Published: November 04, 2009 11:55 pm      

Wildcats striving for improvements before postseason

With a playoff spot locked up and the Class 6A postseason a week away, Meridian will be looking to continue building some momentum heading into the second season.

After winning their past three games, the Wildcats (9-1, 5-1 in Region 3-6A) host Terry in rare Thursday night game at Ray Stadium with that focus on improvement.

"Hopefully, we'll play at a very high level and I think that's important because I think you need to going into the playoffs," MHS coach Larry Weems said. "I don't think you can just all of a sudden get a team playing good when you haven't been doing that. You build up to that. So I think we'll need to do that.

"I hope we just try and be the best team we can be, on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game, and that we'll do the things we've been taught and have been working on. If we'll do that, we'll be a pretty good team and a difficult team to beat."

The Wildcats got better last week with the return of injured quarterback Antoinne Adkins, even if for only a pair of early series. The junior, who injured his non-throwing hand against Oak Grove, was able to work on his ball handling in wet conditions, something Weems was concerned about.

"He still runs fast," he added. "It was just good to see him back out there.

"He handled the ball and didn't have any problems with it. You wonder how well he'll grip it — and it was a wet night, too — but he looked like he did a good job with it. It just allows us to do some more things with our offense and, hopefully, he'll be able to get some more snaps this week and we'll be in some kind of condition to start the playoffs."

In addition to Adkins' return, Meridian got another strong defensive showing. A week after blanking Wingfield and holding the Falcons to negative rushing yardage, the Wildcats pitched a shutout against Jim Hill with the help of five lost Tiger fumbles. Jim Hill fumbled 11 times overall.

That defense, which has allowed an average of 8 points per game, will gete a tougher challenge this week in the 5-5 Bulldogs, who are 3-3 in the region. Terry is led by dual-threat quarterback Deshun Dixon.

"They've got some good athletes and the Dixon kid is the quarterback and he gets the ball in his hands every snap and makes things happen," Weems said. "They have played the better teams in our region really, really well.

"We just have to be alert. Heck, this is the 11th ballgame, I hope there's not many things that somebody can do that we haven't seen."

Terry also brings a stout defense, fresh off its own shutout win — 13-0 against Hattiesburg. That performance against a powerful offense like the Tigers caught Weems' attention.

"Anytime you can do that, and I know Hattiesburg turned the ball over a lot, but it's still a situation where anytime you can get through a game and the other team doesn't have any points, you did a great job," he said.



PLAYING ON THURSDAY

While the schedule change caused some shuffling on entering the game plan, Weems said the move should be a huge win for area football fans. In addition to Meridian playing on Thursday, the majority of the area will be entering the postseason on Friday.

"We've got good football in our area and we're the only 6A school around and not many 5A, and everybody else is starting the playoffs," he said. "We got lucky this week with really good weather and people that really enjoy football will be able to have the opportunity to come watch us play and watch their team in the playoffs on Friday.

"I think it's a win for everybody."