The Charleston Tigers played their second non-conference game of the 2021 season last Friday at Pottsville. When the night was over, Charleston came away with their second victory over a 4A-4 team, defeating the Apaches, 35-14. The 3A Tigers go to 2-0 on the season and will travel to Ozark this Friday night to play the Hillbillies in the “Battle of Franklin County.”
Ozark finished the 2020 regular season at 7-3, including a 54-21 win at Charleston. In 2021, the Hillbillies are 1-1, having defeated Clarksville and losing to Booneville. Ozark returns seven starters on offense and six on defense.
The battle at Ozark will be the final non-conference test for Charleston before they return home on September 24 to host the Greenland Pirates in the opening weekend of 3A-1 conference play. In fact, the Charleston schedule resembles a gauntlet of five games to start the season that could determine not only the Tigers overall record, but their playoff berth and seeding within their own conference. The Tigers host Greenland at Alumni Field next week, and will go on the road to Cedarville for a tough showdown game with huge conference implications. But first things first. This week, it is the perennial 4A power Ozark Hillbillies that are on the radar of head coach Ricky May and the Charleston coaching staff.
Coach May had significant concerns about his defense following the preseason scrimmage against Booneville. The Bearcats are tough this year, and have had big success against both Dardanelle and Ozark. Since that night of the preseason scrimmage, Coach May and the Charleston coaching staff emphasized toughness and getting off the field after third downs and not giving up big plays for first downs. Coach May has been pleased with the start of the defense since their opening game, and the Tigers have allowed an average of just 10 points per game so far. For Coach May, the biggest thing on his mind is, “we haven’t beat them in a while.”
Coach May elaborated, “We haven’t beaten them since I’ve been a head coach. I have been close once, but did not win.” In the Booneville win over Ozark, the Hillbillies were missing their quarterback. That is not to take anything away fro a Bearcats team that handled Ozark that night, but the Hillbillies’ back-up quarterback (Ryker Martin), according to May, “is more of a runner, so, Booneville had eight in the box (on defense to play against the run).” The Tigers expect the Ozark starting quarterback (Landon Wright) to return this Friday. In short, Charleston expects all of the injured Ozark starters to return in this rivalry game on Friday. The Hillbillies run the spread offense, and Wright is the better passer of the two Ozark quarterbacks. His return would mean that Ozark would be able to run their offense more efficiently than was possible against Booneville.
Coach May has been pleased with his team’s play, including his defense that he expressed concern with earlier in the year. “We have played with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. Our physicality has been really good, and I feel like we have matched our opponents’ physicality. But we still turned it over three times (against Pottsville). We can’t continue to do that and be successful.” The Tigers turned the ball over to Pottsville on one interception and two fumbles. “On the two fumbles, we were going in (for a score on each drive). The interception was down about on our 20 yard line. We have been real fortunate to win (against the 4A non-conference teams) when we have turned the ball over. We have to fix us (correct the turnovers and mistakes).
Resident Press will have a recap on this game next week in its online edition. Friday’s game in Ozark should be another great edition of this cross county rivalry between two great football programs. You will want to get there early to get a seat at this one!
Good luck to the Charleston Tigers who look to go to 3-0 on the 2021 season!
