The East Oktibbeha County High School football team will try to wipe out several years of misery when it plays host to West Lowndes at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a critical Class 1A, Region 3 showdown.
“We have had a great deal of difficulty beating them,” said East Oktibbeha coach Randy Brooks, whose program has lost the past five games on the field to West Lowndes. “Our game plan is to stop (senior running back) Antonio Wilson. He basically does everything for them. He can catch it. He can run it. In my opinion, he is a Division I prospect.
“When we practice and work on our defense, our plan is to make sure Antonio is accounted for on every single play. He beat us by himself last year (188 rushing yards and 263 all-purpose yards in a 20-12 victory). Our goal is to avoid repeating that this year.”
The stakes are high. East Oktibbeha is 4-1 and 2-0 in region play. West Lowndes is 2-2 and 1-0 in region play. Each team has a decisive region win against Ethel. East Oktibbeha also has defeated Sebastopol.
“It seems like we have some ins and outs every game,” East Oktibbeha senior tailback James Brown said. “The way we can make up for some of that is by practicing better. One thing is for sure. We are not going to take sympathy on anyone. We have goals and we have to work real hard to reach those goals, no matter who is in the way.”
Last week in a 46-14 win at Ethel, Brown rushed for 150 yards and four touchdowns. Kortland Petty rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, the Titans ran for 327 yards.
“Our goal was to run the ball with authority,” Brooks said. “Mission accomplished there. At the end of the first quarter, Laderrick Riley and Jeremi Staples came to me and said we need to run at the No. 2 spot. They said everything we have in our playbook would work at the No. 2 spot.
“We found a defensive weakness and did a great job of exploiting it. Our goal each game is to be physical up front and run the football. We have done a good job with that in region play.”
Having already matched last season’s win total, Brown feels the Titans are hitting their stride.
“I feel like we have done well, except for when we faced one real hard team, North Pontotoc,” Brown said of a 55-0 loss to the Class 4A team. “They had the advantage on us in that game. In all of the other games, we have played well and it has been a total team effort.
A senior transfer from West Point High, Brown has embraced his role as a leader, despite being a newcomer.
“My job is to try to keep the team up,” Brown said. “That is what happens when you are in the leadership category. Each of us on this team tries to talk to one another. We tell each other we can beat this team. Nobody ever puts anybody down. We just try to find a way to maneuver the ball and score some points.”
East Oktibbeha will play its fifth home game of the season Friday night. To say the Crawford community is excited would be an understatement.
For Brown, the excitement can be felt walking the halls of the campus.
“Even though this is my first year, several people have told me it has been a while since the school had a good record,” Brown said. “Our job is to not quit now. We have to keep it up. There is still a lot of work to do. But if we keep at it, we can have a good record.”
East Oktibbeha last had a winning season in 2006, when coach “Sleepy” Robinson led the Titans to the first round of the playoffs.
The Anthony King-led Panthers had an open week last week. West Lowndes opened with a 40-28 win at Montgomery County, lost to Caledonia (29-15) and Shannon (50-14) before beating Ethel 42-20 at home.
King was the head coach at the school in 2008-09. He spent last season as an assistant coach at Noxubee County High before returning to his alma mater, which was known at Motley High.
Through four games, Wilson has rushed for 615 yards and five touchdowns.
West Lowndes has won the past five meetings on the field. It won 22-14 in 2006 but had to forfeit the victory. East Oktibbeha’s last win on the field was a 35-0 victory in 2005.
Starkville Academy (5-0, 1-0) at Jackson Prep (4-1, 1-0)
Starkville Academy is gearing up for its biggest challenge this season against the second-ranked team in The Associated Press state rankings. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday night in Jackson.
“Jackson Prep has had the premier academy football program in this state for the last 40 years,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said of the Class 3A, District 2 game. “This will be the ultimate challenge. However, we are not going to back down. Our kids are very excited about the opportunity to play on the big stage.”
However, within the district, the teams are in different divisions, so while the contest counts, Starkville Academy and Prep won’t be vying for the same playoff spots.
“This will be a good measuring stick game,” Terrill said. “We will have to play our best game. However, this is why you play the game to have opportunities such as this one.”
Starkville Academy opened district play last week with a 42-8 win at Hillcrest Christian. Senior fullback Ryan Mann posted his second straight 100-yard rushing game, rushing 19 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns. Colby Runnels also rushed for two touchdowns.
“The best thing about that game was we had the opportunity to play a number of young guys,” Terrill said. “They work hard in practice and they are part of this team. Fortunately, we came out early, built a big lead, and had the chance to get everybody involved.”
Hillcrest Christian had only 107 yards of rushing offense, and didn’t break up the shutout until 11 seconds remained. Jordan Bright sparked the defense with two fumble recoveries. The Volunteers had three takeaways. Through five games, the Volunteers are allowing one touchdown per game.
“We have had really improved physically,” Terrill said. “The team does a good job of attacking and finding a way to get to the football. The defensive pressure will be extremely huge against Prep. They are a very talented offensive team.”
Jackson Prep is 3-0 against Mississippi Association of Independent Schools opponents. It won at Madison-Ridgeland (35-13), defeated Pillow (28-7), and won at Copiah (38-0) in district play. In two contests against the Mississippi High School Activities Association, Prep beat Forest (24-14) at home and lost to Pearl (33-9) at home. The loss to Pearl snapped a season-opening four-game win streak.
Weir (1-4, 0-2) at West Oktibbeha (2-2, 0-1)
Weir and West Oktibbeha will try for their first victory in Class 1A, Region 3 play when the teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
After winning its first two games, West Oktibbeha has dropped back-to-back decisions, including a 50-14 loss at Nanih Waiya in its region opener last Friday.
“The attitude remains really good,” West Oktibbeha coach Adam Lowrey said. “We just got to get back to basics. We have to block better and we have to tackle better. The effort has been good. We just had to get better at doing things we are capable of doing.”
The Timberwolves will try to close the gap on defense. West Oktibbeha is allowing 38 points per game. The first four opponents have scored at least 30 points on the defense.
“We have to do a better job against the big play,” Lowrey said. “The other problem has been an inability to get off the field. We have to do a better job of limiting the chances of the other team. At the same time, we need more consistency on the offensive side of the ball.”
Against Nanih Waiya, West Oktibbeha scored twice in the second quarter. Tiberias Lampkin scored on a 3-yard run, while teammate J.R. Love scored on a 5-yard run. Lampkin also paced the defense with 14 tackles.
Weir also has had recent issues on defense. After a 36-12 season-opening win against J.Z. George, the Lions have lost four straight. In its two region losses, Weir has fallen to Noxapater (34-18) and Pelahatchie (36-30).
Jimarrian Woodard leads Weir with 919 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns. The Lions are only completing 22 percent of their passes with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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