J.Z. George begins a stretch of three straight Region 3-3A games Friday night as it entertains the Cowboys of Humphreys County High School.
The Jaguars, despite their 0-8 overall record and 0-2 mark in the district, can still make the playoffs with a pair of wins in the final three games.
"We still have hope, and if we can get the kids to look past our record and realize we still have a shot, I like our chances. The effort has been good, but we've just got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot," said J.Z. George head coach Ben Burton.
The Jaguars dropped a 50-0 decision to district power Charleston last week. The Tigers only led 7-0 after the first period, but within the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Tigers were in front 22-0.
"We muffed a punt and gave them the ball at the 10 and in three plays, it was 14-0. Just minutes later after a turnover, they went up 22-0. The mistakes and our inability to move the football just wore us down. We had some breakdowns on special teams," adde Burton. "We couldn't move the ball at all. We've had some personnel changes and injuries on offense, and it just showed against a team like Charleston."
Burton had moved Jacob Johnson to tailback last week, but with freshman Deriaun Townsend improving from an ankle injury, he will move Johnson back to fullback as Townsend is expected to play tailback. Freshman Jordun Normal will continue to start at quarterback.
"Fullback is the position that really suits Jacob's style of play. He does a good job of blocking. Deriaun has been dealing with his ankle the last three weeks. We expect him to play Friday. When he's fully healthy, we really like what he gives us at running back," said Burton.
Humphreys County comes into Friday's contest with a 2-6 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the region. The Cowboys lost 38-6 to Amanda Elzy last week and have dropped their last three games. On the season, Humphreys has been outscored 318-96. Their last win was a 50-42 victory over Gentry on Sept. 14.
"We feel like this will be a good opportunity for us to get our first win. It's a winnable game if we come out and do the basics. We need to block and tackle. I know I keep saying it, but it's what we need to do to get our first win," said Burton.
Following Friday's game, the Jaguars go on the road to take on Yazoo County on Oct. 19 and host Elzy on Oct. 26.
