By By Austin Bishop/ regional sports director
July 14, 2002
Soaking in a summer Sunday while realizing that football season is just around the corner …
The last high school all-star games of the season will be this week, as the Mississippi Association of Coaches hosts its North/South basketball games on Thursday and the football and tennis events on Friday.
The girls and boys hoops games, which involve a total of seven area players and two coaches are set for A.E. Wood Coliseum on the campus of Mississippi College. The girls game tips off at 6:30 p.m., followed by the boys game at 8 p.m.
The MAC tennis event, which will include five area players, is set for Friday afternoon at Parham Bridges Tennis Center in Jackson.
The Bernard Blackwell Classic football game, featuring a North vs. South format, is set for Madison Central High School on Friday night.
Seven area player will be participating in this.
Four local players and one coach are on the boys South All-Star Basketball team. The players are Jamaal Martin of Northeast Lauderdale, Kenny Boyd of Kemper County and Jessie Jones III and Derrick Turner of Heidelberg High School. One of the coaches will be Heidelberg's Ted Williams.
Coaching the girls South All-Star squad is William Ingersoll of Lake. Playing in the game will be Lenore Gray of Newton High School and Natalie Jordan of Wayne County.
Three Newton County High School graduates and a pair from Meridian High School will be playing for the South in the 2002 All-Star Tennis matches.
On the girls side will be Melissa Kimbriel and Kery McDill of Newton County, while the boys will feature Luke Howell of NCHS and Joseph Johnson and Michael Seto of Meridian High School.
Playing for the North team in football will be the Noxubee County pair of Vincent Dancy and Marco Roby, along with Louisville High School's Davis Carter.
Area players on the South squad are David McConnell of Newton County, Jared Parten of West Lauderdale and Brodie Jones and Greg Moore of Wayne County High School.
It's time to set up photos
High school football coaches in the East Mississippi area are asked to call the Meridian Star sports department and set up their annual football photo day.
This is when the team and individual photos which will be used throughout the season are taken.
Coaches can call EMG regional sports director Austin Bishop at 693-1551, ext. 3234 or the general sports department at 693-1551, ext. 3226 to set up photo times.
The sooner the betters.
So far, none have been scheduled.
Checking out the MHS grid schedule
Meridian High School football fans should be at least somewhat familiar with the 2002 football schedule. It is just a flip-flop of last year's schedule with the 2001 road games being at home and the home games now being on the road.
The season starts with an old Big Eight rivalry when Meridian High School travels to Laurel to face the Tornadoes between the bricks.
After that, first-year MHS head coach Ed Stanley and crew will have two straight home games against a pair of traditional powerhouses.
Starkville High School comes calling to Ray Stadium on Sept. 6, followed by a Sept. 13 visit by Louisville High School.
On Sept. 20 MHS travels to Tupelo, before hosting Wayne County on Sept. 27. Then comes an Oct. 4 road trip to Brandon and an Oct. 11 home game with Hancock.
Following an Oct. 18 trip to Natchez, Meridian hosts Petal on Oct. 25 and Oak Grove on Nov. 1, before closing out the season on the road against Hattiesburg High School.
The Nov. 1 game against Oak Grove is scheduled as Homecoming.
But prep action starts before then
Area high school football action actually kicks off for real on Sept. 23 with MPSA games, including a matchup between Lamar School and Wayne Academy in Waynesboro.
But, high school softball begins two full weeks before that.
The MPSA fast-pitch season begins on Aug. 6 with Leake Academy playing host to Starkville Academy.
MHSAA slow-pitch action opens with "Classics" on Aug. 9. One of those is the Neshoba Central Classic, which includes area teams Union High School and Neshoba Central.
The regular season begins the following week, with all of the area teams being involved.
Meridian High School plays Wayne County and Choctaw Central the first week, before visiting Southeast Lauderdale on Aug. 20 and hosting the Meridian Invitational on Aug. 24.
Clarkdale High School plays Quitman and Clinton in week one, while Union tangles with Choctaw Central, Neshoba Central and Newton County.
Northeast Lauderdale and West Lauderdale meet in Collinsville on Tuesday, Aug. 13, while NEL plays host to Southeast Lauderdale on that Friday.
While the East Mississippi area is strong in several sports, there is no doubt of the domination in softball.
Several teams are expected to be contenders for state titles again this season.