While the real “Friday night lights” start Thursday when West Marion hosts Presbyterian Christian, East Marion and Columbia got a taste last Friday night in a pair of jamborees.
East Marion traveled to take on Perry Central, and head coach Kevin Jackson said he liked what he saw despite the 14-12 final score in favor of the Bulldogs.
“It was a good team effort, and everybody pulled their weight,” he said.
The Eagles offense was able to move the ball with Wanya Cook and Latrell Waller running effectively and quarterback Devin Daniels making plays.
“Our offense was pretty efficient and moved the ball well,” Jackson said. “Devin was able to make some throws and had a couple of runs here and there. And we were able to run the ball pretty good.”
Jackson was also impressed with a pair of senior skill players who will be counted on to make big plays on both sides of the ball.
“Darrin (Haines) had a couple catches and an interception. Flenard (McLin) had a couple catches. We know we’re going to have to distribute it to a lot of places, and that’s what we did,” he said.
The Eagles forced three turnovers with Haines and Daniels hauling in picks and Elijah Brown recovering a fumble.
“We created some turnovers defensively and gave some great effort. I commended them on that after watching film,” Jackson said. “I told them if we continue to play with that effort then we should manage well. The defense just ran to the ball.”
While he was impressed with the speed and effort the defense showed along with the offense’s production, Jackson said the Eagles still have a number of areas to improve in.
“We still need to tackle. We’re still not tackling very well and missed a few tackles the other night. We turned the ball over twice late — Wanya and Latrell each had a fumble — so we need to take care of the football. We had a couple breakdowns on execution, and you always need to execute if you want to get better,” he said.
Jackson added the Eagles just need to play with great effort for 48 minutes when Amite County comes to town Friday for a 7 p.m. showdown.
Columbia, meanwhile, played Collins to a 0-0 tie and topped South Jones 6-0, but head coach Chip Bilderback downplayed the importance of winning on the scoreboard in abbreviated scrimmages.
“Defensively, we didn’t allow a score and offensively, I liked that we put together a 13-play drive and scored against South Jones. That showed some execution on our part. We overcame a penalty that we had to keep that drive going,” he said. “There were a lot of things we liked that we saw, but we’re trying to close the gap on what we’re trying to improve on the most.”
What the Wildcats need to improve on is execution and toughness, according to Bilderback.
“We have a lot of room for improvement in a lot of areas. We’d like to clean some stuff up you normally see early in the year,” he said. “There were some missed assignments and misalignments, so it was a good run through for us as a staff and as a team to face live bullets. We need to improve our overall physicality in the way we play on offense and defense.”
Bilderback pointed out Jamison Kelly played really well at receiver, and Jared Stubbs had a nice interception at cornerback.
He added neither quarterback — Ralpheal Luter or Javen Moses — has solidified the starting job, but he is excited the Wildcats have two signal callers they feel comfortable with heading into the season.
“It’s going to play out this fall. It’ll be a deal where we see how things play out and what our team really needs and fits our team the best,” he said. “What we’re looking for in that role is who does the offense run better under. It’s not necessarily who is the best passer or best runner but the one who is most efficient with our offense.”
Freshman running back Omarie Johnson scored the lone touchdown for the Wildcats on an 8-yard run.
Columbia opens its season Friday night at Richton at 7 p.m.
Pictured Above: Columbia's Javen Moses looks downfield during a 7-on-7 scrimmage in June. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
