While most teams will be seeing action tonight, the Kirk Academy Raiders will be enjoying an open date before closing the regular season at home next Friday with North Delta School.
“The open date comes at a good time for our football team,” second-year head coach Colin Boone said. “We have a number of players banged up and the time off will help some of those injuries begin to heal.”
In addition to the normal bumps and bruises, seniors Blake Mattox (knee) and Aiden Noah (hand) are both expected to play next week against North Delta.
Kirk is currently 8-0 on the season and will be one of the Top 4 seeds and will draw a first-round bye in the upcoming Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA Playoffs, which begin on Nov. 1 at home sites of the higher seeds. The Raiders will host a second-round game on Nov. 8, with the semifinals set for the following week. Winners advance to the State Championship game on Nov. 15, at Jackson Academy.
“We used the open date to self-scout ourselves and polish up our fundamentals,” Boone said. “It was a good week of practice and our guys are looking forward to taking on North Delta in our final regular season home game.”
Senior Noah Jackson and junior Gage Vance lead the rushing attack for the Raiders. Jackson has 622 yards on 66 carries and 12 touchdowns, while Vance has 590 yards on 56 carries and 10 touchdowns. Classmate Holt Gober has completed 32-of-54 passes for 658 yards and five touchdowns. As a runner, Gober has 346 yards on 53 carries and has scored five touchdowns.
Kirk will honor 14 football upperclassmen and four senior cheerleaders prior to next Friday’s game at Raider Field.
Kickoff for the Oct. 25 game with Green Wave will be 7 p.m.
