Welcome back to the postseason, Purvis.
The Purvis Tornadoes have reached the playoffs for the 11th straight season in 2017, and they have their hands full with their first-round matchup.
Of course, Purvis (4-6) has seen its opponent before. In fact, this is the third game against Mendenhall (8-2) in the last two seasons, so the two are very familiar with each other. Purvis won last year regular-season contest, while Mendenhall won in the 2017 regular-season game.
“I think once you get into the playoffs it’s not a big deal,” Purvis coach Perry Wheat said about playing Mendenhall twice in one season. “I think there’s a lot of water under the bridge since we played them early.”
Although, this game almost didn’t happen for Purvis. If it wasn’t for a John Bolton touchdown with less than a minute remaining to cut Forrest County AHS’ lead to 35-30, then FCAHS opting for the victory formation rather the playoff berth, the Tornadoes could have been sitting at home Friday night.
The Aggies had to beat Purvis by eight points, but with the five-point lead, they opted for a knee to run out the clock near midfield rather than try for more points. Their offense is a run-heavy offense, though, and according to what is listed on MaxPreps.com, the longest FCAHS’ field goal kicker has hit was a 26-yarder.
“I’m sure he has his reasons for doing that, so I don’t question it,” Wheat said. “They’re not a really big-play team, and sometimes when you try to make a big play like that it can work against you. They played a great football game, played hard, so you’d hate to lose it trying to get a late score.”
When Purvis played the Tigers earlier this season, the Tornadoes led 24-22 entering the fourth quarter, but the Tigers scored 16 unanswered points in the final 12 minutes to beat Purvis by two scores.
A crucial turnover in that game cost the Tornadoes the win, and Wheat said there have been more turnovers this season than any other season he’s coached.
“We actually had a turnover in that game,” he said. “We ran a punt back to their 30 and fumbled it. We had a little momentum going there, so that was another turnover. That’s something we’ve tried to work on, but we keep getting these turnovers and that’s hurting us.”
Mendenhall’s offense features a 1,000-yard running back, as does Purvis’, and a quarterback who averages 20 yards per pass completion. Junior Christian Allen is 56-for-97 with 1,147 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Senior Jordan Willis has 1,186 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on 140 carries, too. Senior Zadarious Woodard leads the Mendenhall offense with 538 receptions, and he has seven scores with 25 receptions.
Wheat wasn’t too happy with his defense after last week’s game, and he said the unit will have to have a better mentality this week because there’s not much his players can improve on at this point in the year.
“I think the only way you’re going to improve this late in the year is mentally,” Wheat said. “You’re definitely not going to get any bigger, faster or stronger before the next game, so it has to be a mental and energy thing. Your gas tank has to be full right now.”
Since a season-opening loss to Florence, Mendenhall has won eight of the last nine games to post its impressive record, but teams are still scoring a decent amount against its defense. The Tigers’ seven-game winning streak was snapped two weeks ago to Northeast Jones in a 21-20 decision.
While Mendenhall is scoring 35 points per game, its opponents average 19 points per game, which is a lot for a team that is 8-2, and region opponents have scored 20 points per game.
“They haven’t changed much,” Wheat said. “They’re big and fast. They’re in that 4-3 and they like to be aggressive, stunt and play man. They’re either going to stop you for no gain, or you’re either going to get a big play.”
