Most of this week’s games will be played on Thursday night, as several area schools head into fall break and with the looming threat of stormy weather on Friday from Hurricane Delta.
Four big division contests will take place tonight as Lake travels to Philadelphia, Newton County travels to Quitman, Sebastopol hosts Mount Olive and Newton County Academy hosts Sylva Bay. Union also travels to Stringer tonight. On Friday, Newton hosts Scott Central.
Lake at Philadelphia
The Hornets will open Division 6-2A play in a key contest against the Tornadoes on Thursday night.
Philadelphia is 0-5 on the season with on the field losses to Leake Central (21-10), Noxubee County (33-13) and Scott Central (41-18). They have forfeit losses to Madison Ridgeland Academy and Kemper County.
“Like always, they are going to be talented,” Lake coach Tate Hanna said. “They have some really good skill kids. We will have to have a great week of practice. They were down 8-6 to Scott Central and gave them all they wanted for three quarters. It’s going to have to be a four-quarter game. I think the big thing for us is we have to get off the field on third down. It’s a big game in the division standings.”
Last year, Philadelphia beat Lake 37-15.
Newton County at Quitman
Newton County will try to make history on Thursday night and become the school’s first team to beat Quitman.
The Panthers are 0-4 on the season with on-the-field losses to Green County (27-0) and Florence (8-0). They have two forfeit losses to West Lauderdale and Northeast Lauderdale. Newton County coach Bobby Bass said Quitman was in quarantine for two week and just restarted last week.
“They are athletic as all get out but you can tell they haven’t practiced,” Newton County coach Bobby Bass said. “I don’t think they have scored any points either. But they are one of those team that if the right person gets the ball, they could be dangerous. But they will get a full week of practice in for us this week so I’m sure they will be a lot better.”
Bass said as far as he could tell, Newton County has never beat Quitman and is 0-13 against the school. Last year, the Panthers beat Newton County 23-0.
Mount Olive at Sebastopol
The Bobcats will try to make it two in a row as they take on Mount Olive in a Thursday night game.
Mount Olive is 1-3 on the season with their lone win coming over Leake County, a 36-6 win. Their losses have been to Clarkdale (44-34), Resurrection (30-6) and Stringer (14-12).
“It’s a big region game for us,” Sebastopol coach Nicky Mooney said. “The next three games will determine the playoffs for us. It’s at our place on a Thursday so we should have a big crowd. They have some very good running backs and a good quarterback who will be one of the better backs in Class 1A. They are big up front and have one big kid who moved in from Magee who has some offers. They have some good skill players that gave us trouble last year. We will have to play four quarters and we really haven’t had to do that this year. I like a blowout but we need to play somebody for four quarters in a tight game.”
Last year, Mount Olive beat Sebastopol 28-0.
Union at Stringer
The Yellowjackets will hit the road this week as they head down Miss. Hwy 15 to Stringer on Thursday night.
The Red Devils are 3-2 on the season. After losing two straight to Lumberton (42-8) and Enterprise (51-0), Stringer has three straight wins over Salem (50-12), Mount Olive (14-12) and Resurrection Catholic (25-10).
“I think they are an improved team from where they were to start the season,” Union coach Jordan Wren said. “They like to get under center and run right at you. We will have to be better on the defensive side than we were against Newton. We need to control the line of scrimmage. We just want a really good week before we get back to Scott Central.”
Last year, Union won 34-0.
Sylva Bay at NCA
The Generals will host rival Sylva Bay on Thursday night in a district contest.
The Saints are 1-6 on the season but are coming off a 38-6 win over Centreville after opening the season with six straight losses.
“It looks like they have some good team speed,” NCA coach Arnie Oakes said. “They are running a version of the Notre Dame box like we do and run a 4-3 on defense. I think they picked up some players before the deadline that have really helped them out. They were 0-6 going into last week and beat Centreville 38-6 so they much have been some game changers.”
Scott Central at Newton
The Tigers will try to rebound from their first of the season against one of the Class 2A favorites in Scott Central on Friday.
Scott Central is 4-1 on the season with wins over Pelahatchie (35-0), Florence (52-21), Raleigh (26-20) and Philadelphia (41-18). Their lone loss is to Class 5A power Neshoba Central (27-16).
“They are Scott Central, as good as always,” Newton coach Zach Grady said. “They are a physical football team with lots of team speed. They wore down Philadelphia last week but it was a close game for the most part. It’s a game that we have to win the turnover battle in. If we can protect the ball, I think we will have a chance.”
Last year, Scott Central won 55-12.
