MACON — All of the gray and indigestion has led to this point.
Central Academy football coach Ronnie Sciple has watched as the Vikings have wiggled themselves in and out of jams and found ways to win four of their seven games by two points.
Sciple hopes the Vikings’ “will” to win and tenacity gives them an edge at 7 p.m. Friday when they travel to Drew to take on North Sunflower Academy in a key Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Eight-Man District 1 game.
“They do seem more relaxed and laid back this week,” Sciple said. “Hopefully that is a good thing. Hopefully we will go in there and take care of business. North Sunflower got beat last week, so they are going to be ready to avenge that loss. They will be ready.”
With two games remaining in the regular season, Central Academy (7-0, 5-0) can clinch at least a share of the district title with a victory. It will play next week at Franklin Academy and will wrap up the regular season with a district game against Calvary Christian.
Central Academy will finish no worse than second in the district because it has tiebreakers against Calhoun Academy and Russell Christian. Those teams each have two losses.
North Sunflower Academy is coming off a 64-24 loss to Sharkey-Issaquena last week. Sciple isn’t sure if North Sunflower Academy rested its key players to give them extra rest for this week’s game, but he knows his team will be tested Friday. North Sunflower Academy defeated Kemper Academy (34-16) and Russell Christian (26-6) earlier in the season.
Those results, though, pale in comparison to the drama Central Academy has overcome. Whether it has been late forced fumbles or left-handed shovel passes on conversion attempts off a broken play, the Vikings have done enough to keep their record perfect.
Last week was a perfect example. Sciple said Central Academy won a good old-fashioned “slobber-knocker” thanks to a conversion pitch by quarterback Cole Newman to Drew Pearson with less than 10 minutes to play.
“After the first couple of games we played there is no way I thought we would be undefeated at this time,” Sciple said. “But these kids, I don’t know how they do it, they find some kind of way or will to win the ballgame.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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