Amanda Elzy and Leflore County are eager to start their delayed football seasons after COVID-19 issues interrupted last week’s scheduled opener between the cross-county rivals.
Of the seven local teams in action this week, Elzy is the only playing at home as the Panthers host five-time state champion Noxubee County on Friday night at 7 p.m.
“Noxubee is very disciplined, more of a pass-first offense,” said Morris Bush, the second-year head coach entering his first official season due to the pandemic. “They have a young quarterback who likes to throw it around.”
The Panthers’ secondary should be tested by the Tigers, but Bush has been preparing with his young squad. In order to slow down Noxubee’s attack, he will need sophomore cornerback Isaac Harris, junior cornerback Ladarrius Ghoston, junior cornerback Zakavion McLung, senior safety Terry Randle Jr. and junior linebacker Jamree Rutledge to step up.
Elzy is 3-3-1 all-time against Noxubee, but they haven’t faced off since 1989.
“They’re quite anxious, but they’re excited,” Bush said. “We’re expecting a good crowd Friday night.”
Leflore hits the road to face South Delta in its season opener Friday night after suffering a forfeit loss while in virtual learning last week due to COVID-19.
The Tigers are 4-4 all-time against South Delta. They last played in 2018, a 46-18 loss for Leflore.
The Tigers need a big game from their front seven to stop the Bulldogs’ ground-and-pound approach.
“Dante Kelly is a safety who we are bringing in the box to help with run support,” fifth-year Leflore head coach Eric House said. “We expect Javorius Sherrod to anchor down the line of scrimmage. Ivory Lampkin is the leader at linebacker.”
Offensively, expect Leflore’s attack to revolve around do-it-all senior Dekari Johnson. Last year at Delta Streets Academy, Johnson led the Lions with 1,213 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns (16 rushing, five receiving, one punt return).
Leflore reclassified frrom Class 1A to Class 2A this season while South Delta made the opposite move from Class 2A to Class 1A.
- Contact Riley Overend at 662-581-7237 or roverend@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow @OverendOut on Twitter.
