By Brandon Shields

COLLINSVILLE — It was just another day at the office for West Lauderdale’s Kayden Peoples and Travion Mosley.

The duo combined to rush for 250 yards to help lead West Lauderdale over Ripley 49-28 in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs at The Kingdom on Friday night.

The Knights (8-3) will host Houston in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs next Friday night.

“Offense was very productive, and I am so proud of them,” said West Lauderdale coach Brock Clay “Can’t say enough about them. They kept moving the chains and coming up big with some big plays.”

The Knights scored on the opening drive of the game as Peoples powered his way into the end zone from 1-yard out to take a 7-0 lead with 8:46 left in the opening quarter.

Mosley’s 61-yard punt return for a touchdown extended the West Lauderdale lead to 14-0 with 2:49 left in the first quarter.

Ripley cut the lead down to 14-7 on a 50-yard touchdown run by Ethan Adams with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Knights answered as Peoples found Ashton Ratcliff on a 53-yard touchdown pass to stretch their lead to 21-7 with 10:01 left in the second quarter.

Ripley cut the lead again down to 21-14 as Cohen Wright raced to the pylon from eight yards out with 5:40 left before halftime.

West Lauderdale answered again as Peoples raced 39 yards to the end zone to extend the lead to 28-14 with 3:56 left.

The Tigers scored on the opening drive of the second half as Jack Reid found Jordan Jackson on a 43-yard touchdown pass to cut the Knight lead to 28-21 with 10:30 left in the third quarter.

West Lauderdale quickly answered as Mosley dashed 63 yards to the end zone to extend the lead to 35-21.

Bryston Cox added a 7-yard touchdown run for Ripley to cut the Knights lead to 35-28 with 4:53 left.

Mosley then added his third touchdown of the night from two yards out to give West Lauderdale a 42-28 lead.

Peoples added a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Gaddy with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter to give the Knights the 49-28 lead and seal the game.

“I’m proud of how the kids fought, we had a lot of adversity this week with a lot of kids out in spots with injuries on defense and hopefully we can get some kids well for next week and iron some things out,” Clay said. “The team overcame a lot of adversity this week and found a way to win and get another home game next week.”

Peoples finished 6-of-9 passing for 121 yards with two touchdowns and added 80 yards rushing on 8 carries with two touchdowns to lead West Lauderdale.

Mosley added 170 yards rushing on 19 carries with three total touchdowns for the Knights.

“Our run game was iffy at first, but completing a couple passes early opened up the run game,” Peoples said. “Me and Travion just do what we do. We believe in each other and believe in the offensive line to get the job done. We get to move on and play the next week.”

Cox had 93 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown to lead Ripley, while Cox added 92 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown for the Tigers (2-9).