Volleyball on tap Tuesday
The second round of the MHSAA’s state volleyball playoffs is scheduled for today. In Class II action, Tupelo visits defending state champion Olive Branch while Oxford travels to Southaven. In Class I, Lafayette County visits Ackerman.
Rain, rain go away
Here’s hoping the weather forecast that calls for 70 percent chance of the wet stuff Tuesday is off the mark – something like 30 percent would be a lot better. Why? We need to get in the first round of the MHSAA state slow-pitch softball playoffs.
Here’s Tuesday’s opening round of games:
MHSAA Slow-Pitch
State Playoffs, First Round
Tuesday’s Best-of-Three Series
Class 5A
North
Clinton at Tupelo, 4 p.m.
South Panola at Jim Hill
Columbus at Madison Central
Wingfield at Grenada
South
Ocean Springs at NW Rankin
Warren Central at Biloxi
Meridian at George County
Harrison Central at Brandon
Class 4A
North
Vicksburg at Pontotoc, 4 p.m.
Neshoba Central at Pearl
Tishomingo Co. at Cleveland, 2 p.m.
Ridgeland at New Hope
South
Picayune at Quitman
Brookhaven at D’Iberville
NE Lauderdale at Poplarville
East Central at Div. 6 winner
Class 3A
North
East Side at Kossuth, 5 p.m.
Mooreville at Louisville, 4 p.m.
North Pontotoc at Independence, 4 p.m.
Choctaw Central at Nettleton, 4 p.m.
South
North Pike at Newton County
Richland at Perry Central
SE Lauderdale at Columbia
Purvis at Franklin County
Class 2A
North
Ruleville at Baldwyn, 4 p.m.
Hatley at Leland, 2 p.m.
Walnut at West Bolivar, 2 p.m.
J.Z. George at Hamilton, 5 p.m.
South
Enterprise at Union
Div. 6 runner-up at St. Patrick’s
Philadelphia at St. Andrew’s
Div. 8 runner-up at Div. 6 winner
Class 1A
North
Coffeeville at Wheeler, 2 p.m.
West Union at Ingomar, 5 p.m.
Pine Grove at Broad Street, 2 p.m.
Smithville at Myrtle, 5 p.m.
South
Bogue Chitto at East Webster, 4:30 p.m.
Sebastopol at Stringer
Nanih Waiya at West Lincoln
Puckett at Noxapater
Games we’re staffing 9-19
Madison Central at THS – Gene
Amory at Shannon – David Wheeler
Corinth at Booneville – Craig-Ellis Sasser
Winona at Aberdeen – Brandon
Lafayette County at Oxford – Jay Tidwell
Wayne Co. at Starkville – Paul Jones
Baldwyn at Bruce – R.J.
DJ Football Rankings for Week 4
Large Schools
1. Tupelo (3-0): Def. Amory 47-14; Next: Friday vs. Madison Central; Previous: 1
2. Itawamba AHS (3-0): Def. Houston 22-19; Next: Friday vs. Saltillo; Previous: 2
3. West Point (3-0): Def. Starkville 34-0; Next: Friday at New Hope; Previous: 3
4. Shannon (2-1): Def. Jackson (Tenn.) 34-0; Next: Friday vs. Amory; Previous: 4
5. Oxford (3-0): Def. Senatobia 24-16; Next: Friday vs. Lafayette County; Previous: 5
Small Schools
1. Aberdeen (3-0): Def. Hamilton 50-0; Next: Friday vs. Winona; Previous: 1
2. Corinth (3-0): Def. Tishomingo County 34-19; Next: Friday at Booneville; Previous: 2
3. Ripley (3-0): Def. Pontotoc 34-28; Next: Friday vs. Horn Lake; Previous: 3
4. Bruce (2-1): Def. Hatley 54-0; Next: Friday vs. Baldwyn; Previous: 4
5. East Webster (3-0): Def. Smithville 27-7; Next: Friday at West Oktibbeha; Previous: 5
Robertson’s Challenge schedule
Here’s the schedule for Saturday’s Robertson’s Challenge softball tournament in New Albany:
Robertson’s Sportswear
Softball Challenge
Saturday’s lineup
9 a.m.
Myrtle v. Mantachie, North Pontotoc v. West Union, Tremont v. Shannon, Amory v. East Webster, Booneville v. IAHS, Belmont v. Byers.
10 a.m.
Kossuth v. Mantachie, North Pontotoc v. East Webster, Tremont v. Biggersville, Amory v. Grenada, Mooreville v. West Union, Shannon v. Houlka.
11 a.m.
Kossuth v. Pontotoc, Corinth v. New Site, Tishomingo County v. Baldwyn, Nettleton v. IAHS, Booneville v. Ingomar, Potts Camp v. Byers.
Noon
Saltillo v. North Pontotoc, New Albany v. Tremont, Baldwyn v. East Union, Nettleton v. Grenada, IAHS v. Alcorn Central, Houlka v. Potts Camp.
1 p.m.
Kossuth v. Tishomingo County, Myrtle v. Wheeler, Belmont v. West Union, Ingomar v. Grenada, Booneville v. Pontotoc, Houlka v. Byers.
2 p.m.
Kossuth v. Saltillo, Corinth v. East Union, Belmont v. Myrtle, Nettleton v. Ingomar, Booneville v. Pontotoc, Shannon v. Potts Camp.
3 p.m.
Alcorn Central v. Saltillo, Corinth v. Wheeler, East Union v. New Site, New Albany v. Biggersville.
4 p.m.
Wheeler v. New Albany
Where we’ll be
We’re attempting to staff nine games this Friday night: Tupelo at Amory, Aberdeen at Hamilton, New Albany at Baldwyn, Saltillo at Booneville, North Pontotoc at South Pontotoc, Pontotoc at Ripley, Jackson, Tenn., at Shannon, Starkville at West Point and Smithville at East Webster.
Not a dud in the bunch. Just not sure where we’re going to put them all in the paper.
We’ll figure something out.
Garrett closing in
Tupelo senior QB Chris Garrett needs just 65 yards passing and three more TD passes to become the program’s career leader in both categories.
Garrett was 10-of-11 for 137 yards and threw 4 TD passes in team’s 42-0 win against Covington, Tenn. He now has 3,481 yards passing while career leader Todd Jordan has 3,545 yards. Garrett has 32 career TD passes while leader Kirk Presley has 36.
Wave’s opponent 0-1
Tupelo’s season-opening opponent Friday – Covington, Tenn. – opened its season last week, losing 27-15 to Memphis Ridgeway. The Golden Wave defeated the Chargers 42-7 last season on the road. In that game, QB Chris Garrett threw 3 TD passes to Chad Bumphis.
Remember, high school games are kicking off at 7:30 p.m. during the early weeks of the season for heat reasons.
Juco starting QBs
Northeast first-year head coach Ricky Smither will start sophomore Emanuel Francis at quarterback in Thursday’s season opener at Hinds. Another sophomore, Aaron Kissinger, will also see action.
ICC’s starting QB for its road opener at Jones will be a game time decision. Amory’s Richard McFadden is in the hunt with Grenada’s Oliver Hughes and Shannon’s Michael Ledbetter.
For more detailed information, see my story in Tuesday’s edition.
