WEST POINT — The bleachers are ready.
The grass has been sprayed and cut.
The bleachers are on campus and set to be arranged.
The field will be painted Friday.
The rest of the details will fall in line in the next two days as West Point High School continues to prepare for one of the biggest regular-season football games in recent memory.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, two-time defending Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state champion West Point will play host to two-time MHSAA Class 6A state champion South Panola in the first game of the season for both teams.
“We have a great support staff,” West Point Athletic Director and football coach Chris Chambless said. “Everybody involved has stepped up and has been eager to do what they have to do to help.”
The matchup has been years in the making, and is expected to draw a crowd that will exceed the original seating capacity (7,500) of Hamblin Stadium. The enthusiasm for the game has forced West Point High officials to bring in 20-25 additional sets of bleachers that will be used to accommodate fans. Chambless said fans will be allowed to stand in other areas, and that every effort will be made to allow as many fans into the stadium as possible.
Chambless said gates will open at 6 p.m. He also said there will be shuttle buses will be available at the Bryan Foods parking lot starting at 5:45 p.m. to bring people to the game.
West Point is coming off a 21-20 loss to Louisville on Saturday at the second annual Fall High School Jamboree at Mississippi State”s Davis Wade Stadium. The two-quarter event gave West Point a chance to see how its revamped running game and its new-look defense fared against Louisville, one of the state”s top teams in Class 4A.
Chambless said the Green Wave made plenty of physical and mental mistakes that the coaches have highlighted this week. He said the two quarters against Louisville haven”t necessarily made it easier for the coaches to get the players re-focused for Saturday because this is a game that has generated a lot of buzz. He said the trick for players and fans of West Point High football will be to keep the result in perspective.
“It is a big challenge not to let them put all of their eggs in one basket,” Chambless said. “We have to get over the fact that a lot of people in the state think this is the biggest game. It is a big game, but it doesn”t matter in the grand scheme of things. We want to play to get better, just like we play any other non-district game.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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