Teams going in two totally opposite directions will meet Friday night at West Point when the unbeaten Kirk Academy Raiders (7-0) face the winless Oak Hill Academy Raiders (0-7).
Kirk Academy second-year Colin Boone has focused during practice this week getting his team to stay focused and not look ahead to an open week, which takes place next week.
“Oak Hill has struggled and has a new coach in Tom Goode Jr.,” Boone said. “He has done a good job despite their record. They play hard for him and will present some challenges for our football team. We got to go on the road and Kirk has struggled at Oak Hill over the years. The last time that Kirk played over there it was a loss. We just need to take care of business.”
Kirk enters the football game banged up. Seniors Blake Mattox (knee) is out for the game, while Aiden Noah (hand) is expected to play. Landon Rice (shoulder) is out for the season.
The game comes before an open date, which was created in the summer when Columbus Christian elected to not play 11-man football at the last moment. Kirk closes the regular season with a Senior Night matchup before beginning postseason action, in all likelihood on Nov. 8, as one of the top seeds in the Class AAA Playoffs.
“You want to be playing your best football at the end of the season,” Boone said. “Right now, we have some guys banged up and have some guys at some different positions. Hopefully, we can play really well this week.”
Junior Gage Vance had a big night in last week’s 34-6 win over Indianola, running for 108 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. For the season, he has 451 yards on 54 carries and eight touchdowns.
“Gage has run the football well all season,” Boone said. “I’m proud of the way he protects the football, and the offensive line did a good job opening up holes for him. He was able to get to the second level and make some things happen.”
Senior Noah Jackson continues to lead the team in rushing with 537 yards on 62 carries and 10 touchdowns. Classmate Holt Gober has completed 27-of-46 passes for 533 yards and four touchdowns, while running for 347 yards on 46 carries and scored four touchdowns.
Mattox is the top tackler on the team with 41 stops.
Taking care of the football, along with improvement in the passing game are two areas that Boone would like to see take to the next level.
“There are some things in the passing that we need to improve, whether it is decision-making or route-running,” Boone concluded. “Other than Marshall, we haven’t played a really good team and I’m interested on how we handle adversity.”
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Oak Hill Academy.
