After putting a shutout on the scoreboard with a 27-0 win at Horn Lake, the Grenada High School Chargers open the home schedule this Friday night against the pass-happy Pontotoc Warriors at Charger Stadium.
Head Coach Ashley Kuhn hopes his team’s practice this week ironed out some mistakes that took place against Horn Lake. The Chargers dropped a touchdown pass and had a touchdown called back due to a penalty. He hopes that improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 takes place.
“We made a lot of mistakes and left at least two touchdowns on the field,” he said. “Hopefully, we have corrected them.”
Kuhn’s defensive unit has the challenge of slowing down quarterback Conner Armstrong and his accurate left arm. The Warriors passing game has some of the same principles as the Mississippi State passing game, according to Kuhn.
“They are a hard team to prepare for having some concepts of the Air Raid that Mississippi State runs,” he explained. “They do a good job of spreading the field and creating space for the wide receivers.”
In last week’s 30-21 loss to Shannon, Armstrong was 26-of-42 for 284 yards and a touchdown.
“They have a senior quarterback whose is a coach’s son that is very smart and runs the offense well,” Kuhn said. “They throw the ball more than most people we face.”
GHS offensive coordinator Justin Purvis worked his group on being more efficient in the passing game this week in practice. Last week, senior Jaylon Skinner was 5-of-16 for 135 yards and a touchdown.
“We have to throw the ball with more accuracy,” Purvis said. “As an offense, we have to be able to put games away when the opportunity is presented. We have to limit our penalties and turnovers.”
Grenada held on for a 24-19 decision at Pontotoc last season. He credited the coaches at Pontotoc with their game plan a season ago.
“I thought they schemed us up as good as anyone in the run game last year,” he said. “They are a well-coached and disciplined defense. We will have to execute on a high level to find success against them.”
The Warriors are coached by Jeff Carter, who is in his eighth season as head coach and 10th at the school. Carter was a standout defensive back for the Ole Miss Rebels in the late 80s and early 90s. His teams have a record of 64-26 during his time as the head coach. Last season, the Warriors finished with a 7-5 mark losing in the opening round of the Class 4A Playoffs.
“I think the difference in the first game for us was that Shannon hit our defensive line in the mouth and we didn’t respond because we are so inexperienced there,” Carter said. “We have guys who haven’t played there. They had to grow up quickly. It’s basically our offensive line playing both ways. They are playing a lot of plays because we don’t have any depth up front.”
Carter was pleased with the play of Armstrong in the opening contest.
“I was impressed with the way he played last week,” he concluded. “We had good stats and made good decisions. He had a winning effort. The offense did enough to win. It was the play of the defensive upfront that was the difference. I thought we played much better the second half.”
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Charger Stadium.
