The North Pike football team will look to snap a three-game losing streak when it ventures to Columbia to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Friday.
While the Jaguars are 1-3 on the season, the Wildcats are 1-2 and looking to get to .500 with a win Friday night.
North Pike head coach Chris Smith emphasized how crucial it was for his team to get back on track against Columbia with district contests coming up soon.
“It’s very important,” Smith said. “We’re trying to get some momentum going before we start district play.”
North Pike trailed 21-19 at Tylertown in Week 2 but lost 41-19. The Jaguars jumped out to a 14-0 lead at Franklin County in Week 3 and lost 28-21. North Pike led 7-6 at home against Wilkinson County last week and lost 20-7.
Smith stressed the importance of the Jaguars being able to play well for the entire game this week.
“I think it’s a maturity thing,” he said. “We’ve got to learn how to play four quarter. Kind of like the old saying: ‘When you got a man down, you gotta kick him.’ We’ve got to be able to do that. We’ve got to have that drive to finish and play four quarters.”
Smith also said some athletes have not been able to settle into their roles on the team yet.
However, he said the Jaguars have done a good preparing for the Wildcats.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” Smith said. “We had a good practice yesterday. I think they understand what has to be done and it’s just a matter of getting that senior leadership to step up.”
Smith said North Pike must stop Columbia’s quarterback and running game, particularly running back Fredrick Peters. On the offensive side of the ball, he said the Jaguars must improve the consistency of their passing game. Tez Fountain is the North Pike quarterback.
Smith said athletes who would have to continue to play well for North Pike to win are linebacker Tyric Miller, who is playing in Mark Smith’s absence, and offensive lineman Bryceon Magee.
North Pike won 62-35 at home against Columbia last season.
While North Pike is a very different team this season, Coach Smith said Columbia should be similar to 2015.
“They’re pretty similar,” he said. “They’re kind of the same type of team. They’re pretty big up front in both offensive line and defensive line. So I would say they’re pretty similar.”
