J.Z. George closed out the regular season of its 2021 season with a 54-0 loss to Eupora High School last Thursday night.
However, the Jaguars must now turn their attention and focus to the first round of the North 2A playoffs, which begin Friday against Belmont High School.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Farris Jenkins Field in North Carrollton.
The Jaguars put up very little resistance last week against the visiting Eagles, who led 14-0 after the first period, 35-0 at the half and 48-0 after the third quarter.
“If you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game, they were 54 points better than us on this night,” said J.Z. George head coach Rusty Smith. “If it could go wrong, it went wrong for us. If it could go right, it went right for them.
“We had eight offsides penalties in the first half alone on our defense. I think we were brain dead. Maybe it was a combination of it being senior night or playing on a Thursday night, I don’t know. We just didn’t show up to play. I counted up 43 missed tackles. We had mistakes all over the field. I called a fake punt, and our guy ran down the field instead of doing what he was supposed to do. It was just one of those nights.”
The Jaguars’ Laike Shute, a senior linebacker, was injured in last week’s game and transported to Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Smith said he’s doing fine but will not play Friday night. He did not elaborate on the injury Shute sustained.
Also, senior quarterback/defensive back Jordun Normal missed his second straight game with a deep hip bruise. Smith is hopeful he will be able to return for the playoff game.
Leflore County finished as the top seed from Region 4-2A with a 4-0 mark. J.Z. George took second at 3-1, and Leland finished third with a 2-2 record. O’Bannon got the fourth seed at 1-3.
The Jaguars, who are 6-4 overall, will go up against a Belmont team that went 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Region 1-2A during the regular season. The Cardinals beat Myrtle 52-14 last week.
“They run a wing-T formation on offense,” Smith said. “You have to be very disciplined on defense and fly to the ball. The wing-T is an effective offense because you have so many backs who can carry the ball, and it uses a good bit of misdirection. I played Belmont two or three times while at Charleston. I have a good idea of what they will try to do, but our guys just have to go out and do their jobs.
“This is a whole new season. It’s playoff time and we have to be ready. The seniors want this one. We just need to be mentally tough. There’s no next week if you don’t win this one.”
The winner of the J.Z. George-Belmont game will move on to play the victor of the Charleston-Eupora contest on Nov. 12 in the second round. Belmont is the No. 3 seed from Region 1. Charleston is the top seed from Region 3, and Eupora is the fourth seed from Region 2.
