Kismet or serendipity, take
your pick. Autumn and cool weather have arrived in tandem as our high
school lads in the larger classifications begin their quest to make the
state football tournament tonight.
All across the state questions
will be asked, and some answered, as we put away sweet old rivalries —
aka, the preseason — and dive into divisional games, many of which are
based these days not on the ancient hatreds
but on the algorithms of enrollment figures with a necessary but often
subtle nod to geography.
Can Brandon be that good? Or
are Clinton and Northwest Rankin that bad? What of Madison Central and
South Panola, two titans in apparent decline, scarred by staggering
early losses?
What of Olive Branch? Are the
Conquistadors the colossus of the North now that the sun seems finally
to be setting on South Panola?
What of mighty Meridian? Petal?
Oak Grove? Would you bet a Coke and a hotdog against a team whose offensive coordinator is a three-time NFL MVP?
Regardless, fans will park
their cars beneath the magnetic glow of stadium lights all across our
state tonight, drawn to the light, to hope, to the idea that the opening
of division play can be the start of a magical
run.
Lather yourselves in bug spray, my friends, and may you go unbeaten, unbowed and unbitten.
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