A playoff spot is up for grabs when cross-county rivals North Pike and South Pike face off in the regular-season finale Friday in a Region 6-4A matchup at North Pike Middle School, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
The winner will be the No. 4 team in the district, while the loser’s season will come to an end. North Pike won 38-20 at South Pike last season.
Both teams are coming off of losses last week as the Jaguars (4-6, 1-3) fell on their usual home field — Southwest Mississippi Community College — to McComb 51-0, while the Eagles (4-5, 1-3) lost at home to Region 6-4A leader Florence 44-6.
First-year South Pike head coach Brinson Wall was the offensive coordinator at North Pike and worked under Jaguars head coach Chris Smith.
“Personally, I’ll see a lot of people that I spent a lot of time with up there for 10 years, and it will be fun, but once that official blows that whistle, it will be all about the football game at that point,” Wall said. “We’ll do our best to try to win the football game, and I’m sure Coach Smith and his staff will do their best to try to beat us.”
Smith expressed similar sentiments, saying he was looking forward to playing at the middle school and the challenge of going against South Pike.
“I think we’ll have a good crowd,” he said. “The kids had a good week of practice this week. They know what’s on the line. Our goal from the get-go when we worked all summer was to make the playoffs. It’s real simple right now. The winner goes, and the loser gets out the moth balls and packs the jerseys up.”
Both teams have had several athletes in active through the year.
Eagles freshman quarterback Dontavious Turner has been out five weeks with a broken collarbone, and senior William Carter has filled in.
Wall would not announce his starting quarterback for Friday’s game.
“I guess you’ll have to buy a ticket and come find out, won’t you?” he said. “You’ll see what happens at game time.”
Eagles senior defensive tackle Charles Williams is out for the season with a knee injury, but everyone else is expected to be available.
“We’re getting some of our people back,” Wall said. “I don’t know if they’re all 100 percent. They’re going to buckle it up this week, and they’re going to try to play.”
North Pike still has several athletes missing, but junior nose guard Jamal Williams will be back. Freshman Alijah Martin is still the starting quarterback.
Many young athletes have been forced to step up for the Jaguars, and Smith said that experience could prove valuable Friday night.
“A lot of the guys that had to come in for injured players, they’re going into their third and fourth week of the lights coming on, so they kind of got over the big eyed stuff,” he said. “They’re kind of settled in. They’re still young. They still need experience, but they’re much improved over what they were when they first started out as far as experience. That’s what you’ve got to get when you’re young.”
North Pike has been a playoff team for four straight seasons, while South Pike has not been to the playoffs since 2011.
“It would mean a lot to our kids and our program,” Wall said. “We are starting. I would like to (get to the playoffs). These seniors have never had a chance to go, so it would mean a lot to them to get a chance to play and to participate in the playoffs.”
Eagles freshman and starting wide receiver Leslie Williams agreed.
“I think we’ve got to come out and play hard to get a ‘W’ and go off into the playoffs and fight hard to win,” he said. “We’ve been working hard through practice all year. I think we deserve it.”
Smith said he was glad to be playing at the middle school for such an important matchup.
“Anytime you play at home, you’ve got a little advantage,” he said. “The kids will be excited about having a home game. I think that’s the big — the atmosphere.”
Wall said avoiding mistakes and getting sophomore running back Deldrionn Amos carried would be important.
“We just need to give Amos some creases and give him an opportunity,” he said. “Amos is a game changer. Amos is a guy that could be the difference in the football game for us.”
Senior Bryceon Magee and junior Tyric Miller are North Pike’s running backs, and Smith said the team that wants the game the most should win.
“We have to stop their run game,” Smith said. “They run the ball real well. Defensively, they’re very active. They’re going to move the football. We’ve got to do a good job of blocking up front and getting to our assignments, catch the football and don’t turn it over. That’s the big thing right now.”
