Being the underdog is something that first-year Grenada High School head football coach Michael Fair has experienced often throughout his playing and coaching career.
As a player, not many people thought Fair could make it as a Southeastern Conference offensive lineman coming from a small private school in Carrollton. He proved the doubters wrong as he worked his way into the starting lineup and earned All-SEC honors at Mississippi State.
Following his playing career, Fair got into coaching and has won more than 100 career games in his 15-year head coaching career including a Class 5A State Championship at Lafayette High School. He has continued proving doubters wrong as he has the Grenada Chargers on the brink of playing for a Class 6A State Championship. They will face longtime power South Panola tonight, Friday, Nov. 24, at Dunlap Stadium for a trip to the Class 6A title game next Friday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford against either Picayune or West Jones. The contest will mark the first appearance for GHS in the North State title game since 2002, when Grenada lost a 10-3 decision to West Point in the Class 4A state title. The Chargers have never played for a state championship in football.
Not many people are giving at the Chargers much of a chance against the Tigers, who have won 11 state titles in the history of the Batesville school. Friday’s contest is the second this season between the schools. South Panola won a 28-7 decision on Nov. 2 at Grenada in the Class 6A, Region 1 title game.
“Our guys are as resilient of a bunch that I have ever coached to bounce back and prepare after the loss to South Panola earlier,” Fair said. “It showed the character of this football team. They kept fighting and hanging around – now we have another shot at them. We are excited about getting another opportunity against them.”
Fair said his team has improved so much since that loss to the Tigers.
“We are much better that we were three weeks ago when we played South Panola,” he said. “I know it hasn’t been that long, but we all felt like they didn’t get our best shot. It’s not taking anything away from them; they are a really good football team. We all walked off that field that night knowing it wasn’t our best effort. Our team has had a different feel since that game.”
Offensively, the Chargers had some missed opportunities, while defensively the Grenada defense had its problems tackling South Panola quarterback Trey Johnson and running back Michael Allen. The Tigers scored twice through the air and the final score in the contest was on a short field following an interception late in the game.
“We had some drops and some missed blocks on the offensive end,” Fair said. “There were times in that game that we did some things we normally don’t do. I remember a third-and-three and we fumbled the hand off, and we threw an interception on a middle screen. Those are things that normally do not happen and some of it was them – lot of it was a lack of execution and focus. I think that, if anything, that game plays in our favor this week because we can fix a lot of things on our end.”
Fair thinks the battle on the line of scrimmage will determine the winner.
“The line of scrimmage is always important this time of the year,” he said. “I also think, who handles being off from school this week will be important. It’s a different approach this week because there is no school. There are great players on both teams and I think who steps up to the challenge when the lights are the brightest and they are fixing to be bright Friday night. We had some players that didn’t rise up to their fullest potential that are biting at the bullet for another chance. For us, the key will be the play of our seniors leaders. They are going to have to play up their capability.”
Being the underdog is OK for Fair and his players.
“We are fine with being the underdog,” he concluded. “If you go back and see how many people thought we would be playing this week, it would not be many. We have been proving a lot of people wrong throughout this process. This group of guys is OK with being the underdog – they just stick that helmet on tighter and get back to work. It’s a testament to the community and the parents of our players. It’s a tough group that has a lot of pride.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday in Batesville.
