Columbus High School football coach Randal Montgomery likes rivalry games.
Columbus plays Lowndes County rival New Hope early each season. The rest of the non-region schedule usually includes area teams, such as Noxubee County and West Point.
While the area has several quality teams on an annual basis, fans get to not only see a good game but see a game close to home.
“The fans get to see us play,” Montgomery said. “That is the biggest thing. We have either four or five non-region games every year and we want to play them as close to home as possible.”
In the Mississippi High School Activities Association ranks, both Classes 6A and 5A have 32 members each.
This means Columbus and Starkville High (in Class 6A) and New Hope and West Point (in Class 5A) travel many miles once region play starts the sixth week of the regular season.
Columbus this season will play two of its seven region games in DeSoto County, just shy of Memphis — roughly 200 miles away. The other two region road trips are somewhat better, with South Panola (140 miles) and Tupelo (70 miles) being closer.
While Columbus is in Class 6A, Region 1, Starkville remains in Class 6A, Region 2. The region trips there are slightly better with the majority of that region being based in the Jackson-area. The longest trip for Starkville will be a 150-mile trek to Vicksburg to play Warren Central.
“You really worry about the kids after such a long bus ride,” Starkville first-year coach Ricky Woods said. “I think the biggest challenge is to come out with a fast start after such a long ride.”
Noxubee County is in a different situation playing in Class 4A. The Tigers are in Class 4A, Region 4. The region trips for the Tigers are all within an hour of Macon.
Veteran coach Tyrone Shorter has always played a challenging non-region schedule. When it comes time to fill those slots, travel is not a worry.
This season, Shorter had three open dates on his schedule, so he was open to the possibility of traveling. He said the game against Aledo High (Texas) was scheduled before the games against Meridian and Kemper County. Shorter had problems scheduling games against teams from Mississippi because many schools didn’t want to play Noxubee County, the reigning Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state champion.
“When I got the phone call from the people in Texas, I thought about it for a minute and was like, ‘That is a long trip. That is a long way,'” Shorter said. “But then you think about the kids and this is a great opportunity. As coaches, this is a nightmare for us trying to plan the trip, to make sure everything is right, and making sure our kids are focused and are going to take care of business.”
Shorter said the Tigers toured the city and visited the campus of Texas Christian University. He said the school’s booster club helped raise money for the trip, as did the parents of the players, who came up with fundraisers to help fund the trip.
While the games against Class 6A Meridian and Class 3A Kemper County required only approximately 60 and 30 miles, respectively, the trip to Aledo, Texas, came in at nearly 600 miles (580 miles according to mapquest.com) and more than nine hours — one way.
Aledo, Texas, the reigning Class 5A, Division I state champion, beat Noxubee County 10-6 on Sept. 4. Shorter wanted the trip to be an experience for his players because he said about 70 percent of the 75 players who went on the trip had probably never been out of Mississippi. He said that wasn’t a problem because the Tigers’ coaching staff did a great job of controlling the players and keeping an eye on them.
For New Hope coach Kris Pickle and West Point coach Chris Chambless a large majority of their travel planning takes place once the teams get inside Class 5A, Region 1 competition. Again, DeSoto County is the main destination with both schools being asked to travel better than two hours for all region games, except two.
“It takes a different mind-set to win games on the road when you are that far at home,” Chambless said. “You know you won’t have as many fans or students there. You have to have some self-starters. You have to have some guys ready to bring the energy. You really have to play the game and create your own energy. The championship teams are able to do that.”
Sports editor Adam Minichino contributed to this report.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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