Purvis is off to one of its most successful starts in recent years.
Last week the Tornados shut out Perry Central 18-0 to move to 2-0. On offense, the Tornados have developed a one-two punch with Ty Badon and Kade Sherrill combining for 192 yards and two touchdowns last week.
“They are both doing a great job,” Purvis coach Brad Hankins said. “When one of them is running the ball, the other is blocking and vice versa. Our offensive line has done a good job. Defensively, I thought we have played as good as we have played since I have been the head coach Friday night. I was proud of how those guys got after it on that side of the ball.”
Purvis was also notably without senior quarterback Hunter Robinson who suffered a mild concussion and has no timetable to return. Stepping in for Robinson was Walker Flatt, who was 4-for-7 and threw for 56 yards. While the offense continued to be successful, Hankins was most proud of his defense.
“It feels good (to be 2-0),” Hankins said. “The kids are playing hard, and that is all we ask of them. Don’t look at the scoreboard and go play your tail off for four quarters and let’s see how it comes out in the end. We have been fortunate in the last two weeks; hopefully, we just keep playing hard.”
Despite maintaining success, the Tornados again find themselves facing a team that the team does not have much information on, similar to its season-opener against Pass Christian.
Purvis will travel to play Northeast Jones, which was forced to delay the start of its season after several coaches tested positive for COVID-19. The Tigers scrimmaged South Jones last week and lost 14-0.
“They have a good football team,” Hankins said. “They have a good coaching staff up there. They have kind of switched some things around and changed offenses. We have got to be prepared for everything that they do. The problem is that they only played a half of a football game last week.
“They only did a scrimmage because of the coronavirus. This will be their Week 1. You just have to prepare for everything.”
Northeast Jones has changed its offense from a spread to a Wing-T to add to the problem of lack of information for Purvis.
“They had been spread offense the past couple of years, and now they are going back under center and are going to run more conventional stuff,” Hankins said. “They’ll be going to back to the Wing-T.
“From what I saw the other night in their scrimmage, their running backs can really run. They have got some good-sized linemen that on film look like they get after it. The quarterback is athletic and is 6-foot-3-inches standing back there. We have got to get ready for every piece of the puzzle.”
Much like the offense, Hankins is unsure of what defense Northeast Jones will run since South Jones runs a heavy pass offense, unlike run-heavy Purvis.
“The worst part about (seeing their defense) on film is that South Jones runs a spread offense, so we are probably not going to see how they will play us,” Hankins said. “We are going to line up with a tight end and three running backs in the backfield. That has a different deal too. We have seen two or three different fronts that we can see, and we have to be ready to block all of them.
“We are just getting ready for everything. That’s one of those things too, that every week is like that. We hope that next week we get to have two films on whoever we play. It’s just a different dynamic right now for sure.”
