The regular season will come to an end this week with all of the area public schools playing on Thursday night this week.
Two areas squads will be vying for division championships this week. Union will host Philadelphia and will win the 4-2A title with a win over the Tornadoes. Meanwhile, Newton County will travel to West Lauderdale to take on the rival Knights as they go for the Division 4-4A title.
Here’s a look at this week’s games:
Philadelphia (3-6) at Union (8-1)
The Yellowjackets will host the Tornadoes on Thursday night in the regular-season finale with a division championship on the line.
The Tornadoes are 3-6 on the season and coming off a 56-14 win over Eupora. They beat J.Z. George 54-14 but lost 34-25 to Sebastopol in division play. If Union wins or loses by 10 or less, they are division champions. If the Tornadoes win by 11 or more, they are division champions and Union is the No. 2 seed.
“Philly is just a very inconsistent team, you really don’t know which Philly team is going to show up,” Union coach Jordan Wren. “The team that showed up against Eupora is the one that you don’t want to see. They were beating Eupora 42-0 at halftime. You just really don’t know what you are going to get with them. They have scary athletes and running that misdirection Wing-T. If you make one wrong step, they are striking up the band. We will have to be really sound on defense.”
NCHS (4-5) at West Lauderdale (8-1)
The Cougars will travel to Collinsville on Thursday to take on the rival Knights with the 4-4A championship on the line.
Both teams are 3-0 in division play while the Knights are 8-1 overall. West has wins over Magee (58-19), Clarkdale (28-27), Neshoba Central (27-23), Philadelphia (40-26), Leake Central (47-31), Taylorsville (35-24), Northeast Lauderdale (35-14) and Choctaw Central (37-13). Their lone loss is to Germantown (31-9).
“They are not as big as they have been,” County coach Bobby Bass said. “They are very similar to us to tell you the truth. They aren’t very big. They run their stuff very well so it’s going to be about being disciplined, reading our keys and being where we are supposed to be. We will be on the road so we have to overcome some adversity from the start.”
Last year, West Lauderdale beat Newton County 42-10.
Scott Central (6-3) at Lake (4-5)
Lake will end the regular season on Thursday night as they host rival Scott Central.
The Rebels are 6-3 on the season and have won three straight after losing three straight to Leake Central, Forest and Bay Springs. But the Rebels have righted the ship with wins over Seminary, Clarkdale and Newton.
“People are going to say they aren’t as good as they have been but they are pretty close,” Lake coach Tate Hanna said. “Defensively, they are very sound and very solid. They played Bay Springs a close game. It was nip and tuck and they pulled away. We have to be prepared for a county rivalry game and they have kind of stuck it to us the last couple of years. It’s time to man up and do something about that. I thought last week we were still riding the Morton win and looking toward Scott Central. We have to focus on what we are doing this week.”
Hanna said if the Hornets beat the Rebels, it will likely thrown them in a three-way tie for second place. A loss against Scott Central would put the Hornets in fourth place in the division.
Sebastopol (8-1) at J.Z. George (2-6)
The Bobcats will try to rebound from their first loss of the season as they hit the road to North Carrollton to take on the Jaguars.
The Jaguars are 2-6 on the season and have lost five straight, including all three division games.
But Sebastopol coach Keith Brown is curious to see how quarterback Adarius McDougle returns from an ankle sprain on a short week.
“We are just trying to rebound and get back to work,” Brown said. “We still have a lot to play for and try to lock up the No. 2 seed. We have a short week to prep for them and have to focus on us and get better. Losing McDougle was a big blow for us but I think he will be fine. We will see how he does this week.”
Clarkdale (3-6) at Newton (0-9)
The Tigers will end the regular season at home against Clarkdale.
The Bulldogs (3-6 on the season and are 1-2 in division play with a 13-6 win over Lake but losses to Bay Springs (44-20) and Scott Central (24-16).
“You know what you are going to get with them,” interim Newton coach Crandal Porter said. “They are similar to Scott Central. We will have to be ready for them to line up and run it right at us. It’s another short week which doesn’t give us a lot of time to prepare.”
NCA is off
The Generals will enjoy a bye week in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
NCA finished the regular season with a 10-1 record and was the No. 2 seed.
“We are going to get after this week,” Nelson said. “We will have a spring type of practice and do a scrimmage on Thursday and then give them Friday off. We will figure out who we are playing and go back to a game-week schedule next week.”
NCA will play the winner of Prentiss Christian and Delta.
