Starkville needed a win last Friday against Murrah as it rode a three-game losing streak into the game.
The Yellow Jackets got that win they so desperately needed, a 49-13 trouncing of the Mustangs at home.
This Friday begins the first of two straight road games for Starkville, and it comes against a tough opponent in Oxford. Sitting at 1-3 in district play, it’s really now or never for the Yellow Jackets.
“We have to keep executing on both sides of the ball and keep playing better,” head coach Chris Jones said. “For me as a coach, the formula to winning is simple. Football is simple, but we need to execute in order to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Being able to execute is easier said than done, something Starkville (5-3) wasn’t able to fully do against opponents during its three-game losing skid.
Oxford (4-3), just like the Yellow Jackets, is fighting for its playoff lives too right now, and coming off the backs of a close 24-22 win over Clinton, the Chargers are charged up to give the Yellow Jackets a fight on Friday.
They hold the advantage, playing at home as Starkville has to take a near two-hour trek to get there, and that — plus the home crowd — will make for quite the game, a must-win for both teams.
Heritage Academy (8-1) at Pillow Academy (5-4)
Heritage Academy has had itself quite a regular season so far, essentially suring up the No. 1 seed come postseason play, plus a division title along the way as well.
When things are rolling, they’re rolling, and that’s exactly the case for the Patriots, who come into this final game of the regular season against Pillow Academy looking to get ready for what hopes to be a state championship run.
“Winning is hard to come by,” head coach Lance Pogue said. “There’s a lot of really good teams out there, and the kids are excited about what we’ve accomplished in our league. They also understand that there’s a bigger prize that’s available down the road.”
That bigger prize is of course that elusive state championship, something that Heritage has won two of the past three seasons.
With an offense that’s scoring north of 35 points a game and allowing less than 18 points a game as a defense, both sides of the ball are working to perfection.
Finishing off the season with a win against Pillow would be the perfect tune-up for postseason play, and with the Pats having beaten the Mustangs five of their last six meetings, six of seven could be very much in the cards on Friday.
New Hope (3-4) at Lake Cormorant (3-5)
Falling below the .500 mark again was what New Hope wanted to avoid playing Lafayette last week, but the Trojans struggled, dropping the game 34-14 to fall to 3-4 on the year.
It’s been an up-and-down season for New Hope, following a much similar path to what happened last year, a season that ended up 5-5 for the Trojans.
New Hope will need to go 2-1 the rest of the way to secure at least a .500 record and go 3-0 if they want to finish with a winning record.
That will more definitely be difficult against Lake Cormorant, a school that has had New Hope’s number overall.
New Hope has lost its last five games against the Gators, a losing streak that dates back to 2015.
During that losing streak, however, New Hope has made it close and has been able to score, something that will play a big role in this game.
Of course a team needs to score, but with Lake Cormorant having given up 30 or more points in a game three times this season, that’s the type of performance the Trojans need to give on Friday.
Itawamba Agricultural (8-0) at Caledonia (3-5)
Caledonia has enjoyed success over the past two weeks, adding two more 40-plus-point shutout wins to its résumé.
However, that winning streak could very much come to a crushing end on Friday with the toughest opponent of the season coming to play the Cavaliers at home.
Itawamba Agricultural, one of the best teams in Class 4A, is unbeaten right now and has shown no signs of stopping.
IAHS is a well-oiled machine that no team really has been able to find a way to take down, with Amory coming closest in the season opener.
Itawamba has allowed 12.4 points per game as a defense and has scored 41.4 points per game as an offense, a recipe that could result in absolute domination on Friday.
While Caledonia has yet to give up a point in its three wins this season, it has given up nearly 30 points per game in its five losses.
If the Cavs want any chance at winning on Friday, it will take a complete team effort with everything going right at the same time.
West Lowndes (5-3) at Ethel (4-4)
The days immediately following Friday’s heartbreaking loss for West Lowndes were most definitely letdown days for the Panthers.
Coming that close to beating an unbeaten Hamilton team could have changed the rest of the complexion of the season, but now, West Lowndes still has to make sure its playoff spot is solidified.
Playing against Ethel on the road this week, the Panthers will most assuredly be tested, but this is a battle-tested team without a doubt.
“We saw that last game, we had trouble with the power run,” head coach Anthony King said. “Ethel is a power-running team, but I think we’ve put in a much better week of practice so far.”
Battling the illness bug last week made things that much more difficult for West Lowndes, but those issues seem to be in the past, a great thing to hear for the program.
To see how hard the Panthers played through the adversity of last week and nearly pulling out a win shows just how far this team has the potential of going into the postseason.
Greenville (0-7) at West Point (5-2)
From starting the season 0-2 to now controlling its own destiny in district play, West Point found its footing against Noxubee County and has flat out dominated since that point.
The Green Wave are averaging 42.6 points a game on their current five-game winning streak and have allowed 13 points or less in each of their last three games.
We’ve seen what the running game for West Point can do, and recently, the passing game from Quinterion Tillman-Evans has shown glimpses of greatness, too.
“You have to get your repetitions in every day and go full speed every day,” head coach Chris Chambless said. “You have to do it against good competition every day. We’re able to do that and that’s why we’ve been successful.”
Riding the wave of the Green Wave is exactly what this team is doing right now and those waves are going to be choppy for Greenville on Friday.
The Hornets come into the game winless on the year, and based on what West Point has been able to do in recent weeks, there is high running clock potential.
Nettleton (6-2) at Noxubee County (4-4)
The final two games of the season are incredibly crucial for Noxubee County, who is not just .500 on the season but .500 in district play at 1-1.
Compared to some other teams in the area, Noxubee County’s district schedule is short, but that just makes those district games all the more important.
The Tigers suffered a tough loss against Amory last Friday and will look to right the ship against Nettleton, a program with an identical 1-1 district record right now but a 6-2 overall record this year.
“We’re preparing like it’s the playoffs,” head coach Teddy Young said. “Both of these games are going to feel like playoff games, and we’re just going out there trying to get the victory.”
It’s going to be beyond tough to secure a victory against a team like Nettleton with the offense it has, one that’s scored 40 or more points in four games this season, all of those victories.
Noxubee County and Nettleton have limited history, playing just once before, and the Tigers were able to score 40 points themselves in a victory.
Both offenses and both defenses are very much similar, which means Friday night has the formula for a shootout in Macon.
Starkville Academy (6-4) at Washington School (2-7)
After starting out conference play with an 0-2 record, Starkville Academy has found its way back to a .500 conference record, sitting at 2-2 with one game left.
The Volunteers are currently in fourth place in the conference and will need some help from some other teams in this final week of the regular season for playoff seeding, but the most important game is on Friday.
Facing a struggling Washington School team, this is the time for Starkville Academy to end the season on a high note and ride a three-game winning streak into the postseason.
That starts and ends with a fast start on offense, getting points on the board early, something the Vols have taken to heart and run with after that tough three-game losing streak.
This is a team that has shown it can compete with the best of the best in the area, but it can’t get behind the 8-ball by a large margin to do so.
Other games
Oak Hill Academy at Marshall Academy, 7 p.m.
Columbus Christian Academy at North Sunflower Academy, 7 p.m.
Deer Creek Academy at Hebron Christian, 7 p.m.
Victory Christian Academy at Success Unlimited Academy (Ala.), 7 p.m.
Pickens Academy (Ala.) at Banks Academy (Ala.), 7 p.m.
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