For the third consecutive week the Gentry High Rams will play a football game on the road, and on this occasion the highway will take them to Greenwood High School.
However, this Friday’s 7 p.m. contest also kicks off the Region 3-4A portion of both teams’ schedule as the importance of each game is on the rise.
Taking a 3-3 record into this contest, the Rams will meet a 4-2 Greenwood Bulldogs squad, who like Gentry High, absorbed a non-regional loss last Friday night.
While on the same night in which the Rams were dropping a 20-8 road decision to Leflore County High in Itta Bena, the Bulldogs were falling by a 34-18 margin to Louisville High School.
As for his squad’s loss last Friday, Gentry High Head Coach Tavares Johnson noted, “Turnovers just killed us. Offensively, we cannot have turnovers against a team like Leflore County.”
When discussing Greenwood High, the highly successful coach observed, “They are good but right now we are our own worst enemy. We have to learn to play clean, be consistent, and finish the game. I am looking forward to this game, our kids will fight hard and I believe they can get the job done.”
Indeed, in last week’s loss to Leflore County, the Rams opened the game with a clock-eating 80 yard drive which ended with quarterback Joshujuan Townsend running 13 yards for the score. Along with Reginald Bolden’s two point conversion run, the Rams were up by an 8-0 margin with half of the first period already elapsed.
However, while Gentry High would remain scoreless the balance of the game, as a lost fumble and a pass interception returned for a touchdown by the Tigers opened the door for Leflore County’s game-clinching points.
When facing Greenwood High this Friday, the Rams will take on a team whose only other loss (34-14) was to undefeated Cleveland Central High and is led on the field by Dandy Dozen pick Kwatrivous Johnson. The 6-foot-7, 361 pound. offensive tackle is also a Mississippi State University commit.
Greenwood High defeated the only common opponent played by Gentry High as they dispatched Leflore County High by a 32-12 margin in the 2017 season –opener.
Historically, the Rams are 3-10 against the Bulldogs since the 2004 season and last year’s meeting saw the Rams extend their eight game losing streak to Greenwood High with a 26-0 loss.
The Bulldogs would move on to a strong 8-4 record in 2016, a campaign which ended with a second round playoff loss to eventual North 4A runner-up Pontotoc High School.
In last Friday’s loss to Leflore County High, the game ultimately entered the second quarter knotted at eight points apiece.
However, a Rams fumble gave the Tigers possession at the Gentry High 30 yard line, which the Leflore County offense turned into a passing touchdown on the very next play.
Still very much in the game upon returning from halftime only down by that 14-8 score, disaster struck the Rams again when the Tigers intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for the score; which took the game to its’ final 20-8 margin.
Offensively, other than scoring points, the Rams were impressive against a strong Leflore County defense as the Gentry High ground game accumulated 310 yards on 47 carries.
Senior running back Jatavius Whitley paced this attack with his 151 yards earned on 19 carries. Townsend nearly hit the century mark in rushing with 88 yards on 13 efforts into the line.
Through the air, Townsend connected on five of 13 passes for 69 yards with Kajarvus Williams’ one catch accounting for 33 of that total yardage.
Defensively, the Rams were once again led by Armani Bell’s six tackles which included one for loss as well as a fumble recovery.
