J.Z. George will be going after its fourth win of the season Friday as it pays a visit to Walnut High School.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Jaguars upped their record to 3-1 with a solid 33-8 victory over Leake County High School last week.
“We started off a little slow, but once we got rolling, we were able to pull away from them in the first half,” said George Head Coach Rusty Smith. “We led 25-0 at the half, and then I think we got a little sloppy in the second half. We threw the ball extremely well, but I’m still waiting on us to run the ball with authority.”
The Jags managed 162 yards rushing as a team with five different players carrying the ball. Senior running back Jacob Johnson was the workhorse with 66 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Junior quarterback Jordun Normal had 39 yards on seven tries, and senior fullback Wil’Tavious Williams had 25 yards on seven carries. Junior D’Anthony McGlothan chipped in 21 yards on three tries.
Smith said the Jags started the game off a little differently.
“We watched film on Leake County, and we noticed they had this one guy on kickoffs who didn’t move too well, so we kicked the ball right at him,” Smith said. “We recovered the kick, and then we took the ball down the field and scored. We ran a wheel route with D’Anthony for the first touchdown, and then he ran a fade route and the pass from Jordun was on spot, and we scored again.
“Our third touchdown was when Jordun rolled out and hit D’Anthony in the back of the end zone. We were glad to see Alex Criss catch one later in the first half. That’s how we led 25-0 at the half.”
Normal had his best game of the season throwing the ball. He finished 11-of-16 with four touchdowns and 185 yards passing. He did throw one interception.
“Jordun threw the ball extremely well,” Smith added. “He took some shots, but he kept getting back up and competing. He also played well on defense. I know that’s not easy, but we’re going to put our best 11 on the field.”
Normal, who plays in the secondary, had three total tackles and recovered a fumble.
McGlothan finished with eight receptions for 147 yards and three scores on offense. On defense, he had three tackles. Criss had one reception for 16 yards and a two-point conversion run.
Ken Head and Lake Shute led the defense with seven total tackles each. Head had five solos and two assists, and Shute had two solos and five assists. Shute had one catch for 15 yards and one rush for 11 yards.
Williams, who plays middle linebacker, had three solos, two assists and forced a fumble, while Ja’Ravion Seals and Alan Busby had four tackles each. Johnson had three tackles.
Walnut is also off to a 3-1 start as it opened the season with a 41-7 win over Alcorn Central, a 39-13 victory over Myrtle and a 70-0 drubbing of Falkner. The Wildcats dropped a 38-7 decision to South Pontotoc last week.
Walnut beat J.Z. George 28-25 last season in North Carrollton.
“I know they lost to them last year, and we have a long bus ride facing us Friday night,” said Smith. “It can either be a fun ride back home, or a very long quiet ride back to the school.
“We feel like it is a good matchup for our team. I’m sure they watched our film from last week and how much we threw the ball. We hope to give them some different looks and keep them guessing.”
Smith knows the Jaguars still have much to work on.
“We are not where I want us to be, but we are getting better each week,” he said. “I still want us to have better production in the run game, and we need to eliminate the silly mistakes.”
