Patriots host Cougars


Thursday, August 23, 2007
Community \| Obits \| Editorial & Columnists \| Society \| Sports \| Education \| Classified Ads \| Calendar of Events \| Features \| Newsbriefs \| Legals \| Archives \| Subscriptions \| Photo Gallery

Friday night football
• Patriots host Cougars

By BARRY BURLESON
Editor

Photo by Barry Burleson

New era for Patriots
Keith Wicker, directing the Patriots during a recent practice, will make his Marshall Academy head-coaching debut this week.

There’s no time to mess around for the Marshall Academy Patriots.

In a rather unusual scheduling twist, the Patriots kick off the season this Friday night against a district opponent. MA hosts Lee (Ark.) at 7:30 p.m. Normally, district games fall later in the season.

“The computer wasn’t good to us,” said head coach Keith Wicker, referring to the division scheduling from the Mississippi Private School Association.

In fact, three of the first four Marshall games are against district opponents.

He said the Lee (Ark.) Cougars, who he saw briefly last week in the jamboree at Carroll, will run a spread offense and feature a quick quarterback.

“We’ve got to contain him (the quarterback),” said Wicker, starting his first season as head coach of the Patriots. “Hopefully, we can move the ball on the ground and pass when we need to.”

Marshall Academy participated in that same jamboree – tying Indianola 6-6 and losing to big school Washington 13-0.

“We moved the ball well on our first drive (versus Indianola) and score,” Wicker said. “Then our defense didn’t stop them, and they did the same thing.

“We made a lot of mistakes on the defensive side. We should have been better conditioned. We’ve got to get in shape.”

He said MA “was not in the same league” with Washington School.

“Our mistakes can be corrected, and we will correct them,” Wicker said. “It was a great test for us to see where our weaknesses fall.”

Report News: (662) 252-4261 or south@dixie-net.com
Questions, comments, corrections: south@dixie-net.com
©2004, The South Reporter, All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced in any way without permission.
The South Reporter is a member of the Mississippi Press Association.

Web Site managed and maintained by
South Reporter webmasters Linda Jones, Kristian Jones
Web Site Design - The South Reporter

Back | Top of Page