Although only one district game has been played, it’s hard to see anyone other than Tylertown winning the 7-4A title.
The Chiefs began as preseason favorites and remain the frontrunners, despite a 32-0 loss Sept. 21 to Bassfield.
Tylertown coach Jason Johnson realizes his team’s expectations but is hardly taking 1-6 Lawrence County lightly Friday night at 7.
“With four district games left, it’s anybody’s who steps up and takes it,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell our kids.”
Lawrence County’s only win came in September over Prentiss. The Cougars’ most recent loss came last Friday against North Pike on a last-minute field goal.
Tylertown will once again be a heavy favorite, but Lawrence County is known for surprising teams in recent years.
Lawrence County marched down to Magnolia last season and pulled out a 21-20 win over South Pike. The Cougars went on to make the playoffs and lost in the first round.
“Each one of these games is like gold. Each one of them counts,” Johnson said. “If you lose one of these games … you find yourself in the possibility of tiebreakers, and you don’t want to get involved with that.”
Lawrence County is a mirror image of Georgia Tech’s double slot, triple option attack. The Cougars have yet to get their running game going this season and they chose a bad time to play the Chiefs. Tylertown is fresh off a shutout of South Pike and its defense is a much-improved unit under the direction of defensive coordinator O.J. Magee.
The defense may have finally caught up with the offense, which averages 43.5 points and 400 yards of total offense per game.
Johnson hopes to keep improving each week and eventually peak two games before the playoffs start.
“This is the time of the year you want to peak with performance and we hope we are getting better each and every week and ideally peak around Week 8 or Week 9,” he said.
Tylertown may be without running back Chris Jones for the second straight week with an ankle injury. Johnson called Jones, who has rushed for 283 yards and four touchdowns, a game-time decision.
Johnson can afford to hold Jones out again for rest purposes, if need be. Tylertown has several capable backs behind Jones, including Ja’Mori Mark, Craig Carson and Sam Magee.
Mark started for Jones against South Pike and rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown.
“Mark is a special kid. He’s a burner. He’s a 4.4 (40-yard dash) kid,” Johnson said. “He’s very capable of stepping in and carrying the load.”
