Heritage Academy took over the top spot in the state private school rankings this week, but Patriots coach Sean Harrison isn’t satisfied with the No. 1 spot this early in the season.
“It’s good recognition, but you ain’t No. 1 until you hold the trophy at the end of the year,” Harrison said.
If the Patriots wish to end up on top come playoff time, beating fifth-ranked Pillow Academy on Friday might go a long way.
The Mustangs and Pats have a lot of similarities, including big senior classes on both sidelines.
“They’re one of the few teams that can rival us size-wise among the front seven,” Harrison said. “First team we’re playing that I feel like has a really good passing game, so this is basically the first time that our secondary really gets tested.”
The talent Pillow possesses means that Friday’s game at Heritage should be a well-matched contest between two top teams.
“It’ll be a good one,” Harrison said.
West Point (4-1) at Lafayette (3-1)
West Point’s players know what it takes to beat a tough team like Lafayette. After all, they’ve done it before.
“Our kids know what’s at stake,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “I expect us to be ready to go.”
The Green Wave won a crazy 14-13 battle with the Commodores last season en route to another state title and West Point is surely hoping this year will follow the same pattern.
The Green Wave have won three straight games after a loss to Louisville and they’ve rolled over each opponent since the Wildcats.
But this is Lafayette, the third-ranked team in Class 5A — coming off a bye, too.
They’ve had extra preparation time for us,” Chambless said. “We know that. It’s all about “execution and getting in the right mindset and getting yourself mentally prepared to play. That’s a huge battle.”
Chambless expects the Commodores to pose a big challenge for West Point’s road district opener, as “everybody wants to open the district undefeated.”
“Anytime you play Lafayette, it’ll be a tough, hard-fought game,” Chambless said. “Can’t key on one guy. Can’t key on two guys. They’ve got several that can hurt us.”
Making the right reads and handling the proper assignments should send the Green Wave to victory, Chambless said.
“It’s all about everybody doing their job,” Chambless said. “That’s what we’ve prepared for all week.”
Noxubee County (3-2) at Greenwood (5-0)
Greenwood knocked out Noxubee County in the second round of last year’s Class 4A playoffs, and the Tigers aren’t forgetting that 20-0 loss anytime soon.
Definitely not Friday, when Noxubee County, which dropped from the Class 3A rankings this week, travels to face the Bulldogs, the second-ranked team in Class 4A.
“I think the kids are looking forward to playing them again,” Noxubee County coach Teddy Young said.
Tempo is still up during practices in Macon despite the Tigers’ consecutive losses to Philadelphia and West Point, Young said.
“I think we’re gonna respond well,” Young said.
Noxubee County’s opponent Friday is fast and physical — “a very explosive team offensively,” Young said.
To hand the Bulldogs their first loss, Young said, the Tigers must do a number of things right.
“We cannot turn the football over,” Young said. “We’ve gotta be good on special teams. We’ve gotta play four quarters of good football.”
If the Tigers can manage that, they just might find last year’s playoff loss avenged.
Starkville Academy (4-1) vs. Washington (2-2)
Starkville Academy coach Chase Nicholson knows his team doesn’t necessarily have to play a perfect game Friday to beat Washington. But he still wants one.
“We know it doesn’t have to be perfect, but we expect it to be perfect every play,” Nicholson said. “We’ve gotta execute like we’ve never executed before. We’ve gotta play the best week of football we’ve played yet.”
The Volunteers are riding a four-game winning streak that was nearly snapped last week when Starkville Academy had to rally for a 20-19 win over Leake Academy.
“Our guys have continued to show a lot of grit and a lot of courage and a lot of fight,” Nicholson said.
They’ve got to keep it up against the Generals, who are coming off a 41-7 loss at Pillow Academy. Nicholson noted that Washington’s still a “tough bunch” and plays hard.
“They’re gonna come with a mentality that they’ve got to win, they want to win, they need to win, because it’s a district game and it’s an important game,” Nicholson said.
The Vols have to match Washington’s intensity and play mistake-free football if they want to improve to 5-1.
“You’ve gotta go out there and play at a whole new level, and that’s our expectation,” Nicholson said. “That’s the only way we’ll walk off the field with a win.”
West Lowndes (4-1) at Vardaman (0-4)
If there’s ever such a thing as a good loss, West Lowndes coach Anthony King said, last Friday’s defeat against defending Class 1A state champion Nanih Waiya counts.
It was the Panthers’ first loss of the season, and morale is still high at the school, King said. So Friday’s game against winless Vardaman is a critical way to get back on track.
“We saw some things that we did wrong last week, and we’ll be ready to correct those mistakes,” King said.
West Lowndes will work on improving its special teams play and rotating players more effectively to avoid fatigue against a run-heavy Vardaman team.
“I think we’re prepared,” King said. “We haven’t had too many teams that could run on us. I think it should be an even match.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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