While most of the state’s prep football teams have at least one district game under their belts, the last ones — including Caledonia and Noxubee County — open district play tonight.
Elsewhere, Starkville, now ranked fourth in the state, gets another test in defending district champion Clinton, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, West Lowndes hits the road to take on winless Leake County.
In case you missed it, the Mississippi High School Activities Association, citing a lack of officials, voted last week to move final regular season games from Friday to Thursday.
Class 4A, 3A and 2A regular season finales scheduled for Oct. 29 now will be played Thursday, Oct. 28, while the regular season games for other classes will be Friday as usual.
Regular season finales in Class 6A, 5A and 1A will be played Thursday, Nov. 4, with playoffs for the other classes beginning the next night. Playoffs for 6A, 5A and 1A begin Friday, Nov. 12.
Caledonia (4-0, 0-0 4A-1) at Corinth (1-4, 0-0): Four of Caledonia’s five district foes are off to 1-4 starts, and the Cavaliers will get to see just what that means beginning tonight against the Warriors. They also would like some measure of revenge as, one year ago, Corinth cruised to a 48-7 win, and the Warriors are 3-0 all time in the series.
But these teams are going in opposite directions. Since racking up almost 350 yards on the ground against Amory in their opener, the Cavs have put up 53, 42 and 41 points; since an opening win over Saltillo, the Warriors have allowed 56, 46 and 49. But before the Cavs get too cocky about that, those three teams are a combined 14-1. And before the Warriors take too much comfort in that, they should look at the Cavs’ record.
West Lowndes (3-2, 2-0 1A-3) at Leake County (0-4, 0-1): The only team in its district to have two district wins under its belt, the Panthers appear to have a soft road to 3-0 in the form of the trip to Walnut Grove, but coach Anthony King is firm in what his team must do.
“Too many flags,” King said. ”We’ve got to cut down on penalties.”
If they do, they appear to have an offense capable of great things. JaQuavious Tate and Marquez Shelton combined for almost 240 yards rushing last week against Sebastopol, while Fred Rice averaged 18 yards per completion. King is aware the Gators are unlikely to have anyone who can match those numbers.
“It seems like they’re struggling,” he said. “They’re having a tough time scoring points.”
The Gators have scored 12 points in four games.
Clinton (2-2, 1-0 6A-2) at Starkville (5-0, 1-0): The Yellow Jackets have made a habit of falling behind in games and then storming back late, a risky formula that nevertheless has landed them in the No. 4 spot in the AP MIssissippi Top 10. Two of the Arrows’ four games have gone into overtime, most recently last week’s 35-31 win over Germantown to open district play.
Not only is Clinton the defending district champion, the Arrows’ march to the title included a 35-7 win over the Yellow Jackets. But to have anything close to a repeat performance, Clinton will have to contain sophomore quarterback Trey Petty, who rushed for three scores and threw for two others, including the game-winning 18-yard pass to Johnathan Lampkin with 24 seconds left that beat then-No. 2 Madison Central 35-28.
Noxubee County (2-3, 0-0 3A-4) at Hatley (0-5, 0-0 3A-4): The Tigers have not played an easy schedule, falling to 4A Louisville, ranked 10th in the state, and 5A West Point, which is No. 7. But, as usual, that has the Tigers primed for Class 3A Region 4 play, and first on the menu is a winless Hatley team which has been shut out twice.
Then there is the matter of the rather short series history between the schools. Since being placed in the same district before the 2019 seasons, Noxubee County owns 48-21 and 60-0 wins over Hatley, which has not had a winning season since going 6-5 in 1997, although they did go 6-6 in 2014.
Magnolia Heights (3-3, 1-1 5A-1) at Starkville Academy (3-3, 0-1): Each team got back to .500 with a convincing win last week: Magnolia Heights blanked Washington 42-0 while SA rolled 47-14 over Winston.
Junior Ross Thompson has been the top performer for the Chiefs, rushing for 507 yards and nine touchdowns. Junior quarterback Gaston Harris has thrown more interceptions (five) than touchdown passes (four), but he has made big plays to senior Wailes Finke, who is averaging 22.2 yards per catch.
The Vols have lost to teams that are a combined 17-2.
Oak Hill Academy (3-3, 2-0 4A-1) at North Delta School (1-5, 0-2). North Delta has lost five in a row, scoring just 17 points over that stretch. Give Oak Hill QB Cameron Dill a receiver and a couple of blockers and he could do that himself. Still, Raiders coach Bill Rosenthal isn’t taking the Green Wave lightly.
“North Delta is big and physical on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Offensively they run the ball right at you and shorten the game. We have to put them in third-and-long situations.”
Humphreys Academy (3-2, 1-2 2A-1) at Columbus Christian Academy (2-4, 0-3): Still looking for their first league win, the Rams are coming off of a 52-6 debacle against DeSoto, but the Thunderbirds have scored at least 50 points in four of five games. And now here come the Rebels, who have scored 50 and 46 this season and who rolled to a 50-22 victory over the Rams in last year’s opener.
“They have a very physical football team with two very talented running backs,” CCA coach Rusty Mason said. “We have a tall order this week with stopping the run.”
Tuscaloosa Christian School (Ala.) (4-2, 3-2 CFA) at Victory Christian Academy (1-2, 1-2 CFA): The Eagles are coming off of their first win, 32-26 over New Life Christian, a game in which quarterback Camron Henley rushed for 311 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 129 yards and two TDs. “We’re looking to build off last week’s success,” VCA coach Chris Hamm said.
But Tuscaloosa is a different animal, scoring 48 and 42 points the past two weeks.
“Tuscaloosa is a rivalry game for us,” Hamm said. “They’ve been very productive on offense this year. We expect a very physical game.”
Southern Academy (Ala.) (0-5, 0-1 AISA A-2) at Pickens Academy (Ala.) (3-2, 1-1): The Cougars are coming off their closest loss of the season, a 34-19 loss to Banks Academy of Birmingham. Overall, they already have given up more than 100 points more than they have scored, which is a good sign for a Pirates team which has scored 69 points in back-to-back wins.
Columbus (2-3, 1-0 5A-1) at Greenville (1-3, 0-1): The Falcons and Hornets have not met since 2014, and the Hornets have had a hard time getting on the field against anyone this year. They have played just twice, defeating Greenwood 26-16 three weeks ago and losing 41-0 to Lake Cormorant last week.
Heritage Academy (7-0, 3-0 5A-1) at Wayne Academy (4-2, 1-0 4A-4): The Patriots appear well on their way to a fourth consecutive district title. Aside from winning their first three district games by a combined 114-35, they have yet to lose to the Jaguars, going 4-0 including last year’s 35-6 victory.
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