The Union Yellowjackets have several familiar foes on their schedule for the next two years.
But they also have a couple new faces and some old rivals.
The Yellowjackets will open the season again with Choctaw Central, a team they beat 32-22 last year.
“I don’t really know anything about them,” Wren said. “With Pepper (Posey) not being the coach anymore, I really don’t know what is going to change schematically. I know they are always going to be bigger than us and will always have a few kids that can outrun ours. They have a kid back from last year that we had issues with. It’s going to more of trying to contain their fast guys and hope we can wear them down on defense. It’s tough starting the season off like that.”
Then Union will travel to Enterprise in a non-division contest with the Bulldogs. Union beat Enterprise 27-13 last year in district play.
“We will go to Enterprise down by seven,” Wren said. “I know they say they lost a lot, especially on defense but they still have the three backs they have had and will find a quarterback. Any time you play kids who have the blue-collar mentality like Enterprise, it’s always going to be tough.”
On Sept. 8, Union will host Leake Academy again. Last year, Union held on to beat Leake 13-6 in a Thursday night game.
“I don’t expect anything different than what we got last year,” Wren said. “It will be a tough game. It’s probably my most favorite game on the schedule because it’s still new to everybody. The crowd will come out whether it’s here or at Madden. It’s a fantastic atmosphere and hopefully the fans will get to come out and see a really good game between two good teams.”
The following week, Union will host Newton County in a battle of in-county foes.
“it’s another rivalry game,” Wren said. “They will be breaking in a new quarterback and running back. They will be really well coached. Them being a 4A school and us a 2A school, they will outmatch us inside the box. We will have to maintain and do the best that we can.”
On Sept. 22, Union will make the short trip to Lake to reignite another rivalry game with the Hornets.
“We haven’t played Lake since I have been here,” Wren said. “It’s not been on purpose; we just couldn’t make it work out on paper but we made sure we worked it out this year. I look forward to that little rivalry that I haven’t been a part of. They are like a lot of the teams that we play this year. They are hard-nose and blue collar and are coached pretty well.”
Union will open division play on Sept. 29 as they travel to Eupora. The Eagles went 12-3 last year and lost I the Class 2A semifinals to Charleston.
“We played them my first year here,” Wren said. “They went 12-3 last year and had a really good year. They graduated a really good quarterback who was one of the better players in 2A. He was like the Kenyon Clay for us. He was about 85 percent of their offense. I expect them to find pieces to the puzzle.”
The Yellowjackets will take a break from division play and travel to Forest, a team they beat 35-0 last year in district play.
“The one thing you know about Forest is they will be big and they will be fast,” Wren said. “I think as soon as Forest gets some stability under them, they will be scary. That’s the thing about them, it’s a scary game to play in the middle of your division because they can beat you up really bad.”
On Oct. 13, Union will host J.Z. George for homecoming. The Jaguars went 7-4 last season and lost in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs to Eupora.
“I can’t tell you a lot about J.Z. George,” Wren said. “I had to look them up on the map to see where it’s at. It’s west of Winona before you hit the delta. They just hired Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator to be their head coach and that’s a late hire.”
The following week, Union will make another short road trip to Sebastopol, who is moving up from Class 1A. The Bobcats went 7-5 last year and lost to eventual 1A champion Bay Springs in the first round of the playoffs.
“I’m sure it will be another rival game,” Wren said. “I don’t know much about them. I have no idea what they have coming back. I know they competed well in Class 1A. I know they have a new staff a year ago. These kids around here are all built the same. They are tough and will hit you and I don’t expect anything different out of them.”
Union will finish up the regular season on Oct. 26 as they host Philadelphia.
“You look at Philly’s record and think they aren’t very good but when you look at the teams they played, and then you realize the first five teams they played could beat about anybody in the state of Mississippi,” Wren said. “Philly is good, they just played a really good schedule. They finished strong and made it to the third round of the playoffs and got beat by Scott Central. They have kids who can run and that will be the deal breaker. When you have the speed they have, you have to do a lot of containing.”
