Hokes Bluff (2-3, 2-1) at Cherokee County (1-4, 0-3)
Last week: Glencoe 42, Hokes Bluff 14;
Cherokee County 34, Ohatchee 21
Last meeting: Cherokee County 28, Hokes Bluff 7 (2013)
Series record: Cherokee County leads 43-15-5
By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Hokes Bluff finds itself in position to possibly earn a state playoff berth, but a couple more region wins will be necessary.
That starts with Cherokee County, a team the Eagles must defeat in order to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth. As it stands right now, Hokes Bluff is tied with Sardis for the fourth and final playoff spot in Class 4A, Region 6, although the Lions hold the tiebreaker.
“If we can win this one and one more, we might get in,” Hokes Bluff coach Mike Robertson said. “We’re still improving. We showed signs of improvement last week against a tough opponent. Now we need to use that improvement and get a victory.”
Despite its record, the Centre squad will be a formidable foe – one with a lot of speed and size.
“There are a lot of similarities between them and us,” Robertson said. “They start a freshman quarterback – like us. And there are a lot of youngsters in other places.
“They’re still a Tripp Curry team, so that means they’re dangerous despite the record. They didn’t win a state title (in 2009) for nothing.”
Last week against Glencoe, Landon Johnson completed 6-of-15 passes for 51 yards, while Phillip Ward had three catches for 40 yards.
Ward had 17 tackles on defense, followed by Noah Click with 15, Fisher Simmons with 10 and Hayes Evans with nine.