While many high school football schedules look the same year after year, Newton’s will be considerably different in 2017.
On top of the Tigers moving into a new district, second-year coach Ryan Smith has also found several new non-district opponents.
After a two-quarter scrimmage against West Lauderdale on Aug. 12, the Tigers will open the season on Aug. 18 at Madison St. Joseph, the team that beat the Tigers 20-16 in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs last year.
“I basically scheduled that game as soon as the playoff game was over and their coach said he was open to the idea,” Smith said. “They are a quality 2A opponent as we found out last year. I wanted to play them right away so we could try to right what we considered a wrong.”
After St. Joe, the Tigers will hit the road again to Eupora, who went 5-6 last year and lost five out of its last six games.
“When they sent us North, I wanted some kind of gauge of what North 2A looked like,” Smith said. “We match up with their district in the playoffs so that will give us something to gauge that district on. They are going to line up and hit you in the mouth. It will be two very contrasting styles of football.”
The Tigers will then open the regular season at home against Lamar School on Thursday, Aug. 31. Lamar is the defending MAIS Class AAAA Division II state champion after going 9-4 last year.
“Scheduling was a bit harder this year,” Smith said. “I called a lot of schools and several turned me down. I called Coach (Mac) Barnes, who I have a ton of respect for and we basically came to the same conclusion, why are we driving so far. They have a really good quarterback and good players. It’s a Thursday night game and will bring a good crowd.”
After Lamar, the Tigers will host Choctaw Central for the first time in years.
“Choctaw is another Thursday night game and we feel like we will pull a good gate,” Smith said. “They are a big physical team and throw it pretty good. I think the Thursday night games will help us at the gate and will put some people in the stands and I think that makes a big difference for us.”
After the Choctaw Central game, the Tigers will travel to Magee before an open date on Sept. 22. The Tigers had originally scheduled to play Morton on Sept. 22 but that deal fell through, forcing Smith to use an open date.
“Magee is coached by Tim Coats who is from Newton County and coached at East Central,” Smith said. “We feel like what we do is comparable. It should be a good game.
“I think it works out good. We have an open week before a really tough two-game stretch. It gives us a chance to heal before playing a good Choctaw Central team. I think in a five-team district, that first week is so important. It makes life a lot easier if you win that first week.”
On Sept. 29, the Tigers will then take on Scott Central to open division play. The Rebels beat the Tigers 8-7 on a controversial game where it appeared as if Newton had scored in the last minute to win the game.
The Tigers will open October with Philadelphia, a preseason favorite in Class 2A.
“They return 19 starters and went 7-4 in Class 3A last year,” Smith said. “They drop down but they didn’t lose any athletes. They have a lot of good things going on. We feel like we can match up with them, athlete to athlete. If we can win the line of scrimmage against them, I feel like we have a chance to be successful. I don’t think the praise for them is in vain.”
On Oct. 12, the Tigers will then head to rival Bay Springs for a non-district contest.
“This was originally our open date,” Smith said. “But after the Morton deal fell apart, I started to look for another opponent. It just happened that they had an open date there as well. They played for the 2A state championship last year but graduated 19 seniors. But I can promise you they won’t drop off the map, they will be a good club.”
The Tigers will then take on Union on Oct. 20 on Senior Night.
“They are still Union and it’s still a rivalry game,” Smith said. “If there is anybody who has a bad taste in their mouth about us beating them last year, it’s them. I respect Coach (Brad) Breland and know he will have them cranked up.”
The Tigers will close out the regular season with Lake as Smith faces a familiar foe.
“When I was at Noxapater, Tate (Hanna) was at Nanih Waiya,” Smith said. “When he took over, it was a dumpster fire and he turned them around. So I suspect when they get to us, they will be a different football team than what we saw last year.”
