While the games won’t count just yet, the drive for an 11th state championship begins this week for Louisville.
The Wildcats are fresh off of a Class 4A state championship for the 10th time in school history and are hosting the Wildcat Jamboree at RE Hinze Stadium this week to prepare for the season opener next week.
Friday begins the festivities as the Wildcats host Grenada at 7:30 p.m. LHS will also have Columbus vs. Gentry at 5:30 p.m. to kick things off. Saturday will be a full day at the football field as Kemper County and Shannon play at 2 p.m., Aberdeen and Provine face off at 4 p.m. and Starkville and Noxubee County close the weekend at 6 p.m.
Going head-to-head with 6A Grenada to start things off is just the beginning of a tough non-conference schedule again this year. The Wildcats will play the defending Class 5A state runners up in West Point in game one on the road next week, Class 2A contender Kemper County, Class 6A powerhouse Starkville and Class 3A dynasty Noxubee County in non-conference play.
“Everybody that knows me knows that I believe in playing a tough non-division schedule because you can measure where you are. We want to be able to compete in those games and I want to measure our team going into our division games. We can be 5-0, we can be 1-4 or 2-3. It all depends on them and the work that they put in,” said coach Tyrone Shorter.
This year the Wildcats return the bulk of their offense from last season like quarterback Jace Hudspeth, running backs Jacorey Coleman and Jace Hudspeth and receiver Jarvis Rush. The defense was ahead of the offense a season ago with Snake Eiland and Ty Cooper leading the way and the offensive playmakers being brought along slowly but things have flipped this season with an experienced bunch back on the offensive side of the ball.
