Football Preview: South Pike Eagles vs. Jefferson County Tigers
The South Pike Eagles are taking a road trip to face off against the Jefferson County Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as South Pike comes in on seven and Jefferson County on three.
Last Friday, South Pike blew past Wilkinson County, posting a 58-6 win on the road. Considering the Eagles have won five contests by more than 21 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
South Pike found their leader in underclassman Douglas Wansley, who rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayvon Jackson, who rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to South Pike's defense and their three sacks. Micah Nickerson was especially locked on to Wilkinson County's QB and sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Jefferson County was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Franklin County 38-7 on the road. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi football rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 206th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jefferson County's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Royale Shelvy, who threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamari Tenner, who rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Tenner a new career-high in rushing yards. Gariyon Bailey was in the mix as well, providing Jefferson County with a touchdown.
South Pike's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-0. As for Jefferson County, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. South Pike has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 248.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Jefferson County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 273.7. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
South Pike beat Jefferson County 30-22 in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for South Pike since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
