Wildcats aiming for Jackson trip in December

The Kemper County football Wildcats are looking to take a trip to Jackson in December if everything works out right.

The Class 2A state championship game will be held at Memorial Stadium in Jackson on the weekend of December 3-4, and that’s what coach Ray Westerfield’s lads are aiming for.

“If we do a good job controlling things that we control, we can potentially get to Jackson,” said Westerfield, who is now the head football coach and athletic director for the Kemper County schools. “But, we need to get a lot better before we get to that point.”

The Wildcats had a busy summer of weight lifting and conditioning. They played several 7-on-7 games, and in fact won a tournament at Jackson Academy.

“There were like 40 schools there,” Westerfield said. “We have been at it all summer. We have been working with between 40 and 60 guys.”

Westerfield is in his second season as head coach. The Wildcats went 8-3 last year and made it to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs where they lost out to West Marion.

Fall practice drills start Monday. The Wildcats will play a scrimmage game against Shannon at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, August 21 in Louisville. Shannon is coached by former Wildcat coach Darrell Carter.

The Wildcats will play their home games at East Mississippi Community College. They open the season at home against Leake Central. They then visit Louisville on August 27, and then come home to host Quitman and Forest in back-to-back weekends. They close out their non-region schedule at longtime rival Southeast Lauderdale. They also play non-region foe Noxubee County on October 8.

“We are playing some championship caliber teams on our non-region schedule,” Westerfield said. “There is a lot of good football played in our area. If you want to be considered among the greats, you have to the great. We will be better because we are competing against these teams.”

The Wildcats will be play in the Region 5-3A along with Philadelphia, Lake, Newton High School and Nanih Waiya.

“It is going to be competitive,” Westerfield said. “There is a championship mentality there. Lake and Newton will have good teams and Philadelphia has a tradition like none other. There is never a down year in Philadelphia.”