McComb has yet to lose a game this season because of its offense.
The Tigers have put up at least 20 points in all six games and their offense is coming off a 505-yard performance against 5A power Wayne County.
Football isn’t just about offense, and McComb learned that first-hand against Wayne County with a lackadaisical effort on defense and numerous mental mistakes that led to penalties.
The Tigers opened the season 5-0 before the loss to Wayne County and have come too far to let things spiral out of control.
McComb hopes to correct those mistakes Friday in a 7 p.m. home contest with South Jones (4-3).
“Turnovers, penalties, drive-stoppers,” McComb coach Malcolm Jones said of the Wayne County game. “We had 505 yards of total offense. That’s a huge amount … we could have had more than 630 without penalties.”
The penalties haven’t been a one-week occurrence, however. McComb was flagged 17 times against Brookhaven. Most of those penalties included personnel issues that the coaching staff corrected. The majority of flags against Wayne County came on holding calls.
“We’ve been working on it this week,” Jones said. “The holding calls are coming from the receivers out on the perimeter. We are really working on those guys staying fit and moving their feet.”
Despite yellow flags cluttering the field, McComb still managed a season-high 289 rushing yards, including 136 from Aquindus Henson.
It was the defense that didn’t show up. McComb allowed missed tackle after missed tackle and Wayne County churned out big plays as a result.
Big plays have been McComb’s kryptonite this season, but Jones stressed that can’t happen against South Jones.
“We really have to get them stopped and get the ball back to our offense,” he said. “We can’t play around.”
South Jones runs a triple-option offense from under center, similar to what North Pike used earlier in the season against McComb.
Spread offenses have given the Tigers some trouble, so defending against a running attack from under center may be exactly what the defense needs.
Ben Cooley leads the Braves with 610 rushing yards and five scores, and quarterback Carter Polles has totaled 579 yards on the ground and seven TDs.
McComb counters with its usual spread attack. The biggest key is whether South Jones can slow down the connection of junior quarterback Alex Woodall and senior wide receiver Quartavious Smith. The duo has been on fire of late, accounting for 17 catches, 230 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games.
