SHS looks for solid outing on the road against West Point
Starkville High School put the state on notice in week one when they clobbered Noxubee County
43-3 at its place.
As quickly as that beat down happened, the Yellowjackets were in for a battle in week two.
Perhaps looking ahead to this week’s game against
West Point, SHS struggled at times and nearly lost the
Little Egg Bowl against a fundamentally sound Oxford squad.
After holding a 14-0 lead at halftime, Starkville’s offense couldn’t score in the second half and the Chargers came back to force overtime. In double OT, the Jackets reached down and manufactured a win.
Coach Chris Jones was proud of his SHS team for that and that could be a pivotal moment in their season when it’s all said and done.
“It’s really good to have this early in the season because you get a chance to fix a whole bunch of stuff and you also get to see where you’re kids are at,” Jones said. “When you fall
against Belmont and Hatley putting up over 300 yards a game. Price isn’t sure what to make of Smithville’s defense as it’s played two option style teams the last two weeks and haven’t shown a defensive alignment against the spread that Price will run.
One thing he does expect is a team that will show multiple formations offensively and be tough to figure out. He know head coach Michael Campbell well and expects the Seminoles to be ready for whatever Price has for them.
“He and I have a relationship from coaching in north MIssissippi and he’s an outstanding coach,” Price said of Campbell. “The challenge for us will be getting in the right position according to what formation they’re in. They’ve been in 22 formations on film so it will be difficult. After the ball is snapped, we’ve got to make the play.”
Price reports his team is relatively healthy outside of losing freshman athlete Tyrik Pittman for the year with an ankle injury in week one. That was a tough blow for the team as Price has been expecting big things out of his freshman, but he wishes
him a speedy recovery.
Tonight is Military Appreciation night in Cumberland and all local military will be honored at the game. East Webster is also giving those members of the military free admission for the game.
French Camp at Eupora
The Eagles of Eupora took a loss last week to Newton, but much was learned about Stephen Edwards’ team in the process.
Newton seems poised to compete in the north half of the state for Class 2A this season and the 24-19 result was
somewhat of a measuring stick for the Eagles. While Eupora didn’t come out on top, the way it fought back from a 24-0 deficit in the second half to give themselves a chance to win was strong.
Everything is still ahead of this Eagle team who won’t start Region 2 play for another month and there are plenty of opportunities ahead to become one of the best teams in the state.
Tanner Knight has returned nicely from his shoulder injury a year ago and quarterbacked well with 328 passing yards in two games. Edwin Herard, Preston Perkins and Al Dumas
have added their talents to the offense and the defense has been strong early.
The next task for the Eagles is taking care of a local rival from right down the road in French Camp.
The Panthers don’t quite know what they are just yet as Nathan Wright’s squad won a come-from-behind game in week one against Winona Christian and then were drubbed by Starkville Academy last week 38-7.
A loss this week won’t do anything to playoff chances for French Camp, but it could hurt a still young team’s confidence moving forward.
Vardaman is up next week for the Panthers followed by Nanih Waiya and West Lowndes so Wright will likely want to have his team settled in starting this week.
That means that the schedule isn’t getting any easier the rest of the way for French Camp, which usually starts to get things going into conference play.
This week could be big for the Panthers, who are trying to work back to their usual spot in the playoffs. Take out a contender in Class 2A and there’s a good chance you can compete with anyone else the rest of the way.