ABERDEEN — For the third consecutive week, the Aberdeen High School football team will face off against the son of a former Bulldog football player.
In a 21-0 loss to Columbus in the season opener, junior running back Kevin Jackson, Jr. was the game’s leading rusher with 96 yards on 17 carries. His namesake, Kevin Jackson, Sr., graduated from Aberdeen High in 1985 and was a varsity starter for the Bulldogs.
Last week, Aberdeen defeated Shannon 26-13 and, although he didn’t start the game, junior quarterback John Thomas Peugh came off the bench to complete 6 of 14 passes for a team-high 90 yards.
His father, Stephen Peugh, affectionately known as “Bug,” graduated from Aberdeen in 1982 and played defensive back for three years under long-time head coach Thomas Pierce. He taught and coached in the Shannon district starting in 1990 and is currently the Lee County vocational director.
Stephen’s parents and John Thomas’ grandparents, Janette and Bill Peugh, both retired from the Aberdeen school system after serving over 35 years as administrators – Janette as principal and Bill, who died in 2008, as the school’s guidance counselor.
Fast forward to this week and it’s déjà vu all over again as Aberdeen’s opponent, Amory, starts a sophomore quarterback, Jon David Poss, whose father, David Poss, graduated from Aberdeen in 1984. During his AHS career, the elder Poss played linebacker and center for coaches Dwight McComb and Thomas Pierce, as well as baseball and one year of basketball.
Poss is in his ninth year as principal at Amory High after serving two years as an assistant principal and two years as the vocational director.
Poss’ son replaced the nation’s third-leading passer, Forest Williams, who threw for more than 5,000 yards and 55 touchdowns last year. The younger Poss made his 2012 debut against Mooreville in Week 1 when he completed 12 of 19 passes for 210 yards and one touchdown, and also picked up 55 yards rushing and scored twice.
Last week against former Shannon coach Mike Scott’s Nettleton Tigers, Poss threw six touchdown passes to four different receivers on a 13-for-18 effort good for 318 yards.
A starter in two games last year as a freshman when Williams was injured, Poss, 15, is averaging close to 9 yards per carry through two games. At 6-foot, 175 pounds, he displays good leadership skills and plays with a composure not usually exhibited by sophomores.
“Amory is an explosive team and their quarterback and their receivers will be a real challenge for our defense here Friday,” Aberdeen coach Mark Bray said. “Their quarterback had a big game against Nettleton last week and I don’t think he’s played a whole game yet.”
Amory has beaten Mooreville 48-14 and Nettleton 56-20, both of whom are in the same division as Aberdeen, and Bray said the challenge for his Bulldogs will be to put as much pressure on Poss as possible.
“If we let him sit back there and throw it all over the place, he’ll pick us apart,” said Bray. “They (Amory) spread four or five receivers all over the field, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Bray is unsure who handles the offense for Amory, but is impressed with what he sees on the tapes.
“Whoever they turned that offense over to has done a great job,” Bray said.
Bray may not know who Amory’s offensive coordinator is, but he does know who handles the Panthers’ defense for he coached along side Patrick Schoolar last year as Aberdeen’s coordinators under Chris Duncan.
Having Schoolar on the Amory sideline may or may not be an advantage for Amory in its annual A-Team game at Aberdeen, Bray said.
“He knows our offense and our kids real well and that could be an advantage for him,” Bray said. “But on the other hand, we know what he’s going to do, so it might be a wash.”
Aberdeen softball
There’s no joy in Aberdeen, as the Lady Bulldogs dropped a 30-0 decision to Mantachie to remain winless on the year.
The Lady Bulldogs managed to get the first two outs to start the game, but Mantachie scored seven runs before Aberdeen could retire the side and it was all downhill from there.
“It was a beat-down,” Aberdeen coach Joyce Lucas. “We started out great, but then we fell apart.”
Lucas said her team’s hitting woes are hard to fathom.
