After a pair of early season warmups, the West Oktibbeha County High School football team will get its biggest challenge of the season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday when it travels to Eupora to face the Eupora High Eagles.
“I think our kids are really excited about playing Eupora,” West Oktibbeha coach Adam Lowery said. “We have worked hard during the offseason to have a good year. This is another chance to take a big step forward.”
West Oktibbeha (2-0) has scored 122 points, which is second in the state in Class 1A, and trails only Faulkner by two points. Faulkner has gathered its total in three games.
“The challenge for our team this year is consistency,” Lowery said. “We started strong last season. Then we had a difficult time scoring in some games down the stretch. Our conditioning has been a focus. We want to be better prepared for some of the challenges ahead in region play.”
Senior quarterback Von Smith has thrown for 433 yards and 10 touchdowns in victories against S.V. Marshall and Montgomery County. Senior Tiberias Lampkin has rushed for 159 yards and six touchdowns.
West Oktibbeha has 17 touchdowns. The Timberwolves have allowed only two.
“Defensively, we have made some strides this season,” Lowery said. “We are more physical as a unit. That will be one of the keys to this game. Eupora was a physical team in our last game last year. We will have to respond to their challenge.
“I am looking forward to seeing our line play and seeing our physical they are in this game. Hopefully, the offense can continue to start fast.”
Eupora (3-0) has defeated French Camp Academy (20-10), Noxapater (37-12), and Winona (22-13).
Eupora won last season’s meeting, 36-16 in Maben.
East Oktibbeha (1-2) at Sebastopol (1-1)
For East Oktibbeha County High, the second season begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it plays at Sebastopol in a Class 1A, Region 3 game.
East Oktibbeha will close the season with eight straight region games in the next nine Fridays.
“We are still working on a lot of things, but we are excited about getting our region schedule started,” East Oktibbeha coach Randy Brooks said. “We are doing a better job of competing and playing hard. However, we have to get better at execution. We need to do more things on offense and limit the big plays on defense.”
Last Friday, Class 4A foe North Pontotoc racked up five passing touchdowns in a 52-13 victory. That defeat came a week after East Oktibbeha’s first victory — a 55-0 victory against McAdams.
“North Pontotoc presented a huge challenge because of their size and depth,” Brooks said. “We did some things right but we need to find a way to become more consistent.”
Against North Pontotoc, quarterback Justin Williams found receiver Juwan Roberts for a pair of touchdown passes. A junior, Williams worked hard in the offseason to emerge as a leader. Jermaine Gillespie had three rushing touchdowns against McAdams.
Sebastopol is 1-1. The Bobcats lost to Lake (34-12) before defeating Clarkdale (28-22). Sebastopol was open last week.
“Anytime you face a team with an open date, it is a bigger challenge,” Brooks said. “That means they have had two weeks to prepare for you. Last season’s game was a defensive struggle, so we will have to find way to score some points and we have to do a great job of shutting them down to have a chance.”
East Oktibbeha won last season’s meeting, 20-9 in Crawford.
Leake Academy (2-1) at Starkville Academy (1-2)
Despite playing in a lower classification, the recent offensive exploits of Leake Academy have the full attention of the Starkville Academy coaching staff.
The Volunteers (1-2) will play host to the Rebels (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at J.E. Logan Field in Starkville.
“Leake Academy has been doing a great job of executing their offense the last couple of weeks,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “We will have a challenge. We are missing some confidence. We have been starting fast but have not played well for four quarters.
“That is the challenge. We have to find a way to be more consistent for an entire game.”
Starkville Academy dropped a 25-14 decision at Magnolia Heights Academy last week. The Volunteers held a 14-12 halftime lead.
Two first-half touchdowns held up in a 13-0 win against St. Andrew’s. Offensive struggles in the second half hurt in the follow-up losses to Heritage Academy and Magnolia Heights Academy.
“Defensively, we have played well enough to win some games,” Terrill said. “However, the lack of offense makes it tough on the defense. When they have to play so many snaps, it becomes a bigger challenge than it already is.”
Starkville Academy had 300 total yards and 16 first downs against Magnolia Heights. Still, the Volunteers have struggled to maintain drives and to limit turnovers.
Leake Academy is 2-1. It lost to Simpson Academy (42-13) before defeating Immanuel Christian (50-12) and Kirk Academy (53-20).
Starkville Academy won last season’s meeting, 42-14 in Madden.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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