History tends to repeat itself.
Remember “The Mud Bowl” of 2012? Those who played in it do.
“[It was] one of the most fun games I’ve ever played in,” said former South Jones football player Brayden Hodge. “[It was] also my first varsity start.”
Former Northeast Jones standout Reggio Dean had different memories.
“Love the picture,” Dean commented on a social media post of a picture from that night. “But I hated that game.”
Dean went on to play at Gulf Coast Community College and now plays at the University of Central Arkansas.
On August 30, 2012, South Jones hosted Northeast Jones on the Reservation just days after Hurricane Isaac battered the Gulf Coast and drenched the PineBelt with heavy rains for more than a day. South Jones won the muddy contest, 21-7.
“I’ll never forget officiating that game,” said Adam Lack. “There was nowhere to run on Northeast Jones’ sideline because when you stepped, the mud went halfway up your shin.”
This Friday night South Jones will host Northeast Jones on the Reservation for the third time since that 2012 meeting – nicknamed “The Mud Bowl” – and under similar circumstances. Tropical storm Gordon made landfall late Tuesday night west of the Alabama-Mississippi border, causing school cancellations across the PineBelt on Wednesday. Though never upgraded to a hurricane, Gordon is said to have brought three to seven inches of rain with it.
Like in 2012, South Jones enters Friday night’s rivalry meeting vs. Northeast Jones on the heels of its first win – a 24-6 pounding of the West Harrison Hurricanes (no pun intended) at home in Week 3.
“It was good to get our first win,” said first-year head coach Roger Satcher. “Because now people start getting on board. I think this is going to be very good for us.
“The only problem is the team we play Friday night (Northeast Jones) will be the best team we’ve played so far.”
Also, like in 2012, Northeast Jones is coming off a loss. What’s different, though, is that to this point, the Tigers are winless.
“If you look at their record, [you might not think so],” Satcher said. “But you have to look at who they’ve played. Every time I watch them, it seems they get faster.
“I’m excited about us winning [our first game], but we have to get focused cause Northeast Jones is hungry [for a win].”
South Jones undoubtedly has the momentum. To keep it, Satcher says somethings have to improve.
“Right now we are one-dimensional,” said Satcher. “Our quarterback [John Mitchell] threw for nearly 2,000 yards last year so we shouldn’t be one-dimensional. We’re working on correcting that.”
South Jones has run 84 rushing plays in its first three games compared to just 32 passing attempts. Northeast Jones has a similar dilemma, running a total of 109 rushing plays compared to 28 through the air.
“Defensively, we’re finally getting our guys to understand their role and what they have to do,” added Satcher. “But now we’re facing a different offense than what we’re accustomed to seeing. Most of the teams we’ve faced run the Wing-T offense. Northeast Jones will spread us out more.”
It isn’t just South Jones having to prepare for an altogether different offensive scheme either. Northeast Jones will have to as well. Tailored to fit the strengths of returning quarterback John Mitchell (senior), South Jones changed its offense in the offseason to the Veer – an option running style offense. Under the new offense, Mitchell leads the team in rushing yards with 394 on 41 carries.
“It’s different than the offense we ran under Cory Reynolds,” said Satcher. “It’s going to give us an advantage in region play. We’ll be running an offense that most teams are not used to stopping. Is it to our advantage enough to win those games? Only time will tell, but its different from what most teams are used to facing.
“It’s to our advantage in this way, our offensive lineman, even though I think their good, are not the big guys that can stand there in your way [for a long time] and keep folks from getting to our quarterback. Now our guys can be more aggressive [in a shorter amount of time]. So it’s an advantage to us because when we do lose yardage, it’s only one or two rather than five or six.”
Senior fullback Vekelion Campbell leads the way next with 278 yards on 29 carries, including a season-high 102 yards on nine carries last Friday night against West Harrison.
“Vekelion is going to get his yards,” said Satcher. “He’s a good strong runner. If they don’t stop him, then Mitchell doesn’t get the ball. And if they stop him, then now they defenses have to stop Mitchell.
“Last week we showed that its a triple option because Mitchell can run the ball, Vekelion can run the ball, and Chad Moses, who took a pitch 84 yards to the house can run the ball. We have three good athletes who can run the ball well.”
For all the difference and similarities of this week, one fact for South Jones is easy to pick out. Friday night will be the first game of the season in which the Braves will line up against guys they’re familiar with, in a county rivalry game that’s sure to be sloppy – at least on the field.
