J.Z. George returns to the friendly confines of Farris Jenkins Field Friday as the Jaguars take on Class 3A foe Water Valley at 7 p.m.
The Blue Devils are off to a 2-0 start after knocking off Eupora 34-8 in the season opener on Aug. 17 and beating Coffeeville 49-6 last week. Water Valley only had 227 yards of total offense, but had four rushing touchdowns, two passing scores and one defensive touchdown against CHS.
"Water Valley is good, really good. We have a tall task in front of us Friday night," said J.Z. George head coach Ben Burton. "They block well up front, and they are very sound on defense. We can't play the way we did last week against a team like Water Valley.
"We've had some moral victories the last two weeks, but those can only go so far. We should be 2-0 instead of 0-2. We're only down by 13 points in the first two games compared to 81 points allowed in the first two games last season."
The Jaguars dropped a 26-18 decision to Noxapater High School last week after losing the opener 19-14 to Okolona. A year ago, J.Z. George lost 33-6 to Noxapater and 48-0 to Okolona.
"We are showing improvement, and we had success at times last week. When you have a first and 25, it's awfully hard to put together a sustained drive. And on another drive, we got to their 25 and a 15-yard penalty backs us up," Burton added. "We just didn't play up to the standards we have set for this program. We were undisciplined at times. If we had played as hard as we possibly could have, I wouldn't feel as bad."
The Jaguars went into the Noxapater game with their third quarterback under center. Jordun Normal was forced into action on Friday afternoon when Malik Christian got sick that afternoon.
"Our offense is designed to have a running quarterback, and Jordun is more of a pocket passer. He's going to be a good quarterback down the line," Burton said of the freshman.
Normal ran for a 41-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, which pulled J.Z. George to within 18-12. Noxapater scored again to lead 26-12, and the Jags' Chris Rias returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to close out the scoring.
Burton said Christian will return to the starting role Friday.
Montavis "Hulk" Jenkins will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing right knee surgery for a torn ACL he sustained in a scrimmage game against Eupora on Aug. 10.
