The Simpson Academy Cougars punched their ticket to the MAIS 4A State Championship with a 36-15 victory over Pillow Academy last Friday.
The Cougars will be facing a familiar opponent in the Lamar Raiders for the state championship. When the two teams met earlier in the year, the Cougars lost 55-63 in a shoot-out that came down to the wire.
Simpson Academy had a 7-4 regular season record before catching fire in the latter half of the season extending into the playoffs. A press conference was held Monday morning at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame that included all MAIS teams competing for state championships. The Cougars made themselves available for questions.
First year Head Coach Dan Napier has constantly preached to his team the importance of upholding tradition and playing Simpson football. Napier said, “We have been playing Simpson football, which is a concentration on effort, hitting, and playing physical.” Napier spoke highly of his team, saying they have played well to this point. Napier praised his team and applauded their commitment to practicing and playing the game with effort.
In regards to Lamar, Napier said, “Our opponent is a good football team that we play every year so we are familiar with them. They can run and they can pass well so we have to be ready.” The Cougars are preparing to face a balanced attack on Saturday defensively, and will continue to employ their smash mouth downhill running approach offensively.
Running back and linebacker for the Cougars Cook Weathersby said, “It was a shootout last time. We have to step up on defense tackle and do better. We have to stay focused on the offensive line.” Weathersby rushed for over 100 yards when his team last faced Lamar, but his main concern was on defense. Weathersby said, “They have an awesome quarterback, and they throw it a good bit so we have to do better on our drops.”
Zachary Ainsworth plays cornerback for the Cougars and he said, “This is not going to be a high scoring game. It’s going to be a dog fight.” The defense will be the catalyst for the Cougars success on Saturday. Ainsworth explained that the Cougars will be working on new coverages to help give them an advantage. Offensive tackle Jerrad Bridges explained that the offensive lines job was going to be simple. Bridges said, “We are going to play physical, try to bring it to them and run them over.”
Physicality was a common theme shared by Cougars on both sides of the ball. Running back Dylan Hallman said, “Our offensive line play is going to be a big factor, and we are going to stick to playing a physical brand of football. “
The Cougars last captured the gold ball in 2013 under Coach Winston Mullins. The Cougars will look to add another to their trophy case this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Jackson Academy, when they face the Lamar Raiders.
