The McComb Tigers will try to turn last year’s win against South Pike into a winning streak, while the Eagles hope to regain the upper hand with the home field and a new offense.
Expectations matter, but only so much. It will be the first game of the season for both teams, while the rivalry game that used to finish the season now begins it with a playoff-type atmosphere.
“It doesn’t matter who’s picked to do what,” McComb head football coach Randy Martin said. “As long as the players play, they’ve got a lot to play for.”
An early season win against a tough opponent and a head start on the schedule can mean the difference in weeks of smooth sailing or a rough stretch.
Last year South Pike lost 7-0 to McComb and followed that up with a “tough week against Brookhaven,” Eagles head coach Randall Huffman said.
South Pike improved and went on to end the season 5-5, while McComb won nine games before losing in the second round of the 4A state playoffs.
The Tigers participated in a jamboree a week ago, while the Eagles did not. A look at McComb’s performance on both sides of the ball and the kicking game a week ago should help the Tigers, but not knowing what South Pike will do is what has Martin guessing.
The Eagles installed the veer offense this year, and Martin is itchy about seeing how Huffman would use it to attack the defense.
South Pike’s spring jamboree wasn’t enough to whet Martin’s appetite for studying the Eagle’s new offense.
It will be the first game of the season, and there will be plenty of atmosphere for it, so the outcome is in the air until both coaches see how their players react in the heated rivalry.
“It kind of grows on you,” Huffman said. “You think it can’t be that different from other rivalries, but it is. It’s much different from any of our other games.
“There’s a bunch of community involvement, and that’s how it should be.”
“It’s like the first day at the fair,” Martin said. “Everyone shows up.”
Huffman added, “If it will be anything, it’ll be standing room only.”
The expected capacity crowd will see the teams feel each other out until they unlock each other’s playing strategies.
McComb’s front seven will have to keep their assignments against the veer. If not South Pike could run for a while.
“Against the veer the up front people will have to play assignment football,” Martin said. “The offense will spend time trying to screw with the assignments.”
Huffman said the Eagles are more concerned with McComb’s speed.
“Their overall team speed is good,” he said. “We need to keep it bottled up.”
If McComb strings out plays and beats South Pike to the sidelines, then the Tigers can break out for some big gains.
Of course, a low-scoring affair is possible with the chance of rain Friday, but that won’t be a problem if both teams can get off to a good start.
“If we play well and improve, I’m tickled,” Huffman said.
Either way, it will be just another chapter in the books between South Pike and McComb.
