There have been some eyebrow-raising developments through the first three weeks of the high school football season. Here are five big takeaways from last week’s action.
Bruuuce!
Expectations were fairly high for Bruce entering last season, but three straight losses to open the campaign and the loss of some key players proved too much to overcome.
The proverbial script has been flipped this year. Bruce is 3-0, already matching last season’s win total. The Trojans are coming off a 46-35 win against a solid Falkner team, as the offense had another big night. Quarterback Joshua Long, who stepped in as the starter early last season, has been reliable. And he has a playmaking target in Jermaine Jackson, who has 349 yards and four touchdowns on 17 catches.
This is the third year for head coach Chuck Darbonne, and it could prove to be a turning point for this once-proud program.
Unbeaten Bearcats
On paper, this looked to be a bit of a rebuilding year for Baldwyn’s offense. But this program, which won the Class 1A title last season, has always been adept at reloading, and that’s what the Bearcats have done.
The offense hasn’t missed a beat during a 3-0 start, with wins over Kossuth, Booneville and Nettleton. First-year quarterback Rush Watkins has thrown for 527 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
The defense, as expected, is again a tough unit, with players like Chanceton Price and Braxton Stewart causing havoc in opposing backfields.
Baldwyn is now in 2A and could be a contender.
Cardinals soaring
Belmont is off to a 3-0 start for the second straight year and is coming off an impressive 30-28 win against Myrtle. This isn’t surprising, because third-year head coach Michael D. Jackson has a long history of winning. Over 19 seasons in Alabama, he had a record of 134-79 with 12 playoff appearances.
The next step for this program is winning a playoff game, which Belmont hasn’t done in seven years.
So much Winfun
Entering this season, North Pontotoc’s Drew Winfun was rated the area’s No. 4 quarterback by the Daily Journal. Through three games, he is showing why he was deserving of that ranking.
Winfun has terrorized opposing defenses with both his arm and his legs. He’s completed 29 of 40 passes (72.5%) for 593 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception. He’s also rushed for 200 yards and two scores.
Those numbers are especially impressive when you consider he has yet to play a full four quarters, due to the Vikings blowing out their first three opponents by a combined score of 136-0.
Hill-acious game
Regents, a small private school in Oxford, is playing its first year of varsity football. But the Lions’ quarterback, Zane Hill, has plenty of varsity experience from his time at Myrtle.
Hill is the grandson of the legendary Johnny Hill, the former Tupelo and Oxford head coach who is now an assistant at Regents. Johnny played quarterback at UT Chattanooga in college. Three of his four sons also played college football, including Zane’s father Jake.
That pedigree was never more evident than last Friday, when Zane completed 30 of 50 passes for 542 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions in a 60-58 loss to Carroll Academy. Safe to say, he is carrying on the family legacy.