The Amanda Elzy, Leflore County and J.Z. George football teams will all be on the road Friday to participate in scrimmages or jamborees before the season kicks off on Aug. 27.
- Amanda Elzy: The Panthers are under the direction of first-year coach Morris Bush, who officially took over the program in March 2020 but had to wait until now to see his team on the field because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bush will take his team to Greenville Friday to play the Hornets in a jamboree at 7:30 p.m. West Bolivar and Humphreys County play at 5:30 p.m. and Ruleville takes on Leland at 6:30 p.m. Each contest will consist of two quarters.
“Everything has been going pretty good,” said Bush. “I think the layoff took its toll on some of these guys as far as conditioning, but they are all very excited and eager to work. There have been mistakes in practice, but you have to learn from those mistakes and move on.”
Bush added that he has 42 players on the team.
- Leflore County: The Tigers will play a controlled scrimmage against Simmons High School in Hollandale. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
Eric House begins his fifth season at the helm of the Leflore program. The Tigers were shut down last season when the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District ceased all fall sports activities. It also affected Elzy and Greenwood High.
Leflore went 8-4 in 2019 and lost to Lumberton 29-28 in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs. Leflore is now in Class 2A.
House had two of his key players from 2019 — Dekari “Turbo" Johnson and Dequarionne Jones — transfer back from Delta Streets Academy. Jones will play quarterback, and Johnson will be used at receiver, running back and quarterback.
Leflore opens its 2021 campaign at home Aug. 27 against Elzy, which won the 2019 contest 46-38.
- J.Z. George: The Jaguars will be participating in the Noxapater High School jamboree.
J.Z. George is completing its second week of fall practice under head coach Rusty Smith, who is in his second season at J.Z. George.
“It’s been hot and muggy, but I believe our summer workouts helped us out tremendously,” said Smith. “The kids have bought in. They know that the start of the season is just a week away. Playing in the jamboree breaks up the daily routine of practice and gives them something to look forward to.
“I like the idea of getting live action and game reps before we play our first official game. We practiced Monday through Wednesday, have a walk through on Thursday and go play on Friday. That helps get them ready for next week.”
Besides J.Z. George and Noxapater, Philadelphia is also participating in the jamboree. The junior varsity teams from all three schools will play in 10-play competitions starting at 6 p.m. J.Z. George takes on Philadelphia and then faces Noxapater. Noxapater and Philadelphia close out the JV session.
The varsity teams get started right after as the Jaguars play Philadelphia and then take on the host team. PHS and Noxapater play the final quarter to close out the jamboree.
The Jaguars open their season Aug. 27 against Greenville Christian, the defending MAIS Class 3A champs.
- Greenwood High: Head coach Clinton Gatewood confirmed Tuesday that the Aug. 28 season opener against Holmes County Central will be an official game.
It will kick off at 7 p.m. in Tchula at S.V. Marshall’s field.
Gatewood is entering his 11th season running the GHS program.
- Contact Calvin Stevens at 581-7234 or cstevens@gwcommonwealth.com.
