Coaches stress to their players each day to pay attention to details. Those details are often the difference between winning and losing.
That statement proved to be prophetic for the Kirk Academy Raiders as they dropped a hard-fought 14-6 decision to Washington School to open the 2025 season last Friday night at Raider Field. This week, first-year coach Justin Purvis and his staff turned to correcting those mistakes during practice.
“I think the biggest thing is an understanding that every play matters,” Purvis said. “Last week, there are three or four plays that swung the game against us. We have got to be sound in everything we do. I think, overall, we were fine.”
Offensively, the Raiders finished with 235 yards offensively, but squandered scoring opportunities.
“We lost a key player in our left tackle (Tate Summers) to an injury,” Purvis said. “Our guys are going to have to step up and block better. Pass protection broke down several times – we have got to be sound in that area. In the run game, we need to stay on blocks and keep our hands inside because we had too many holding calls.”
Defensively, Purvis was pleased with his team’s effort for the most part.
“Our guys played with tremendous effort,” he said. “They were in the right spots and tackled better from the previous week. I don’t think they moved the ball super-well against us. They scored on the first drive on a fade pattern. On the last drive, they went into the Power I set and 4-to-5 yards us to death. We were in coverage on the last touchdown drive and our defensive back caught a cramp. I thought we limited their explosive plays for the most part.”
This Friday night, the Raiders turn their attention to the Greenville Christian Saints, which lost a 44-7 decision to Bayou Academy last week. Last season, GCS finished 5-6, losing in the second round of the playoffs.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a scrimmage or jamboree before our first game,” GCS head coach Jon Reed McClendon said. “We got a lot of first-game live action. As coaches, we didn’t do a good job of making sure we were prepared to play. There was a mix of nerves and not being mentally ready to play. We are a better football team than we displayed. Hopefully, we can get the improvement you get from Game 1 to Game 2.”
Junior C.J. Hoskins (225 pounds) leads GCS at quarterback and is their top defensive player at linebacker. Classmate Robert McElvaine (185 pounds) is a running back and linebacker. Senior Kam Williams (180 pounds) will start at receiver and could be used at running back and defensive back. Senior Krystian Foules (190 pounds) is solid at tight end and linebacker. Classmate J.J. Harvey (300 pounds) anchors the offensive and defensive lines.
McClendon expects a battle from the Raiders.
“They are a physical football team that is well-coached,” McClendon concluded. “I think they looked great against a good Washington School team. Kirk slowed them down offensively after that first drive. We are going to have our hands full.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Greenville.
