Numbers game catches up with Canton Academy
Canton Academy's football team has been fighting the numbers game this season.
Before the 2017-18 year, there were enough students in the system for the Panthers to make the move up to AAA in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.
It was going to be an adjustment going from AA to AAA anyway, then Canton Academy lost five families right before school was supposed to start.
That left coach Craig Bowman and the Panthers with a total of 17 juniors and seniors.
“Teams like Starkville, Leake and Heritage probably double that,” Bowman said. “We're probably right now the smallest school in AAA. It's tough. Our kids fight real hard here in Canton and that's just part of Canton football.”
Even with the limited roster, Canton Academy has broken even with its records overall (3-3) and in District 2-AAA (1-1).
The Panthers lost their first two games of the season to Manchester Academy 14-7 and St. Joseph 33-7. They defeated Trinity Episcopal Day School 45-14 and Tri-County Academy 31-27 before the start of district play.
Canton Academy has split two district games so far with a loss to Leake Academy 26-7 and a win over Winston 7 p.m., WLZA-FM 96.1
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Raegan and Brady Richardson are alike in many ways because of being twin brothers.
They are probably the most similar when it comes to competitive spirit.
As the two leading receivers for the Starkville Academy football team, neither Richardson wants the other to have better numbers.
The first thing that Raegan and Brady do after a game is compare statistics.
“We want to see who did better,” Brady said. “When we are playing, it's
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