When the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools released the football schedules for 2025, most people around the state thought Kirk’s non-division schedule might be the toughest in the state.
The Raiders were stuck with Washington School of Greenville, Greenville Christian, Greenville St. Joseph and Class 3A power Tri-County. It’s a tall task for a squad that dresses 29 players, which include nine freshmen.
“The schedule is a gauntlet, but we won’t make any excuses,” KA first-year head football coach Justin Purvis said. “We are going to put our head down and work. I’m a firm believer that if you show up to work every day, you can be competitive.”
Purvis put his squad through a jamboree scrimmage on Aug. 15, against Tipton-Rosemark (Tenn.) Academy. Losing a 23-15 decision, the former Grenada High School assistant coach began preparations earlier this week for the first of four MAIS powerhouse programs – the Washington School Generals.
“I saw a team with a number of players getting their first action,” Purvis said following last week’s scrimmage. “There were several older guys, who had not played a lot of meaningful snaps. We saw some players that needed to be moved position-wise. There were glaring holes in our coaching. It’s not all the players, we need to coach better. We are going to get it fixed. If we want to get better and are coachable, we will get better each week.”
Washington School comes to town with a 43-man roster and fresh off a 21-0 scrimmage win over North Delta School at Greenville last week. Coach Todd Lott is in his third year of his second stint at the school, having served there from 1999-09. Last year, the Generals were 4-6.
Junior James Roberson (190 pounds) leads at linebacker and will play some at H-back. Classmate Keelan Lovett (190 pounds) is a defensive back and running back, while senior Reid Henderson (180) is a wide receiver and defensive back. Junior Cashion Doolittle (155) is the quarterback, while senior Max Morgan (175) will be at running back. Sophomore William Lewis Jr. (155) is a running back/linebacker.
“Washington School is a big, fast, athletic football team,” Purvis said. “They have depth, playing just three players both ways. They present a lot of problems on both sides of football.”
Senior running back Gage Vance had a solid night for Kirk in the scrimmage scoring on a 55-yard run and playing solid on the defensive side of the ball. Classmate, quarterback Linton Carson, also had a touchdown run last week. A third senior, Andy Redwine is coming off a positive defensive performance against Tipton-Rosemark Academy.
With the depth that Washington possesses, Purvis said controlling tempo is important for the Raiders.
“We are going to have to try to control the clock and limit their offensive touches,” Purvis concluded. “That being said, you have to score to win.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Raider Field.
