The Grenada High School Chargers look to make it three wins in four tries to start the season when they travel tonight to face the Class 7A Clinton High School Arrows.
Clinton is off to a 2-1 start following last week’s 65-62 win over top-ranked Brandon. The Arrows are coming on a one-win season in 2023, and have veteran collegiate coach John Carr in charge of the program this season.
“They are probably the most improved team in Mississippi,” GHS head coach Michael Fair said. “They came to Grenada last year with a number of people hurt and we didn’t have much problem. This season, they have a new head coach and are much improved, and caught our attention with their opening week 27-20 win over Warren Central. Clinton has always had outstanding athletes that has tremendous speed. We have our work cut out for us this week.”
The Arrows have gotten solid play from junior quarterback Josef Walker (5-foot-9, 180 pounds), who is 62-of-94 for 734 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. Walker’s top receivers are junior Erich Johnson (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), who has 20 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Jaydann Hollins (5-foot-9, 175 pounds) has 16 catches for 235 yards and three touchdowns.
“They like to throw the ball down the field,” Fair said. “Defensively, we are going to have to be able to put pressure on the passer, forcing quicker throws.”
On the ground, senior Jakobe Williams (5-foot-9, 200 pounds) is the leading rusher with 213 yards on 59 attempts and eight touchdowns.
Grenada is coming off a come-from-behind win over Oxford last week at Grenada. The Chargers had a sloppy first 30 minutes of the game with penalties, turnovers and dropped passes. Fair’s team rebounded to take the game over in the fourth quarter.
“The first part of the game, we didn’t play up to the standard that we expect from our players,” he said. “Our defense gave us a chance playing solid for the entire game.”
Senior Macaleb Taylor leads Grenada with 596 yards on 97 carries and nine touchdowns. He has a receiving touchdown making him one of the top scorers in the state.
Defensively, senior linebackers Jahmani Washington and Sema’j Avery lead the way with 30 tackles apiece followed by classmate Jarques Perry, who has 22 tackles and 7 tackles for losses.
Despite the fumbles and dropped passes last week, the Chargers kept getting those players involved.
“We didn’t quit throwing to them or giving the ball to them because of the mistakes,” Fair concluded. “It’s high school football and mistakes will happen. We will keep giving them the football and throwing to them.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Clinton High School.
