It’s been a long time since Oak Hill Academy has started off a football season this hot – 39 years to be exact.
If you do the math, that takes you back to 1986. That year, Ronald Reagan was president, “Top Gun” was in theaters, the Chicago Bears went on to win their first ever Super Bowl and over in West Point, Oak Hill started off its football season with five straight wins. Flash forward to today, and the Raiders are on the heels of tying their best-ever start as they sit undefeated through four games of the season – a substantial contrast compared to last year’s winless campaign in the first year under head coach Tom Goode. All throughout the offseason he worked on building his team upon the principle of toughness, and so far the returns on his investments have been bountiful as the Raiders shut out Manchester Academy and French Camp Academy in the first two weeks of play and defeated Indianola Academy and North Delta by a combined score of 76-24.
Goode said his team knows how long it’s been since Oak Hill won four games to start a season, and they’re proud to match it. But they don’t want to stop at four. Today offers a chance to win five straight games, something last accomplished only in that ‘86 season, as Rossville Academy of Memphis comes to town for a 7 p.m. bout to cap off their homecoming festivities.
“Our expectation is for them to change the culture,” Goode said. “This is my third year, second year as head coach, and we’re trying to build a bit more of a physical team, and so far this year they’ve stepped up. They’re taking a lot of pride in it right now.”
So far, Oak Hill owns a 121-24 scoring advantage over its foes and is getting into the end zone in a variety of ways. Receiver Chantz Harris has been catching touchdown passes and is a threat as a return man; he returned a kickoff last week for a score. Fullback Simon Reynolds tallied three rushing touchdowns last week over North Delta as well. Goode also credited the play of his offensive line in fueling their success.
“We have two or three really good offensive linemen,” he said.
And their defense has been phenomenal as well; the Raiders didn’t give up a point until Week 3 of the season.
“You always preach team defense, but they’re playing it that way,” Goode said. “Our line is playing tough and our linebackers are making the tackles, and that’s kind of the way we wanted. So, defensively they’ve been playing as a unit.”
About Rossville
The Wolves, who were District 1-4A foe last year, are now a nonconference opponent for the Raiders. Rossville is 3-1 to start their season and collected wins over Middleton (53-0), Fayette Academy (41-26) and Kirk Academy (33-32). Their only loss was a 54-24 blowout by Lee Academy. The two teams, which Goode said are “very familiar” with each other, have played a total of four times, and Oak Hill leads the series 3-1. The Wolves claimed last year’s game 16-0.
Goode said Rossville is a team full of athletes, which will make them Oak Hill’s toughest test yet.
“They have a lot of speed,” he said. “I think the other teams that we’ve played have matched up trying to run the ball, and this team coming in by far has the most speed that we’ve seen so far this year.
“They’re very balanced. All four of their skill guys can be in the backfield running the ball or they can all line up wide, so it poses a matchup problem with us some just from a speed standpoint. Hopefully we’ll play smart on defense and keep doing what we’re planning on doing on offense; we’re not really changing anything. But defensively, I think we really have to be ready.”
Homecoming 2025
Adding to the challenges the Raiders have to tackle are the distractions that come with homecoming week. It’s a week of fun for the school, but for Goode’s players, he wants them solely focused on football.
“We have been addressing that everyday with the players,” he said. “You want them to enjoy homecoming, but I told them (Wednesday), ‘A good homecoming is when you win the football game. What makes homecoming not very good is when you lose it.’ So our only job as a team and coaches is to play on Friday night and keep them focused on the game and not all caught up everyday in what’s going on.”
He said it’s going to take focus, discipline and toughness to take down the speedy Wolves, and his team will have to be ready for the challenge.
“We want to play hard from the first whistle to the last whistle,” Goode said. “I think this week (it’s important) how do we play sound defensive coverages, being in the right gap responsibilities because this team we’re playing is not real forgiving. If you don’t cover your area, they have a chance to take it to the end zone every time.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
