By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

MOBILE, Ala. — Despite the best efforts of George County’s Deuce Knight, Mississippi lost its fourth straight game to neighboring Alabama Saturday afternoon.

Home-standing Alabama took a comeback 35-29 win over Mississippi in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Football Classic here at Hancock/Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama.

Alabama now leads the annual affair at 27-11 all-time after the finish at the 38th annual affair.

Knight, who is headed to Auburn next year, finished the game with just over 300 yards of toal offense and three total touchdowns. However, University of Texas signee K.J. Lacey, Alabama’s starting quarterback from Saraland High School, out-dueled Knight as he completed 21-of-36 passes with four touchdown throws in the winning effort.

Trailing 29-25 almost mid-way through the fourth frame, Lacey hooked up with his high school teammate Carson Gill on a 29-yard touchdown toss to give the home team a lead it would never relinquish at 32-29.

Alabama’s Cleat Forrest ended the scoring with a 32-yard field goal with 3:15 to play to make it 35-29.

With one last chance to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat, Alabama cornerback Anquan Feggins out of Brimingham Thompson picked off Knight at mid-field with 1:35 to play to seal the deal.

“Just a great game between two really good football teams,” Alabama head coach Jeff Kelly of Saraland as well said. Kelly is a former starting quarterback at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“Blow by blow and back and forth,” he added. “You can’t ask for much more than that in an all-star game.”

Mississippi came into the second half up 19-15, but Alabama scored on its opening drive of the second half when Forrest hit a 32-yard field goal to cut the deficit to just one at 19-18 with 7:06 left in third frame.

But Mississippi place-kicker Evan Noel of St. Stanislaus responded and pushed the lead back to that four points when he nailed a 30-yard field goal with 1:22 left in the period and the teams went into the fourth period at 22-18.

Just as he did to open the third quarter, Lacey did the same early in the final period as he marched Alabama down the field and scored on a 26-yard scoring strike to Gill to put his team up 25-22 with 10 minutes to play.

But Knight and Mississippi responded, as he capped off a seven play, 75-yard scoring march with 55-yard scoring scamper to return the lead to his team at 29-25 with 8:02 to go and set the stage for Lacey again and the climactic ending.

The teams went into halftime at that 19-15 count after Knight scored on a 1-yard keeper and threw a 33-yard touchdown toss to Warren Central’s Maddox Lynch.

Meanwhile, Lacey threw two first half scoring passes including a 26-yarder to University of Miami signee Daylyn Upshaw of Central-Phenix City as well as a a 4-yarder to Montgomery Carver’s T.K. Norman.

The difference in the first half was when the Alabama punter dropped a snap in the end zone and Mississippi defensive lineman Anthony Hopson Jr, of Neshoba Central fell on it for a touchdown to put Mississippi up 12-7 with 7:02 left in the second stanza.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Lacy took home Alabama Most Valuable Player honors and Knight did the same with 176 yards passing and 139 yards rushing and three total touchdowns and was named the Mississippi MVP.