Colin Boone is quick to give his players all the credit for the Kirk Academy Raiders undefeated start to the 2023 football season.
With the exception of making the Class AAAA state championship game in 2021, the Kirk program has struggled with 13 losing seasons in 14 years. Now, KA is off to its first 3-0 start since 2000.
Kirk takes to the road Friday night for the second time this season, facing longtime and former Class AAAA, District 1 opponent Lee Academy of Clarksdale. The Colts have dominated the series winning 29 of 41 contests. This year’s game has an added twist with Colts coach Rick Johnston facing his old school and also one of his former players as Boone was a Raider when Johnston coached at the school back in the early 2000s.
Lee comes into to the game with a 1-2 record, both losses coming to Class AAAAA schools in Pillow Academy and Magnolia Heights.
“They have an outstanding football team with great skilled position players that possess outstanding speed,” Boone said. “Coach Johnston is an outstanding coach – he will have them ready to play, no question about it. Their record is somewhat deceiving, having lost to two Class AAAAA schools.”
The speed that Boone is referring to is led by running back Senior Darren Williams (5-foot-9, 170) and classmate Montavian Artis (5-9, 155). Lee also sports outstanding speed on the perimeter with wide receiver Tanner Fava (5-foot-10, 160), who just missed out on a state class AAAA title in the 100-meter dash by .04 seconds. He was part of the school State Titles in the 400 and 800-meter relays. Senior William Walker (5-foot-11, 180) leads the offense get the football to the team’s playmakers from the quarterback position.
“Fava is one of the most explosive players in our association,” Boone said. “He is a threat to take it the distance at any time. We will have to account for him at any time.”
Offensively, Lee tries to take advantage of its team speed by running the old-style wing-T offense.
“Facing their offense will be a tough task because you don’t see the wing-T offense very often,” Boone said. “You have to be able to tackle their skilled position players in space. With the speed they have and the offense they run, it can be very hard to get them off the field. It’s going to be tough to keep them from being successful. They are big and physical up front and when you stack the line of scrimmage, they are able to throw the football.”
Defensively, Boone expects the Colts to either run their traditional split 4 defense that is a trademark of most Johnson teams or possibly an odd man front.
“They do a very good job with their technique designed to stop the run,” he said. “It will be a challenge because they will have eight men within five yards of the line of scrimmage. We are going to have to be very smart with how we run the football. The offensive skilled position guys are used in the secondary and smother your passing attack, closing on you in a hurry. It will be a fun, but daunting task for our guys.”
Preparation week has been good, according to Boone. Playing a team like Lee Academy has helped keep the Raiders grounded despite a 3-0 start to the 2023 season.
“Our guys have done a great job of understanding the big goal,” he concluded. “We are where we need to be record-wise, but have a lot of room for improvement as a football team. They understand the big picture that it is a 10-game season and hopefully the playoffs. We want to get better each week and peak by the end of the season.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Clarksdale.
