar improved to 3-1 with its most complete game of the season.

Raiders coach Mac Barnes was elated with the bounce back win from his team.

“Tell ya what, this is very good team in Starkville. They were in the state finals last year and return some really good players, and to be perfectly honest in looking at film — they are better than Simpson,” Barnes said. “That was a game we let get away from us. Tonight, we had so many variables. Chance Purvis didn’t practice at all. Clay Truelove was sick, Charlie Blue was sick. It was a physical game and with this heat out there, people are dehydrated and they are not recovering very quickly. Just so many question marks.”

Lamar, however, rose to the challenge, especially on defense in the first half. They held Starkville to just 13 net rushing yards, 29 passing yards and no points.

A 30-yard field goal by the Raiders’ Zachary Engell appeared it would be the only points of the half until a late drive was manufactured by Harrison. The Raider quarterback hit five of seven passes to start a 78-yard drive to reach Starkville 45.

A 15-yard roughing penalty on Starkville, followed by a 8-yard run by Harrison set up his 12-yard TD pass on a dart to Roberts who had slid to one knee to make the grab. Engell’s kick made it 10-0 with 20 seconds left in the half.

Lamar extended its lead when Harrison again found Roberts on two deep passes over the middle for scores of 37 and 63 yards. The TD tosses boosted the Raiders to a 24-0 lead 5:30 left in the third quarter.

Roberts, who finished with six catches for 127 yards and three TDs, said he came back from breaking his collarbone in July in a 7-on-7 contest.

“I ran into somebody in mid-July  and I was out six weeks,” Roberts said. “It felt good to get back, especially at home. It was fun to get a couple of break ups (on pass defense) and to step up.”

Roberts was proud of his three touchdowns.

“The second one, they were in a press man and I beat him off the press,” Roberts said. “The third one, they were in quarters and one of our guys ran a good route, the safety jumped, and I went by him.”

Roberts’ catch and runs made for a big night for Harrison who finished 18-of-32 for 230 yards.

“I should have thrown some balls better, but my receivers helped me out a lot,” Harrison said. “He (Roberts) ran a good route and got past the guy.”

Starkville got on the board with a 10-yard TD run by Houston Clark with 2:14 left in the third quarter to cut Lamar’s lead to 24-6.

The Raiders squashed any comeback hopes when Truelove returned an interception back 30 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter that made it 31-6 after Engell’s kick.

“We got our fourth defensive touchdown of the year there in the fourth quarter,” Barnes said. “That’s four defensive touchdowns and for most people, that’s a year’s worth, but we’ve done in four games. Our defense really played the run well.”

Starkville got 93 of its 176 rushing yards on the game’s final possession which resulted in Grant Wolfe’s 10-yard run with seven seconds left.