PURVIS – The Tornadoes and Warriors are pretty familiar with one another. Even though they haven’t met in a meaningful game since 2012, the two have played in jamborees the past couple of seasons.
Separated by 13 miles, the two teams are both a part of the Lamar County School District, and Purvis coach Perry Wheat believes this game is great for the community.
“We’re so close and all, so I think it’s good for us to play,” he said.
But, Wheat recognizes the difference in numbers, but he likes the test his team will be giving when Purvis takes on the Warriors.
“It’ll be good for us,” he said. “We’ll have to play hard to have a chance, but it’ll be a good test. We’ll find out a lot about ourselves, and hopefully we can have a shot at winning it.”
Oak Grove is coming off a near complete performance – whatever that means – in last week’s jamboree. The offense played well, scoring 21 points in the two quarters, and the defense only allowed a field goal on St. Martin’s opening drive.
Oak Grove coach Drew Causey said he had a nose guard, two linebackers, a cornerback and a safety seeing their first varsity action on that side of the ball, but after the first drive, those players – along with the returning starters – looked comfortable.
“A couple of the guys said starting out it was going a little fast for them those first couple of plays, but when they settled down, (defensive coordinator) coach (Jeff) Waits did a great job, he brought a couple of those linebackers on the blitz to just let them play football,” Causey said. “That helps slow it down for them a little bit.”
The Warriors’ offense seemed to be clicking, too, as junior John Rhys Plumlee threw three touchdowns and no picks. Causey, however, saw something a little different.
“He took what the defense was giving him all night long,” Causey said. “He made a couple of bad reads. On one play he made a bad read throwing the ball, but I’m not going to complain a whole lot, because he actually threw a touchdown pass to (Kevin Barnett). He made a couple of wrong reads, and we corrected that. I was very happy with the way he played.”
For Wheat and the Tornadoes, it was hard for him to take anything away from his team’s jamboree at Hattiesburg. He saw his team’s potential, but he’s also really concerned with his team’s conditioning.
The skill players on he Purvis offense are known, but the offensive line is still the question mark. Usually it’s the other way around for Purvis.
“(The offensive line) has potential and we’re getting better,” Wheat said. “It’s a position where it takes time to really develop linemen, but I feel good about the guys we have in there. It’s just going to take some time, and right now depth is a problem there.”
Seniors wide receiver C.J. Bolar and running back John Bolton are important pieces for the Tornadoes offense, and if quarterback Ty Howell can make a comeback from his foot injury he had last season, those three players can cause real problems for defenses.
Wheat said his foot is fine, but it’s the time loss that really hurts.
“The thing is, Ty has missed so much work,” Wheat said. “He missed half of the season, he missed spring practice. He still shows that he’s athletic, but quarterback is a difficult position to play. He still has timing to get down and things like that, but he’s working hard at it, so I think he’s going to do a good job.”
Causey admitted Purvis is a tough team, saying it always plays his team really hard.
“We’re expecting a fourth quarter battle with those guys,” Causey said. “We have to know where the receiver and running back are at all times, and make sure we have the right guys matched up on them. If we can do those things, I think we’ll be OK.”
Offensively, Oak Grove still could be without starting running back Orlando Simon. Causey said it’s still unclear if he’ll be cleared for this week, but he’s almost certain he’ll be good to go for Oak Grove’s Week 2 game with Wayne County.
Andre Pittman, Tyler Taylor and Hayes Maples received carries in the Lamar County Jamboree last Friday.
