SHS set for district duel

After a dramatic victory over Jay kept their dreams of a district title alive, the Sneads Pirates face another titanic district game Friday night at home.

Sneads (3-2, 3-1 in district play), hosts the Vernon Yellowjackets (4-2, 3-2) at 7 p.m. in a game with playoff implications.

The Pirates are just one game out of first place in District 1-1A, behind 4-0 Freeport. Sneads is tied with one-loss teams South Walton and Northview for second place.

With four teams all within a game of each other fighting for two playoff spots, Friday night’s game becomes vitally important for both teams.

“It is a big one,” Sneads coach Don Dowling said Thursday. “The big thing is we control our own destiny, which is something we haven’t done in a while. We’ve got to take it one at a time, but if we win out, we’re in the playoffs.”

Sneads got a last-second touchdown from Jeff Davis on a pass from Mark Lawson in the Pirates’ 21-20 win over Jay Oct. 2.

The Yellowjackets took a 20-13 win over Jay last week, with the Pirates having an open week.

Dowling said Vernon would provide yet another stiff test for his team.

“They are a big, fast team,” the coach said. “At the beginning of the year, Vernon was thought to be the team to beat (in the district). They were rolling for a while, and then Bonifay slipped up on them.”

The Yellowjackets won their first three games of the season over Chipley, Bozeman and Baker, before falling 22-17 to Holmes County on the road.

Vernon followed that up with a 14-point loss to Freeport before bouncing back with the win over Jay.

Dowling said the Yellowjackets have a formidable power running attack, with a talented and athletic group of skill players that the Pirates will have to contain.

“They have a huge offensive line and a bunch of skill kids who can run,” the coach said. “Just about any of their skill people can take it all the way.

“We’ve got to keep them hemmed up and cut out the big plays. We’ve got to make them drive the length of the field. We’re definitely going to have to play well to win.”

With the off week, the Pirates have had two weeks to prepare for this game. But Dowling said he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“After the big win against Jay, I wanted to keep it rolling,” the coach said. “Then I looked around and we had so many guys beat and banged up, so I thought it
was pretty good to get a week off.

“But I won’t really know how it affected us until (Friday night’s game).”

Tonight is Homecoming for the Pirates. Dowling said his players have done a good job of not being distracted in this week’s preparation.

“We know all the distractions you have at Homecoming, but we’ve actually had three pretty good days of practice.

“Our big thing now is that all we try to do is work on us. We look at the film to see what (the opponents) do, but we concentrate on us getting better and doing what we’re supposed to do.”