The run for a football state championship begins this Friday night for the North Sunflower Academy Rebels.
On a determined quest to bring the state title to their school for the first time since 1972, this Friday’s 2A playoff opener will find the Rebels competing against a very familiar opponent.
For it will be the Manchester Academy Mavericks of Yazoo City who will visit the NSA campus this Friday for this 7 p.m. contest.
This will be the second meeting this season between the 9-1 Rebels and the 9-2 Mavericks. It was on Sept. 16 when they last played, and NSA earned a 62-16 victory.
Meanwhile, the Rebels drew an opening round bye in the playoffs while the Mavericks opened their postseason play last Friday night against Calhoun Academy of Calhoun City.
The Mavericks, who are currently enjoying a four-game win streak, dealt a 48-0 drubbing to the Cougars of Calhoun Academy.
Should the Rebels earn a victory over the Mavericks on Friday night, next week NSA will play the winner of this week’s Tunica Academy-Porters Chapel of Vicksburg playoff game.
Assuming Tunica Academy will win, as expected, the Rebels will be traveling to that school on Nov. 11 for the second time this season.
That potential scenario will set up what could be an epic game between this pair of high-scoring squads.
The Rebels, no doubt, will be motivated to extract some revenge.
For it was four weeks ago when the Rebels suffered their only loss of the season to the Blue Devils; on that night NSA fell by a 46-40 margin in a high-scoring and exciting football game.
