Last Friday was homecoming at McAdams, but West Tallahatchie ruined it for the grads who came back to support the Bulldogs. McAdams managed a fourth quarter touchdown, but by that time West Tallahatchie was up 36-0 on its way to a 36-6 win.
Other than the support from the community and alumni, McAdams coach Kenneth Nelson said there was nothing positive to take from the game. It started off badly when the Bulldogs fumbled the ball away on their first three possessions, and did not get better until Johntavis Rimmer threw a 32-yard pass to Deon Wilkins for the Bulldogs' lone TD.
“We have to stop the turnovers. We have to take care of the football,” Nelson said. “In the games that we won, we were able to take care of the football. In the games we lost, there were turnovers.”
The Bulldogs will attempt to take care of the ball when they make the 78-mile trip to Hollandale Friday for a Region 3-1A game with Simmons.
After reaching the 1A state championship game the past four years, with state titles in 2015, '16 and '17, Simmons is down a bit this year with a 4-4 record, 3-2 in the region. McAdams is 3-6 and 2-3.
“They have a strong running game,” Nelson said of Simmons. “They don't pass the ball a lot. They're not as talented as they have been in the past.”
He said the Bulldogs need to be physical, stop the run and run the ball effectively to defeat Simmons. “From seeing them on tape, we have a chance to do that. We match up pretty well with them. They're big like we are. I feel it will be a pretty even matchup.”
One positive for McAdams is that the Bulldogs defeated Shaw 6-0 in overtime and Simmons is coming off a 14-8 loss to Shaw.
