Fresh off a 27-0 Class 6A, Region 1 win over Lake Cormorant, the Grenada High School Chargers will head to Olive Branch Friday night to face football longtime foe, the Olive Branch Conquistadors.
For Coach Michael Fair’s crew, it’s time move past the excitement of winning the region opener.
“What happens in the past, stays in the past,” Fair said. “It’s all about being 1-0 this week. Our players understand that. The fun part, since there is so much to play for this time of the year, is the maturity of this team and how they understand they have to come to practice every day. The players understand what is expected of them each week; there is no such thing as not playing their best each week. We haven’t always played great, but we have played hard for seven straight games – I’m proud of that fact.”
Coach Jason Russell’s team brings a 2-4 record into the contest and opened Region 1 play with a 28-0 loss at Center Hill High School last Thursday night.
“Olive Branch is a really talented football team,” Fair said. “When you watch them play, they look like a real good football team that plays hard. Their record is not where they would like it to be at this point. A break here or there would have changed some things for them.”
Olive Branch is led at quarterback by senior Raheem Vance (6-2, 220). As a passer, he is 82-of-132 for 876 yards and four touchdowns, along with three interceptions.
“They have a dual threat quarterback that can get out of pocket and cause problems with his legs,” Fair said. “He has a real strong, live arm and they run a lot of zone read with him. Their receiver, (Britten) Traylor can score from a long way out.”
The Conquistadors have other weapons on the offensive end led by Traylor, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior receiver, who has 22 receptions for 416 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, Olive Branch has been led by senior Kylan Rhodes (6-foot, 180) with 638 yards on 83 carries and eight touchdowns. Rhodes has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury and is questionable for this week’s game. His replacement is senior Jerry Wall III (6-foot-2, 230), who has run for 330 yards on 46 carries and scored five touchdowns. Defensively, Wall paces Olive Branch with 39 tackles.
“They play multiple defensive fronts and like to bring pressure,” Coach Fair said. “Overall, they just like to create havoc and pressure the quarterback.”
In addition to Wall, senior defensive end Tyler Wesley (6-foot-3, 225) has 27 tackles. Senior linebacker Ethan Bobo (6-foot, 195) has recorded 37 total tackles, while classmate Sam Walton (6-foot, 185) is third on the team with 34 tackles.
Friday’s contest will be a homecoming of sorts for Fair as he faces Russell, his former assistant coaches at Lafayette.
“Jason worked five years for me at Lafayette,” he said. “He did a tremendous job of us coaching the offensive line. When you go against people who have worked for you, it’s a lot of fun because you want to win so bad. You pull hard for them except when you play them. Jason is a good guy and I hope he wins all his games except when he plays against us.”
Russell took over the program three seasons ago that had gone through three coaches each of the previous three seasons. He has seen the program begin to show progress this season.
“Olive Branch has long had a proud tradition in football over the years,” Russell said. “When I came in, they had three coaches in three years, and I had to get the players to buy into what we wanted to get done. I had to convince them that I wanted to be here and not be a one-year guy like the last three years prior to our arrival. We didn’t win as much as we wanted the first year. Last year, we won more games. This year, we have had some injuries after starting the season fast. One game, we lost our top rusher to an injury and that has slowed us down.”
Grenada has seen their offense continued to show improvement with each game. Senior quarterback Charlie Fair (6-foot-1, 190) is 108-of-188 for 1,253 yards and nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. His top receiver is sophomore Zayion Cotton (6-foot-5, 195) who has 22 receptions for 367 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior running back Macaleb Taylor (5-10, 195) is the leader in the backfield with 150 carries for 870 yards and seven touchdowns. As a receiver, he has six receptions for 95 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, junior linebacker Jahmani Washington (6-foot-2, 200) leads the team with 67 tackles and has a pair of interceptions. Senior linebackers Sema’j Avery (6-foot-1, 180) and Jatavious Lewis (5-foot-10, 200) and defensive end Aaron Travis (6-foot-6, 230) all have 35 total tackles.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Olive Branch.
