Parkers Chapel set to host Hampton

Two years ago, Parkers Chapel upended Hampton on its way to hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history.

Now the Trojans are hoping history can repeat itself.

Tonight, the Trojans (1-6, 1-2) host the Bulldogs (2-6, 1-2) at Victor Nipper Stadium in an 8-2A showdown with the winner getting the league’s No. 3 seed for the playoffs and a home playoff game next week.

“That’s what we’re telling our kids is that the winner gets to host a playoff game,” Parkers Chapel coach Elliot Jacobs said. “It would be our second time in school history to host one, so that’s what our focus is going into this.”

Both schools have defended their home turf successfully in the postseason in recent years.

In 2019, the Trojans outlasted Poyen in a thriller to win their first playoff game since 2010.

Three years ago, the Bulldogs won their first two playoff games at home on their way to the state quarterfinals.

The Trojans and Bulldogs each have standouts that will play a big role in deciding the winner.

Parkers Chapel’s Lancer Clark and Payton Willeford have shouldered much of the load for the Trojans, but the Bulldogs counter with a trio that each is more than capable of making a big play every time that they have the ball.

Quarterback Jonah Phillips guides the offense with Zy Johnson at running back and Ta’vion Galbert at wide receiver.

“They go as their running back goes,” Jacobs said. “He’s a bowling-ball kid, good shiftiness and he’s going to run your butt over, so we’ve got to do a good job of meeting him at the point of attack, wrapping up, bringing our feet and not letting him run us over. You’ve got to go low because if you go high, he’s going to keep his legs going. He’s got good center of gravity.

“If you focus on the running back, the quarterback will hurt you with his legs. When they get the ball to their big, tall receiver, he can make plays.

“They’ve got some weapons on the offensive side of the ball, so we’ve got to do a good job of doing our assignments and having multiple hats at the football. Sometimes one kid is not going to bring down their running back, so we’re going to need multiple people there, wrapping up, get low and try to create some turnovers.”

Both teams enter on losing streaks.

The Bulldogs have lost two straight, falling to Junction City and Fordyce, while the Trojans have lost three straight, including last week’s 34-6 loss at Foreman.

“I told the kids after the game just to forget about this one,” Jacobs said.

“Something wasn’t right from the moment we showed up. We turned the ball over eight times. Any time you turn it over that many times, you’re not going to be successful. We saw some good things, some things that we can improve on. We hurt ourselves and shot ourselves in the foot. That’s something we can’t do going forward.”

Several freshmen made their varsity debuts for the Trojans last week, and while they didn’t get the results they wanted on the scoreboard, Jacobs said his younger players will only grow from the experience.

“Without a doubt,” Jacobs said. “We’ve been pretty good this year about taking care of the football. Last Friday was an anomaly, something we haven’t done all year. They didn’t seem out of sorts. They all fit in. It’s just one of those things of the game experience and game speed we’ve got to adjust to, but as far as poise, they all had it.

“The young kids are resilient. The moment’s not too big for them because they really don’t understand it right now, so we’ve just got to do a good job this week of continuing to harp on the little things, focusing a little bit better and we’ll see how it goes on Thursday.”

Jacobs said several of his younger players had solid showings in their first game.

“Defensively, Gage Russell and Zach Gilmore did a good job of helping us out,” Jacobs said. “Cameron Mayo played corner for us and we plan on him starting again on defense this week. The few kids that we used on special teams I thought did a good job, so we just have to keep at it. Offensively, we were hoping Christian Minor would be able to play, but he was having a little hamstring issue, so he was not able to play. We’re hoping to have him back this week.

“Dyson (Dougan) did some good things and some bad things. Three of his interceptions weren’t his fault. We had tipped balls, he got hit as he threw. He did a decent job, and he’s only going to get better. The game is a little faster at the high school level than it is at the junior high. Another week of practice with our receivers is going to help him out, so we expect a better performance from all of us this Thursday.”

With the game being played on Thursday, Jacobs said there are ups and downs to it, but he said it could help more with so many of his younger players used to playing on Thursday.

“There’s good and bad about it. It is what it is,” Jacobs said. “Being a coach, I would rather have it on a Friday, that way everything is normal.

“Any time you make changes, it screws the kids’ schedule up, but it should be good for our freshmen since they’re used to playing on Thursday, so that might actually help them getting that normal feel of what their week is like during school, at practice and when their games are. It might end up helping us.”

If the Trojans are to top the Bulldogs and get a home playoff game for the second time in three years, Jacobs said his defense must play well.

“Defensively for us is play your assignment. Too many times, we’re looking at doing someone else’s job and forget ours and it hurts us, so make sure we play assignment football,” Jacobs said. “Offensively, taking care of the ball and find a way to play harder than them for four quarters.”

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