Injuries abound in early season games, local teams try to stay healthy

Published 12:00 am Monday, September 6, 2004

Forget a state championship, district championship or even a playoff berth.

At this rate, some prep clubs in the Miss-Lou may just be trying to survive and complete the 2004 season. The number of players going down to injury may be enough to officially qualify as an epidemic, and the season just started.

Natchez High suffered injuries in its 54-18 loss at South Pike Friday, as linebacker Marcus Johnson went down with a suspected neck injury. Johnson’s neck was splinted on the field and he was put on a backboard before being taken away in an ambulance. Taking care of Johnson delayed the game for almost an hour, as it

Email newsletter signup

didn’t end until 11:30 p.m., four hours after it began.

Natchez head coach Lance Reed said Johnson temporarily lost feeling in his left side but has regained that feeling. Johnson was taken to Jackson late Friday night for tests and observation. Reed said Johnson will not practice this week, but he does not yet know how long Johnson might be out.

&uot;The injuries hurt you, but we just didn’t execute,&uot; Reed said. &uot;Not to take anything away from South Pike, they’re a very good team and they just outplayed us.&uot;

Johnson’s injury came just a week after Natchez defensive lineman Tyrone Baldwin went down with a broken tibula and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance.

Natchez is 1-1 for the young season and has a big game this week at Vicksburg. Reed said he just hopes his team continues to get better each week.

&uot;We’re just going to get back to the basics, executing on offense and defense,&uot; Reed said. &uot;Every game is a learning experience for us and hopefully we’ll get better.&uot;

And not having any more serious injuries would be nice, too.

MORE INJURIES &045;Over at Adams Christian, the Rebels were already hobbled coming into their contest with Class AAA Parklane. The offensive attack was reduced considerably without speedy receiver Ray Simpson (knee) and running back Cole Bradford (knee).

Fullback Joey Wilson spent the entire second half on the sideline with a knee iced down. That also slowed down the defense considerably with Wilson missing at linebacker and Simpson and Bradford missing in the secondary.

The Rebels were forced to install a new defense for the game with three defensive backs instead of their customary four. Parklane still moved the ball well on the ground, although it had more trouble in the second half than in the first half.

&uot;We went to the new defense this week because of all the injuries,&uot; AC head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;For the first week, I thought we did a decent job. The way they ran the ball on us, we were really hoping to take that away. We wanted to force them to throw the ball, but we weren’t able to do it. (Les) Mulkey is awfully good.&uot;

The injuries on the offensive end crippled the Rebels pretty good, leaving tailback Dustin Case as the primary target for yardage. Parklane with its tough front seven keyed on No. 2 in blue the entire night, and Case finished the game with just one reception along with 15 carries for just 8 yards.

&uot;We really played Dustin Case,&uot; Parklane head coach Charlie Newlon said. &uot;He’s an outstanding player. I think they have an outstanding quarterback in Timmy Foster. We tried to get after him a little bit. We didn’t want him to have too much time with Dustin Case out there.&uot;

Up in Madison County, Cathedral struggled in its 31-0 loss to Madison St. Joe after a number of starters were out with injury. The Wave struggled with turnovers with six fumbles and one interception, and that came with a starting lineup that was devoid of a number of starters, including senior receiver Andrew Ellard.

Cathedral, the top passing team in the Miss-Lou last season, finished with just 110 yards total offense and had two punts blocked.

&uot;It was pretty wet,&uot; CHS head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;In the second half we played a little better, but they blocked another punt and got a touchdown. We really beat ourselves. We’ll just have to regroup.&uot;

But there was good news. WCCA welcomed back quarterback Collin Dor after he missed last week due to injury. But the Rams couldn’t solve Tallulah Academy and dropped a 14-6 decision.

LINEBACKER’S DREAM &045; It was another chance the Rebels had Friday night to stay in the game against a good Parklane team when Foster came up with his second interception of the game midway through the fourth quarter.

Foster returned it all the way to the Parklane 15, but the Pioneers returned the favor. On the third play Foster threw a short pass over the middle, and linebacker J.C. Boyd made the snag and returned it all the way down to the AC 32.

Linebackers don’t get too many opportunities for interception, and the big Boyd made good on his chance.

&uot;It was my first one,&uot; Boyd said. &uot;I just switched to linebacker this year. If I dodged that (last tackler), nobody was going to beat me. It was the last guy &045; he got my feet. I ran out of gas.&uot;

It was Boyd and other playmakers up front that kept the pressure on Case, Foster and the Rebels and made the AC front line work extra hard. Boyd pointed to that first drive of the game for the Pioneers &045; a scoring drive that took nearly the entire first quarter &045; that gave the team the momentum it needed right off the bat.

That allowed the defense and its group of seniors some leverage to really work.

&uot;The offense did a heck of a job putting up points,&uot; Boyd said. &uot;That first drive lasted six or seven minutes. But we’ve played since the seventh grade. We’re trying to make it to the playoffs, to be honest. We did it our 10th-grade year, and we’re trying to get back.

&uot;We’ve got Prep next week, and it’s a big game. We’re going to take it one game at a time. Prep is always up for us, and we feel like we’re ready.&uot;

AND MORE INJURIES &045; Oak Forest wasn’t immune to the injury bug either, as the Yellow Jackets lost their top two running backs in the first quarter of the team’s win 20-0 win over Trinity.

Kody Walker and Taylor Finch went down with a concussion and a displaced kneecap, head coach Jason Brabham said.

&uot;They should both be back next week, I would think, but they couldn’t come back tonight,&uot; Brabham said. &uot;We only have four running backs, so when two of them get hurt, it limits us.&uot;

&045; Christian Schmidt contributed to this report.