The Hamilton High School football team has put its pieces together at the right time of the season.
Now the Lions have to hope they can raise their level of play another notch.
On Friday, Hamilton (5-6) will travel to Calhoun City (11-0) for a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A first-round playoff game.
Hamilton is coming off a 39-6 win at J.Z. George last week that helped it clinch the No. 4 seed out of Region 2. Coach Ray Weeks said his team had a good week of practice leading up to the game, and that it benefited from the return of quarterback Zarratt Sims and senior leaders Cole and Tyler Gill, who are cousins.
“We probably played the best game we played since the first of the year,” Weeks said. “I was proud of the way we responded and how we came out and played.”
Hamilton, which finished 4-7 last season and lost in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs in 2008, rebounded from a 35-0 loss to Region 2 champion East Webster on Oct. 15 to beat Ackerman 21-20 and J.Z. George to return to the postseason.
Weeks feels Sims will give the Lions another weapon on offense that will be key Friday night. “He can run the ball or pass it,” Weeks said. “We can do more things with him in there at quarterback.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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