The good thing about this week’s Union and Newton game is that somebody is going to come away with a win.
Newton enters the game with a 5-3 record and has lost three straight games to Scott Central, Philadelphia and Bay Springs.
“It will be senior night for us, so I hope our kids play hard,” Newton coach Ryan Smith said. “I know Brad (Breland) is a good coach and will have his kids ready to play. They have had a tough time with injuries. It’s one of those deals where nothing goes right. If you stay with it long enough, you will go through something like that.”
Meanwhile, the young Yellowjackets are 2-6 on the season and have lost five in a row since a 22-20 win against Noxapater in week three of the season. But Union coach Brad Breland isn’t fooled by Newton’s three straight losses.
“I think they have played three really good teams,” Breland said of Newton. “I don’t think it’s as much Newton as they have played three really good teams. But I think they are the type of team that can make some noise in the playoffs. I’m sure their feelings are hurt a little bit right not, but they are still really good.”
Last year, the two teams played one of the year’s best games when Newton took a 28-26 win over the Yellowjackets en route to a second-place finish the division.
Lake at Philadelphia
As the old saying goes, Lake jumps right out of the frying pan and into the fryer.
After getting beat 26-0 by undefeated Scott Central last week, the Hornets must now travel to take on another undefeated team in Philadelphia.
The Tornadoes are the top-ranked team in Class 2A with a 9-0 record and have outscored opponents 383-135. Their only common opponents with Lake are Choctaw Central (46-10) and Union (56-6).
“Our kids have to go out and work hard this week,” Lake coach Tate Hanna said. “Phladelphia and Newton are both good teams to end the season with. Philadelphia is probably the best team in the district. We can’t hang our head down because we got beat. We still have a couple of key guys injured that I hope we get back this week. I just know Philadelphia is really good.”
West Lauderdale at NCHS
The Cougars will host rival West Lauderdale on Friday night as the Knights try to position themselves for the playoffs.
“They are really good at the skill positions,” Newton County coach Gene Mitchell said. “I knew they had a good running back but the thing that surprised me is I didn’t realize they like to take so many vertical shots down the field. They had three or four 50-yard passes against Northeast Jones. We will need to buckle ourselves up and get some pressure on the quarterback and not let them throw the ball over the top on us.”
Last year, West Lauderdale took a 41-21 win over the Cougars.
It will be Senior Night for Newton County.
NCA at Wayne, Thursday
The Generals enter the regular-season finale on a two-game winning streak against Class AAA Wayne.
The Jaguars are 4-5 on the season and have played several common opponents with the Generals. Wayne beat Sylva-Bay (21-13) and Ben’s Ford (36-26) but lost to Oak Hill (20-8). They are coming off two bad losses to Lamar School (51-0) and Columbia (60-14).
“Wayne is a AAA school and has gotten whipped pretty good the last couple of games by some bigger schools,” NCA coach Rob Roberts aid. “They run the double wing most of the time and I think we do a pretty good job of defending that. They have another quarterback that comes in that runs the spread and throws the ball so we don’t know what we will see. We just need to stay healthy as we head into the playoffs.”
Last year, NCA beat Wayne 42-8. With the playoffs just a week away, the Generals are assured a spot in the top five but says a win against Wayne would help them with power points because they are a AAA school.