“We do nothing but take batting practice all week and we kill the ball,” said Lucas. “We knock it all over the field and then we go against opposing pitching and it’s a ping here and a ping there.”
Next up for the Lady Bulldogs is a home doubleheader Thursday against defending 3A state champion Nettleton, who just had a 35-game winning streak snapped in a 7-4 loss to Baldwyn.
“That should be interesting,” Lucas said.
Aberdeen volleyball
Aberdeen ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against New Hope on Monday in Aberdeen.
The Lady Bulldogs dropped the first and fourth sets 17-25, won the second set 25-21 and the third set 25-23 and then posted a 15-8 5th set win to take the match.
“It was a good battle as New Hope played well too and the girls were ecstatic,” Aberdeen coach Candy Grant said. “After losing four straight, a win was just what they needed.”
Strong late-game serves by Jakayla Dancy ands Cori Walker proved vital in the second and third sets, according to Grant.
Last week, Aberdeen dropped 3-0 decisions to Ripley and Caledonia.
The Lady Bulldogs look to improve to 4-4 next week with a home match against Pontotoc on Tuesday and a return match at New Hope on Thursday.
“Hopefully, we can build on our win over New Hope,” Grant said.
Hamilton football
Hamilton bounced back from a season-opening 21-12 loss to county-rival Smithville in fine style, as the Lions roared to a 54-14 win against Houlka last Thursday to even their season record at 1-1.
“As a group, we played a lot better than we did last week,” Hamilton coach Ray Weeks said. “Everybody carried out their assignments, we eliminated the mistakes on both sides of the ball and we played with a great deal of intensity.”
Hamilton had little trouble scoring on Houlka, as the Lions grabbed a 34-7 lead at halftime and added 20 second-half points.
The Lions will need that same degree of intensity plus some this week, as Class 3A Kossuth visit to Jimmie Moore Field. The Aggies broke open a 20-all tie with two late touchdowns last year and Weeks doesn’t want a repeat performance.
“They’re still a big, physical power-running team,” Weeks said. “They like to run behind their 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive tackle and they just run right at you and dare them to stop them. This game will be a good test for us to see exactly where we stand in this stage of the season.”
Hamilton softball
A four-game split in the Hamilton Invitational Tournament this past Saturday, followed by a 5-2 win against Amory on Tuesday on the road, improved coach Lewis Earnest’s Lady Lions’ season record to 6-5 (1-0 in division play).
Hamilton opened play in its tournament with a 15-1 loss to Columbus and then beat Caledonia 5-0, lost to New Hope 6-4, and beat Eupora 10-4.
Against Columbus, Cheyenne Logan’s sacrifice fly scored Alison Atkins to account for Hamilton’s only run.
Addie Thompson (single and double) and Mary Willis (two singles) had two hits each against Caledonia, as Myiah Dobbs and Taylor Hyland both doubled.
Against New Hope, Hamilton scored three times in the fifth to tie the game at 3-all on a Jordyn Jackson single, a Christy Willis walk, a Raimi Bryan single, a Hallie Dobbs two-run single, an error on a ball hit by Hailee Jones, and a Hope Manasco RBI single.
New Hope then tallied three times in the top of the sixth to make it a 6-3 before the Lady Lions closed to within two on a Hyland single and an RBI triple by Logan.
Trailing 0-2 against Eupora, Hamilton scored once in the second, five in the third and four in the fourth en route to a 10-4 win. Atkins, Logan, Jackson, Bryan, Jones and Myiah Dobbs all had two hits apiece for the winners. Logan also added three RBIs and Christy Willis chipped in with a 2-run single.
Bryan, Logan, and Atkins had two hits each to lead Hamilton to its come-from-behind 5-2 victory against Amory on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-1, the Lady Lions scored four times in the fifth to seal the deal. Atkins, the pitcher of record in all five games, plated two of Hamilton’s five runs.
Baldwyn, which ended Nettleton’s 35-game winning streak last weekend, will visit Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
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