Yazoo City’s Indians took a tough 34-14 loss to Lanier High School on Friday night to kick off the 2019 football season.
The Bulldogs ran the ball 46 times for 366 yards and five touchdowns.
According to Yazoo City head coach Rodney Adams, the constant barrage of Lanier’s rushing attack proved to be a lot for a young defense.
“The only threw the ball twice,” Adams said. “I don’t know if we were nervous but there were a lot of mistakes. We had some good stands, but we have some young guys. We gave away some first downs with penalties. I guess we got tired because we were on the field the whole time.”
It began in the first quarter, where Lanier ran in a score to take a 6-0 lead.
In the second inning, Lanier added to their lead with a pair of rushing touchdowns, extending their lead to 21-0 at the half.
The Indians made adjustments at the half and came back more prepared to take on such a physical foe.
One of the biggest decisions Adams made was to do whatever it took to stop the running attack.
But even then, it was difficult, especially with a line that didn’t have the best offseason in terms of commitment.
“After halftime, we made the adjustments that had to be made,” Adams said. “We sold out a little bit. Our offensive linemen weren’t blocking like they should have. We had to replace a lineman during the game, which was hard. We made some adjustments this week, so we should do a lot better next week. They really beat us inside with dives. Our defensive ends had never played before, so they weren’t used to containment.”
A pair of touchdowns were traded in the third quarter, and the only difference was a 2-point conversion in favor of Lanier, extending their lead to 28-6.
In the final quarter of play, another pair of touchdowns were traded, this time the 2-point conversion favoring Yazoo City.
Yazoo City had finally gained the upper hand and made some traction against their foe from Jackson, but it was too little, too late.
Lanier took the game 34-14.
The Indians of Yazoo City will try to get to .500 on Friday night when perennial powerhouse South Panola comes to town.
The University of South Panola is 1-0 on the season after defeating Tupelo 21-15 in the season-opener.
Adams isn’t naïve. He knows what it means to have a team like South Panola, the epitome of Mississippi high school football for the last two decades, come to Yazoo City.
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see his team fight.
“I just want to see our guys compete,” Adams said. “I want to see how they handle adversity. Normally, we don’t play the tougher teams until district. We wanted to get some strong competition early on the schedule to get them used to it. We wanted to play a championship-caliber team. If we get dominated on the line, we need to get back in the weight room. We need to see where we are lacking. I want a good hard effort and for them not to give up. I know our percentages of winning are very low, but I want to see them compete and see what can happen.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
