Marion County has been blessed to have so many seasons where all four local high school make the playoffs in football. Sadly, this year will not be one of those seasons as Columbia Academy and West Marion have both been eliminated from the postseason. But our other two football programs, Columbia High School and East Marion, are not only guaranteed to go to the playoffs, they are among the favorites to win a state title this year in their respective classifications.
East Marion (5-4)
From the outside looking in, it may seem like East Marion’s resurgence came out of nowhere this season, but it’s clearly been brewing for some time. Prior to head coach Jerry Fletcher’s arrival, stars like LJ Andrews, Jadarrius “Koolaid” Mallard, Ka’Ron Weary, Cory Johnson, Paden McLin, Kyler Collins, Deonta Newton, Lozavious Armstrong and more have been making plays for years for the Eagles.
The difference in 2022, though, has been twofold. First off, Fletcher and the Eagles coaching staff has done a tremendous job of creating schemes that put those stars in the best position to make plays. Secondly, they are now making big plays on a consistent basis. That was a big issue of previous iterations of the Eagles — they would flash and make the occasional splash play, but it wasn’t happening consistently enough. Fletcher and his staff has this squad believing in themselves, and it’s evident they always believe that they are the better team on the field.
Looking at East Marion’s record and thinking its four losses mean something is a fool’s errand. All of those losses came against schools in higher classifications. The Eagles are 4-0 against Class 2A schools.
They are likely to match up with North Forrest, a team they beat 41-0 in September, in the first round of the playoffs. Where it could get tricky, though, is in the second round when the most likely opponent will be the No. 2 seed from Region 5, which will either be Scott Central (7-2) or Velma Jackson (5-3), who just so happen to play each other for the district title on Friday. The loser of that matchup will be the No. 2 seed and will be among the most dangerous teams in the entire 2A field as they both have absolutely obliterated 2A competition and lost to schools in higher classifications, just like East Marion.
The way the bracket shapes up, East Marion’s potential third-round matchup would be against Mize (7-2), who barely squeaked by the likes of Loyd Star and Bogue Chitto, a pair of teams East Marion blew out. So the most likely scenario, which obviously could change as upsets occur, is the Eagles will have a really tough time in the second round but would have a much easier game in the third round if they do advance that far. Winning in the second round would put them in the driver’s seat to reach South State.
The bottom line is that East Marion’s chief competition in the South are Scott Central and Velma Jackson, one of which the Eagles would face in the second round and the other would be for South State. Both teams are exceptionally dangerous, but so too are the Eagles. They have proven they absolutely belong in that tier in the 2A field.
Columbia (7-2)
The defending 4A champs have had their bumps in the road, but make no mistake about it, the Wildcats remain “the” team to beat in the South. Sure, Poplarville can claim it is really the top team in the South after beating Columbia on the road, but that game easily could have gone the other way — and probably should have. Until the Hornets take down the Wildcats in the playoffs, they are not “that” team.
Possessing all of the necessary ingredients — a balanced offense, solid offensive line, tenacious front seven, athletic and opportunistic secondary and arguably the best coaching staff in the entire state — Columbia is still the top dog in 4A until proven otherwise in November. There are two clear areas the Wildcats need to improve on, however. They need to get better at scoring in the red zone, particularly on drives that start with a short field, and they have to start minimizing penalties in crunch time. If they were better at those two things, they would be undefeated right now. The good thing is that those are highly fixable areas.
As the No. 2 seed from Region 7, Columbia will likely face Moss Point (2-7) in the first round, which should be a winnable game for obvious reasons. In the second round, the Wildcats’ probable opponent would be Mendenhall (8-1), who they beat 21-16 in the season opener. The Tigers have undoubtedly improved since then — look no further than their 27-7 win over Jeff Davis County — but the Wildcats have had their number for some time. The third round would likely set up a matchup with McComb (8-1), who has some nice wins on its resume but has also struggled against weaker competition.
Columbia fans should be confident the Wildcats can navigate that slate, even though beating Mendenhall again or McComb will not come easy, and set up a rematch with Poplarville for the South State Championship for the second year in a row. Everything is still on the table for these Wildcats, and it’s right there for the taking.
Bring on the cold weather and good football. We’re here for it.
Joshua Campbell is editor and publisher of The Columbian-Progress. Reach him via email at joshua campbell@columbianprogress.com or call (601) 736-2611.
