Antonio Wilson remembers the cramping.
Brandon Clark recalls the turnovers and the missed tackles.
Gerald Sanders remembers the playful attitude the week before the West Lowndes football team”s season opener against West Oktibbeha.
All of those factors played key roles in West Lowndes” surprising 31-14 loss at home. The loss wasn”t startling because West Oktibbeha, a Class 1A school, was overmatched. The result was a wake-up call for a group of Panthers who admitted they weren”t prepared to do what they needed to do.
“When the season started we had a lot of cockiness and people thinking we couldn”t be beaten,” senior Brandon Clark said. “I am really surprised we are where we are now. We can”t think ahead and we have to work harder.”
West Lowndes (6-2, 3-0 Class 2A, Region 2) has turned a negative into a positive and is riding a four-game winning streak. The Panthers will try to make it five in a row at 7 p.m. Friday when they play host to Eupora (5-3, 2-1). The winner likely will be the second-seeded playoff team to come out of the district, while the loser will have to fight for third or fourth and have to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs.
A playoff appearance would be the first for West Lowndes since 2003, when it lost to Weir in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.
This year, a refocused group of Panthers said the loss to the Timberwolves was the best medicine because it made them re-dedicate themselves in practice.
“We talk more about the plays more and go through them more,” Clark said. “We do more of everything that we have done, but we do a little more of it to make it even better.”
Wilson, the team”s leading rusher, said communication has been a key to not allowing the season to fall apart. Wilson said West Lowndes High coach Bobby Berry has reminded the players every week — with his usual gusto — about their focus and the importance of working hard.
Wilson said the players have responded by fussing at teammates who don”t practice with the seriousness needed to help the team realize its goal.
“We have come very far,” Wilson said. “Everybody is in shape now and working hard. We are trying to make it to Jackson.”
Sanders, who is in his first season at quarterback, remembers the team thought it had West Oktibbeha defeated before the first snap. Through eight games, he feels he has settled down and has learned to work harder in practice. He feels he still isn”t seeing the field like he wants to, but he is making progress, just like the team.
“I am not surprised with where we are,” Sanders said. “If we put our mind to it we can go all of the way. Now we”re getting serious because it is crunch time and time to do right if we want to make it somewhere. We don”t want to go to the playoffs and lose in the first game. We want to go all of the way.”
Berry isn”t looking past Eupora to his team”s game against region leader East Webster next week. He remembers a 52-6 loss at Eupora last season that was part of a four-game losing streak to end the season that knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs.
This season, he feels his team has relied on a strong group of seniors to bounce back from the loss to West Oktibbeha and from a 35-10 loss to Class 3A power Philadelphia. Since then, West Lowndes has rode the winning wave, and Berry wants it to continue Friday night.
“They have responded to everything we wanted to do and have worked hard,” Berry said. “The only way we can get better is through hard work and dedication.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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