Excluding the Dispatch Game of the Week, in which West Point will travel south for its annual game against Noxubee County, there are nine prep football games on tonight’s schedule. Only three of them will be local, with everyone else getting on the bus.
Leading the caravan out of the area will be Heritage Academy, which will take its dominant offense to winless South Pontotoc. Even at this early date, few area teams sport an undefeated record; in several cases that’s because of COVID-related forfeits. But there are no games missing from tonight’s schedule, now that Heritage was able to replace Washington with the Cougars.
Caledonia (1-1) at Holly Springs (0-2): The Cavaliers began their season successfully, turning a one-point halftime lead into a 30-18 win over Amory. Meanwhile, the Hawks have had a rough go of it in back-to-back losses to Shelby North Side (42-8) and Ripley (52-0). But those scores don’t mean Holly Springs will be a pushover, said Caledonia coach Michael Kelly.
“They’re extremely big and physical up front on both sides of the ball,” Kelly said. “We need to play well at the line of scrimmage to help neutralize that. They have a few athletes that run the ball well, so we’ll definitely need to tackle better than we did last week.”
Heritage Academy (3-0) at South Pontotoc (0-2): The Patriots, to put it mildly, are on a roll. Ranked No. 4 among private schools in the state AP poll, Heritage is averaging right around 40 points per game in wins over Lamar, Jackson Prep and East Union. Mack Howard threw 5 TD passes in the latest victory, racking up 335 yards in the air while rushing for 74 yards and a score.
This game was a late addition after Washington was unable to play, and while Patriots coach Sean Harrison appreciates South Pontotoc for agreeing to play to avoid a bye week, the Cougars present a problem.
“They are big and physical, and they do a good job of running the wing-T,” Harrison said. “We essentially only had Wednesday’s practice to prepare for it. I’ve never had a short week and an unexpected opponent before.”
The Cougars are coming off of a 48-26 loss to Choctaw County and likely will need every advantage an unfamiliar offense brings to hang with the high-octane Patriots.
.Kemper Academy (1-2) at Columbus Christian (1-2): Looking for a common opponent this early in the season is often futile, but these two groups of Rams have one in Collegiate Christian. CCA rallied with a late scoring drive to win their game 34-30, while Kemper was mauled 53-22 last week. Sports bettors have lost millions trying to apply the transitive property to football, but a narrow win and a 31-point loss to the same team must mean something. Kemper allowed three Bulldogs to rush for more than 100 yards in a 432-yard night. The Rams have a more balanced offense with Drake Shaw at quarterback, but McCory Humphries has a 100-yard game under his belt as well.
Louisville (2-0) at Columbus (1-1): The Falcons held Southaven to 6 points last week, but coach Joshua Pulphus said his team can play better on defense. And they might have to tonight. The defending Class 4A champions, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A and No. 8 in this week’s AP poll, are coming off of a 41-7 win over Kemper County. Running back Emory James needed only 11 carries to pile up 177 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns, so slowing him is Job No. 1 for the Falcons, but Pulphus said they also do a good job making big plays on defense, with open-field tackles a particular strength..
“They play fast, they play physical and they play downhill,” Columbus coach Joshua Pulphus said. “Louisville’s a team that plays very aggressively. Football history, football tradition is very big with them.”
Oak Hill Academy (1-2) at Canton Academy (2-1): The Panthers won their opening game by forfeit and then fell 36-24 to Winston Academy in a game in which they allowed sophomore Omar Scott to rush for 182 yards. The Raiders, meanwhile, managed to win a game in which Winona Christian quarterback Jake Ware rushed for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns and passed for 108 yards. If that kind of performance can’t beat OHA, what exactly will it take?
“They are physical on defense,” Raiders coach Bill Rosenthal said. “Canton has two really good running backs. Their quarterback does a good job of getting the ball to their playmakers. It will be a challenge.”
Russell Christian (2-0, 1-0 CFA) at Victory Christian (0-0): If there ever was a matchup in which one team really needed to have some games under its belt while the other was playing its opener, this would be it. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they are the ones making their season debut. The Warriors had made a habit of winning this league, capturing the past three championships, and outscoring opponents 94-8 in two games does not suggest a change in habit. The Eagles lost twice to Russell a year ago, 39-18 in their opener and 44-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
“They have a really good quarterback and good skill players around him,” VCA coach Chris Hamm said. “They are usually very sound on defense. It will be a tremendous test for us.”
Starkville (2-0) at Olive Branch (2-0): Each team owns one forfeit victory and one on-field win. For the Conquistadors, theirs was a 21-14 win over St. George’s, highlighted by 283 yards rushing. Seniors Tralyn Oliver (19 carries, 120 yards) and Braydon Wright (10 for 88) had strong games for a team that completed just eight passes for 48 yards. Defensive back Nick Erves recorded 8 tackles and 2.5 sacks in the win.
The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, handled Columbus 28-0 in their opener and won by forfeit last week. Starkville used both quarterbacks, sophomore Trey Petty and senior Jaquez Harris, in the win over the Falcons, and giving the Conquistadors different looks should help in what might be a playoff preview.
“They are a good, well-coached team,” Starkville coach Chris Jones said. “We are expecting a hard-fought game.”
Starkville Academy (1-2) at French Camp Academy (0-2): The Volunteers are another team venturing into MHSAA territory, albeit Class 1A, playing a team they last faced two seasons ago. The Volunteers went home with a 23-0 victory in that one. This time around, SA comes in having given up a lot of points in two losses bracketing a 28-14 victory.
The Panthers have had two very different results, too, with their 50 points scored in the opener attracting some attention.
“This is always a fun game,” Starkville Academy coach Chase Nicholson said. “They are a well-coached, tough bunch. We are looking forward to going down and playing them.”
West Lowndes (1-1) at Tupelo Christian Prep (0-2): It’s tough to get a read on the Panthers after two games; their loss was to a very good Biggersville team, and their win was over an Okolona squad that has scored just 18 points in two games. But the Biggersville effort was marred by six turnovers, so West Lowndes likely is better than they showed that night. Meanwhile, the Eagles have allowed 75 points in two losses, and their top contributor on each side of the ball is young: freshman Emmanual Randel rushed for 108 yards and sophomore Brewer Bailey made 12 tackles in their 33-13 loss to Evangelical Christian of Cordova, Tennessee.
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