Coaches are always anxious to see how their team is going to react in that first game.
Tripp McCarty is no different. Matter of fact, he is maybe a little more eager to see his troops in action than normal. Fielding his youngest team ever at Pillow, will do that.
The PA head coach will see what he has got Friday night at Indianola Academy. Kickoff is set for 7.
More than half of the Mustangs’ 32-man roster is made up of sophomores, and PA will likely start seven sophomores — three on offense and four on defense — in the opener.
“We know we’re going to make some young mistakes, but we want those to be 10-yard mistakes and not mistakes that change the scoreboard,” said the fourth-year Pillow head coach. “I am really excited to see where we are against a really good opening opponent.
“We want our guys to just relax and go out and play hard without thinking too much.”
IA, the defending State AAA champion, has won two straight against the Mustangs, including a 22-14 victory last year.
But this is a different PA team after losing 12 seniors — many of whom were two-way starters. McCarty, however, expects his six seniors this year to pick up the slack while the youngsters adjust to the varsity level.
“There may not be a lot of them, but they are some good ones. These guys made a lot of big plays as juniors last season, and we expect them to pick up right where they left off,” McCarty said.
Indianola will put its 32-game home win streak on the line Friday in a matchup that favors the home team in the experience department.
The Colonels return 10 starters back from last year’s team, including three big guys up front, quarterback Will Davis, running back Sebastian Harris and wide receiver T.K. Bolden, who had a team-high 33 grabs a year ago for 875 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Harris ran for 1,458 yards and 16 TDs during IA’s 2016 championship run, while Davis threw for 1,394 yards, 14 scores and three interceptions.
“This is a seasoned group of players on offense for Indianola, but we’ve got a few seasoned guys on defense too. We feel really good about the group we’re putting out there,” McCarty said.
This is the 38th meeting between the former North AAA rivals, with IA holding a 22-15 advantage in the series. After a 10-year break in the rivalry, Pillow is 1-3 against the Colonels since the series was revamped in 2013, with the lone win coming in a 40-6 decision in McCarty’s first season in 2014.
