By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Oct. 9, 2003
Northeast Lauderdale will draw one of the toughest assignments in Mississippi high school football on Friday a road game against Wayne County.
Other area games include Lamar at Heritage, Newton at West Lauderdale, Southeast Lauderdale at Choctaw Central, and Clarkdale at Williams-Sullivan.
Steve Nelson has some advice for his Trojans as they hit the road to take on the War Eagles: just have fun.
The Trojans will face a stiff challenge from the defending 5A champion War Eagles, who moved down to 4A before the season began. Since the step down, Wayne County has looked nearly invincible on its way to a 6-0 record.
The War Eagles defense has had four shutouts, and the team has scored 35 points or more four times. Even so, Nelson said he hopes the Trojans will not allow themselves to be intimidated.
Quitman then rebounded from the loss against Wayne County with a win over Northeast Lauderdale. Nelson said he wants the Trojans to use the game to gain confidence.
While Nelson hopes his team will be only the third squad to score against the War Eagles, he is more anxious to see whether his team focuses more than it did in Friday's loss.
Lamar
at Heritage
Lamar looks to continue its recent dominance of opponents on Friday when the Raiders face Heritage Academy in Columbus.
Since a 38-13 loss to Jackson Prep on Sept. 5 Lamar's only defeat the Raiders have outscored opponents by an average of 32 points.
Heritage enters the game at 5-2. They come into Friday's contest after an off week, having played their last game on Sept. 26 in a 13-6 win over Benton Academy.
The Patriots have beaten Lamar in their last two meetings, and Barnes said that fact helps motivate his team for an important non-division game.
Heritage's offense has been efficient at times, and scored five touchdowns in a 42-8 win over Canton Academy on Sept. 12. The Patriots have also been burned by strong offenses, though. Both of their losses were blowouts 32-0 against Starkville Academy and 35-7 versus Manchester Academy.
The Patriots are not the only ones hoping to improve offensively. Even though they have scored 90 of the 118 points posted by Lamar in the past three games, Barnes said the Raiders' offense still has room for improvement.
Newton
at W. Lauderdale
Winning is hard work, but West Lauderdale head coach Stan McCain is starting to like it.