Smithville provides difficult opponent for East Webster
Not even East Webster’s new head coach Ron Price was sure what to expect out of his team early on this season as he put many new faces on the field for the first time.
The Wolverines lost the bulk of their team from a season ago after they made it deep into the playoffs once again and, though there’s talent, they’re very young. The results so far are positive as East Webster has won its first two games against Choctaw County and Okolona.
“Going into this season, we were going to take one game at a time and we wanted to see improvement week to week,” Price said. “I thought from the Aberdeen (jamboree) to the Choctaw County game, we took the right steps forward. We did the same thing at Okolona. If we can continue to improve position by position, I’ll be happy.”
It’s helped having a senior at quarterback in Charlie Brand, who has thrown for 277 yards and four touchdowns and added 81 yards and a score on the ground. They’ve also had big contributions from Issac Patterson, who has 115 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Those players have been needed this week as Price prepares his team for a major test from Class A. Smithville comes to town ranked No. 4 in the state in their classification and are carrying a 2-0 start to the year as well.
The week leading up to the game has been a challenge in itself for Price.
“The weather has been an obstacle for us to overcome,” Price said. “Keeping a young football team focused and moving into the right direction, there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. I’ve been very proud of our football team, though. It’s a lot easier when you’re 2-0 to handle these things.”
The Seminoles have been tough offensively in their first two games
behind or don’t have a great night, you’ve got to find a way to win and I thought we did find a way to win.
“That showed me a lot. I know that they’ll fight on Friday nights.”
Down in Louisville, West Point had a slow start of its own against the Wildcats before pulling away for a 27-7 win. Starkville has given the Green Wave their only loss in two years when they won the game a year ago and that probably sticks in the craw of those players in West Point.
Jones is experiencing many firsts in these early rivalry games with Starkville, but he knows what the Green Wave is all about from his days in Noxubee. He’s prepared for a battle tonight.
It all starts with Mississippi State commit Marcus Murphy and his dynamic ability to do it all on the offensive side of the football, then there are others around Murphy that make plays happen.
“I think this is a good matchup,” Jones said. “Football is all about personnel and matchups anyway. We have the recipe for a good game. They have some athletes on their side with kids that like to run and hit and it’s the same over here.”
Jones has the same amount of respect as coach Chris Chambless does for him at West Point. Though Chambless has been a head coach for a few more years, he’s seen enough of Jones’ coaching to know what he’s capable of and how his teams play so well for him.
“I’ve gotten to know coach Jones through 7-on-7 at Kemper and one thing about him is he’ll have his guys prepared,” Chambless said. “He brings the intensity level and cares about his kids. He brings all the attributes that he needs to be successful.”
While Chambless doesn’t doubt the players will be ready to play, there’s still a question as to if one of SHS’ best will be. Running back Rodrigues Clark went down midway through the game against Oxford with an apparent knee injury that sidelined him the rest of the game.
Jones said afterwards that he didn’t feel the injury was serious, but they gave Clark an x-ray this week to be sure
and it came back negative. Clark also received an MRI on Monday but those results were unknown.
Jones felt that Clark’s status for this week would be doubtful, mostly because Jones doesn’t want to rush him back too soon.
“It’s a long season and I care about his health,” Jones said. “We’re not just playing for the West Point rivalry, we’re playing for the championship itself. If us sitting him out a game or two or three is best for us having a chance to hold the gold ball, that’ll be what we do.”
Fans shouldn’t confuse that
to mean that Jones isn’t taking this game seriously. The coach knows how important the game is for those on his team and around Starkville and Chambless is on the same page.
“There’s a big pride factor with bragging rights,” Chambless said of the rivalry. “In the Golden Triangle, everyone knows each other. It’s a fun little deal. We went 14-1 last year and won a state championship but I still get ‘well Starkville beat you.’ It’s a great week and the intensity level raises for both teams and their fans.”