Ray Weeks is counting on two hours of hard work to erase a decade of bad memories tonight.
That’s when Weeks hopes his Hamilton High School football team will be able to secure a home playoff game with a victory at East Webster.
“They haven’t hosted a playoff game here since 2001,” said Weeks, whose Lions (8-1) lead the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A, Region 2 standings with Ackerman (3-0). Those two will square off Oct. 28 in Hamilton in a game that could decide the league championship.
For now, though, Weeks is keeping his team focused on East Webster (5-4, 2-1 region), which is vying for one of the region’s four spots in the MHSAA Class 2A North State playoffs.
“We are trying not to look too far ahead and just staying focused on the next game,” Weeks said. “We have been reminding them East Webster is a good football team and we can’t afford to be thinking about anything other than them.”
Hamilton is riding a six-game winning streak that includes a 32-6 victory against Class 2A, Region 2 foe Eupora two weeks ago.
Weeks said his team’s strong record was something he and the coaching staff had hoped would come to fruition as the Lions matured.
“We knew we had a chance to be a pretty decent ballclub,” he said. “We have had this group since the seventh grade. In junior high they went undefeated.”
Weeks said the team’s chemistry is solid. “They work hard together and continue to get better,” he said.
East Webster is on a two-game winning streak that includes victories against winless J.Z. George (28-0) and Williams-Sullivan (49-0). Its league loss was a 35-19 defeat at the hands of Ackerman three weeks ago. Following the match-up against Hamilton, East Webster will close the regular season against Eupora.
Hamilton has scored at least 30 points seven times this season, and has had a minimum of three touchdowns in every game.
“We have been creating turnovers and that’s really helped us,” Weeks said, “and our offense has been executing a little better.”
Hamilton had no trouble against J.Z. George (0-9) last week, building a 30-0 lead after one quarter.
“That’s one thing we have been talking to them about,” Weeks said. “We know we need to get a quick start and take control of the game, and we did that last week. Hopefully that’s what we can continue to do.”
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