Before Weleetka became Gans’ opening day opponent in 2008, the Grizzlies had not lost an opener in the 2000s. They whipped Cave Springs in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and smashed Arkoma 2003-2007. Weeletka beat the bear bunch 34-8 two years ago and 18-12 last season.
Head coach Trent Holt enters the season pleased with where his team is, after two scrimmages.
“We played pretty well, though we’re not nearly where we can be,” he said.
The Grizzlies are in solid health, entering the regular season.
“We’re pretty much healthy,” Holt said. “We just have a couple of little things.”
Now the Grizzlies travel to Council Hill to take on an always solid but never spectacular Midway team. The Chargers have been in the playoffs the past six seasons, but have made first-round exits each of the last four campaigns.
The Midway squad went through a coaching change, with former Gore assistant Jeremy Jackson hired to replace the departed Larry Childers late in the summer. According to Holt, the Chargers looked disorganized during a summer camp. They looked sharper in scrimmages.
“We watched them scrimmage,” Holt said. “They have a pretty good team. They have some big kids and a tailback that is really fast. They’ll be a challenge.”
The tailback Holt mentioned is Michael Campbell, who placed sixth in the 100-meter dash and galloped for 1,059 yards, 18 TDs and a nifty 9.4 average per carry last year.
Midway has a very solid foundation to build on, though. Since 2004 the Chargers have gone 11-1, 10-2, 8-3, 8-3, 7-4 and 6-5.
Getting back to the opening gamne mastery of past years would be a plus for Gans.
“We always want to get out on a positive note,” Holt said. “If we go up and execute and play well, I feel very good about our chances. We need to focus on carrying out our assignments. We won’t be as diverse as we will later on. We want to get off on the right foot.”
