When New Hope High School football coach Kris Pickle is in position to receive praise for the success of the annual New Hope Jamboree, he quickly deflects the credit.
“I simply ask teams to show up and play,” Pickle said. “All of the hard work is done by the booster club. Mississippi State gives us a great opportunity. Our parents and boosters make sure the opportunity is taken advantage of. I am proud, yes, but really, all I do is line the teams up to play.”
The eighth installment of the event will be Aug. 11 and 12. It will be at MSU’s Davis Wade Stadium for the seventh time.
“It has really become a top-notch event,” Columbus fourth-year head coach Randal Montgomery said. “I think the kids enjoy playing in the college stadium. After a couple of weeks of practice, it is just something different. You get tired of going against the same guys every day in practice. Playing on the college campus and getting to watch some of the other teams helps make it special.”
This season, there will be eight games. Each game will feature a varsity half followed by a 20-minute junior varsity session. After featuring seven games each of the last two years, the event expands by a game this season.
“Houston and Kemper County were looking for a neutral-site location to play one another,” Pickle said. “They reached out to me. Very thankful that Mississippi State allowed us to tack on another game last minute. That’s a lot of wear and tear on their playing surface over a two-day period. As usual, the university goes out of their way to accommodate us any way possible.
“The other minor schedule change is starting at noon Saturday. This is move-in weekend on campus because the students will be coming back earlier than usual, so they asked us to start in the afternoon. We got all that worked out.”
The Friday tripleheader features Shannon vs. Columbus at 4 p.m., Kemper County vs. Houston at 6 p.m., and Amory vs. New Hope at 8 p.m. On Saturday, it will be Philadelphia vs. Kosciusko at noon, Meridian vs. Greenwood at 2 p.m., Starkville vs., Louisville at 4 p.m., Noxubee County vs. Callaway at 6 p.m., and West Point vs. Tupelo at 8 p.m.
A year ago, West Point opened the season at Davis Wade Stadium and returned there to defeat Laurel in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A State championship.
Noxubee County did the same thing in Class 4A in 2014.
“It’s a great way to start the season,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “It takes a little bit of an edge off the State championship game because you have already played in the stadium. Each year, we have lined up against a quality opponent. You can see where you stand going into that last week of practice before the first game.”
The West Point-Tupelo matchup features teams with a combined 26 wins from last season. Both teams return a minimum of seven starters on both sides of the ball.
The jamboree also will feature the debut of new Starkville High head coach Chris Jones. The Yellow Jackets are back at Davis Wade after bypassing last year’s event.
New Hope will shift from Class 5A to Class 4A this season. Pickle said the jamboree gives the coaching staff a chance to look at personnel.
“The kids are excited because you are finally hitting someone that is not a teammate,” Pickle said. “After a couple of weeks of practice, you want to face off against somebody new. We use it as a trial run for several players. We will try some guys at some new positions to see what that looks like. It is just about experimentation.
“You want to execute and be disciplined. However, we also look at it as a chance to try some things. You always feel better after the scrimmage because it gives you film to study and really highlights the things you need to be better at.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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