First-year Newton football coach Zach Grady realizes his Tigers have one of the toughest schedules in Class 2A football.
“We know it’s going to be tough,” Grady said. “And we don’t have the skilled people that they had last year. We have to take the personnel we have and fit them into what we need them to do. We have talked to them and told them it’s going to be different.”
The Tigers will open the season with a home contest against Madison St. Joseph, which is being coached by former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond, who ran the option in the early 80s for Emory Ballard and beat No. 1 Alabama in 1981.
“We really don’t know anything about them because they have a new coach,” Grady said. “But being in Jackson, any time you get a big name coach in, a few players are going to come with them. I know they lost some kids from last year but I can assure you that there will be a few players out that we don’t know anything about.”
Then the Tigers will host another 2A contender in Eupora, a team they beat 24-19 last year.
“Eupora is well coached and will be physical,” Grady said. “It will be a playoff-style atmosphere. They made the playoffs last year but we just had better athletes than they did. I can promise that they will hit you and will be a good football team.”
Then the Tigers take on MAIS Class AAAA Division II state champion Lamar. The Raiders are led by 6-foot-6 quarterback Joseph Hutchinson who threw for 3,086 yards and 23 touchdowns. He already has offers from Cornell, Harvard and Jackson State.
“Their quarterback is the real deal,” Grady said. “They have a lot of skill kids coming back and will be a real test. The quarterback is like 6-6 and has a big-time arm. And he’s big enough to see the entire field. That’s the thing, you have to cover the whole field with a guy like that.”
The Tigers will open September at Choctaw Central for their first road game of the season.
“They are a lot like Jackson Public Schools with kids moving in and out,” Grady said. “You just don’t know what they are going to have. But they are going to play hard and they aren’t afraid to get physical.”
After Lamar, the Tigers will host Magee and quarterback Chandler Pittman, who threw for 963 yards and rushed for 1,345 yards last year.
“That’s going to be a real good football team,” Grady said. “They will be really physical. Their quarterback had an outstanding year and reminds me of the kid at West Point who signed with Mississippi State. But he’s more relentless than talented.”
After an open date, the Tigers will open Division 4-2A play at Scott Central, a team that handed the Tigers their first loss in a 35-12 setback.
“They lost the motor to their car,” Grady said about quarterback T.J. Wash who threw for 1,232 yards and ran for 1,311 and accounted for 46 touchdowns. “They still have a lot of pieces and parts they just have to find somebody to step up and be the engine for that car. They will still be extremely talented.”
It doesn’t get any easier as the Tigers host Philadelphia and first-year coach Bobby Hall, whom Grady went head-to-head with at Madison Central.
“My first year at Madison was Bobby’s first year at Madison,” Grady said. “And he put it together in one year. I can tell you, Bobby Hall is going to find a way to maximize his talent. He is not going to put a bad football team on the field. And he has that chip on his shoulder after the way things went down on the Coast.”
The Tigers will then step out of district to take on another 2A contender in Bay Springs.
“I’m going to go ahead and say that’s probably going to be the best team we play all season,” Grady said. ‘They are loaded and going to come right at you. It’s no surprise at what they are going to do. they are going to come right at you the entire game.”
The Tigers will then travel to Union to take on the Yellowjackets.
“Union is a scary team to me,” Grady said. “It seems like he played with a whole lot of puppies last year but they still played hard. If those guys are back and more mature, they will be a lot better.”
Newton will then finish out the regular season with Lake, a team they lost to 42-36 in overtime last year.
“Lake is going to be physical, that’s their MO,” Grady said. “Everybody in our league wants to be physical so we have to be physical as well. We just don’t have the skill kids that we had last year.”
2018 Newton High School Football Schedule
Date Opponent 2017 result
Aug. 17 St. Joseph W, 68-15
Aug. 24 Eupora W, 24-19
Aug. 31 Lamar W, 44-20
Sept. 7 at Choctaw W, 54-13
Sept. 14 Magee W, 24-2
Sept. 21 Open
Sept. 28 at Scott Central L, 35-12
Oct. 5 Philadelphia L, 36-22
Oct. 12 Bay Springs L, 47-20
Oct. 19 at Union W, 38-16
Oct. 26 Lake L, 42-36
