Second-year Newton football coach Zach Grady will tell anybody that the Tigers were in a tough situation last year.
Not only were the Tigers in a total rebuilding mode, they also faced a brutal schedule.
So, when Grady got his chance to make out the schedule, he went looking for teams in the same situation as the Tigers.
The Tigers will play a pre-season jamboree at Louisville on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 11 a.m. vs. West Lincoln.
The Tigers will then open the regular at E.L. Morgan Field as they host Class 3A Morton who was 3-9 last year.
“They are a good football team,” Grady said. “I think both of us are in the same situation as us. I tried to pick people who are in the same situation as far as rebuilding their program. I think it will be a fair matchup for us. I think our personnel will match up with them. They have a real good young quarterback and a good group of sophomores. It’s a game we can win, we just have to play ball.”
After Morton, the Tigers will host another Class 3A school in St. Andrews, who was 5-6 last year.
“They will be the same as us,” Grady said. “They had a decent year last year and will be young this year. They lost a lot and they like to throw it around.”
Then on Sept. 6, the Tigers will host North Forrest, who was 5-7 last year and lost in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs to Bay Springs.
“That will be a competitive game,” Grady said. “They will be a solid team but young as well. They won five games last year. It will be good to see where we are at.”
In the fourth game of the year, the Tigers will finish out a four-game home stand as they host Heidelberg on Sept. 13. The Oilers were 4-8 last year and also made the Class 2A playoffs.
“That will be the first time in a long time that we have played them,” Grady said. “We haven’t played them in years. We will get to play them here and I’m excited about that. It’s a county to county game and we should have a nice crowd for that one. Still a game that I think we can win. It’s a game that I picked and at the day, I have to remember that I picked them.”
On Sept. 20, the Tigers will make their first road trip of the year as they travel to Raymond, a team that went 1-10 last year and was outscored 69-391.
“Same deal, as several of the teams we play, they will be really young,” Grady said. “I think they won one or two games last year and that’s sort of the criteria I was looking for. They are a 4A school, but I think we can compete.”
Then the Tigers will travel to Class 3A Hazlehurst, who was 2-9 last year and made the playoffs.
“Again, same situation as us,” Grady said. “They have been good in the past, but they are rebuilding right now so that’s a game I think we can win as well.”
Then the Tigers will open district play on Oct. 4 as they host Union, a team that beat them 34-27 last year.
“I couldn’t have picked a worse draw to open division,” Grady said. “It’s one thing to be good, it’s another to be bruising. The others will be good, but they won’t be bruising like Union. Union will be in a situation where they can mow you down. They will be very strong up front and will run the ball right at you. They have some big physical guys coming back. I’d be surprised to see a lot of passes.”
After Union, the schedule doesn’t get a lot better as they host defending 2A champion Scott Central, a team that beat them 40-6 last year.
“They are always going to be good,” Grady said. “I’m sure they are going to reap the benefits of Forest being in disarray. They will be pretty good, but I don’t think they will be what they were last year.
The Tigers will end the regular season with a pair of road games as they travel to Lake on Oct. 18 and then travel to Lake on Oct. 25
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t impressed with Philadelphia last year,” Grady said. “Since (Teddy) Dyess left, they have gotten caught up in those skill guys and have forgot how to be physical. They aren’t as physical as they have been in the past. They will dink and dunk you, but they won’t line up and slap you in the face. They aren’t throwing any punches. At the end of the day, they weren’t the Philadelphia that they had been. I fear them the least.”
