Pillow Academy goes from the frying pan to the fire this week.
After opening with a 33-12 loss to three-time reigning North AAA champion Indianola Academy, the Mustangs are now bracing for a road trip against Madison-Ridgeland Academy, one of the tougher teams in the AAAA classification.
MRA, under the direction of former PA coach Herbert Davis (1997-1998), blasted Magnolia Heights, 38-10, last week.
“It will be a challenge, but I like the way our kids have responded this week in practice. We have cleaned up some stuff and feel like we’ve addressed our special teams problems as well,” Pillow coach Tripp McCarty said. “We had a lot of alignment problems against Indianola but no problems with effort.”
Making things even tougher this week is the fact that the Mustangs will be missing three starters due to injury — offensive linemen Wade Smith and Frazier Rose and defensive back/wide receiver Jack Reichle.
“We’ve just got to man-up,” McCarty said of being short-handed. “That’s why we’re always working our second- and third-team guys. We expect some kids to step up.”
The Mustangs are looking to avoid a second straight 0-2 start to their season. They were routed by the Patriots 40-6 a year ago.
To be more competitive this season, McCarty said his team must avoid giving up big plays and run the ball better than it did last week, when the Mustangs managed 136 yards on the ground. The PA head coach is looking for more balance after his team was forced to throw it 30 times.
Led by All-MAIS selection lineman John Cartwright and All-District linemen Jake Flynt and Samuel Shufelt, the Patriot defense last week allowed just 91 rushing yards by Magnolia Heights without their top linebacker in the lineup. Stone Blanton, who is expected to miss three more games after suffering a tendon injury in his hand, started a year ago as an eighth-grader and already has an offer from Florida Atlantic.
“Their defense is pretty aggressive in the box, so when we have opportunities for big plays, we can’t miss on those chances when they come,” McCarty said.
The Mustang defense, which was hit for 421 yards by IA, will face an up-tempo, wide-open MRA offense that last week rolled up 397 yards (239 passing, 158 rushing) with 234 coming in the first half.
MRA quarterback Phillip Short, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior transfer from Northwest Rankin, completed 10-of-17 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in his Patriot debut.
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
