Money05

Biggersville graduated 13 seniors according to MaxPreps. QB, top 4 leading rushers, top 3 leading receivers, and top 6 leading tacklers. Them and Calhoun City I feel like will be in a definite rebuilding phase this year. That is why I put Leflore County at 2 in the state and above other north teams with them returning most of their offensive and defensive production from last season. I personally think the north is definitely wide open, with Simmons being the clear preseason favorite in the south although teams like Stringer, Nanih Waiya, and maybe even Taylorsville if they get hot again could give them a run for their money.

If they can get over the hump and beat Taylorsville, I think they could make a deep run as well. This should be the 2nd year in a row that Stringer is favored “on paper”, but the last two matchups they have played against them have been disappointing to say the least. It will be interesting to see if the outcome changes with Taylorsville having to hit the road.

Gordon will be the guy. After him, the returning guys that will take reps in the backfield had a combined 16 carries last season. Lots of inexperience for sure, but luckily they will have a veteran offensive line to build a foundation around as the season goes along.

As the season approaches, let’s talk about who we should watch out for in 1A football. Last season, Calhoun City claimed the 1A crown over Simmons 14-8 in a nail biter. Fast forward to this upcoming season, and Calhoun City will be fielding many new faces. Many successful teams from last season were hit hard with graduation such as Taylorsville and Biggersville. The classification looks wide open as far as who could become the new champion. Here are my preseason top 5 teams in 1A going into 2026: 1. Simmons 2. Leflore County 3. Nanih Waiya 4. Stringer 5. Calhoun City Honorable Mentions: Taylorsville Biggersville Bogue Chitto Three Games to Watch 1. Taylorsville @ Stringer (10/2) 2. Simmons @ Leflore County (9/4) 3. Noxapater @ Nanih Waiya (10/8) The top four on this list are teams that return the most statistical production on both sides of the ball. Had to stick Calhoun City at five with them being last year’s champion. Note: This list is merely my opinion, and could be proven wrong head to head.

Both Runnelstown and Beaumont are now K-5 elementary schools that feed into Perry Central. Beaumont is now called South Perry I believe.

Heidelberg Academy. 6 Football Championships and around 5 baseball as well. Closed in 2016 due to low enrollment and financial hardship.

I am thinking similar to the same for worst season ever. I don’t know if they will quite top 1989, where they went 2-8, but it could be similar to that year. I think, like last year, they get obliterated throughout non-district, but at worst I think they should go 2-2 in district. Possibly even win it depending on how well they develop throughout the summer with a young team.

Quarterback, 2 backs with 2k+ combined yards, top 3 recievers, 4 offensive linemen, and 2 guys with over 100 tackles by looking at stats on maxpreps. Looks like they lost 5-6 on defense and only 2 or 3 on offense. Them and Nanih Waiya should decide that district again.

I think Tville will still be fine when they get to 1A play. Should be between them and Stringer for district again. Lumberton will have some athletes but they are losing 10-12 seniors including most of their o-line which was their strength. Richton had a decent year and returns some players on both sides, but I don’t think they will be much of a threat along with Resurrection. As long as Agee doesn’t schedule super tough non-district I think a 6-8 win season is realistic.

In 1A south, Simmons should be the definite favorite to start the season. I think they lost 7 seniors, but most of their playmakers on both sides of the ball are returning. Only real loss that comes to mind is their QB who also played in the secondary. Stringer does have a good group coming back and should be in the mix for the south along with Nanih Waiya who similar to Stringer lost a good group but still has some playmakers returning. Taylorsville is losing a whole lot to graduation and will be young in several areas, but I feel like they will still find a way to be competitive in 1A at least. Not really sure about 1A north, but after doing some research Leflore County is a team that draws my interest. They return 60-70% of their offensive and defensive production after going 9-4 this season and losing in the 3rd round to Calhoun City. Calhoun City (similar to Taylorsville) is graduating a good group of seniors, but I am sure they will find a way to reload and still be in the running for North State. Biggersville lost a good bit of seniors as well from what i’m seeing, but they should still be a contender. Overall, I say 1A should lean more towards the south this year, with Simmons being the early overall favorite.

Unfortunately you are probably right. They will be just as tough in 2026 as well. I think they will revert back to normal Heidelberg after next season though. Karma will catch up to them eventually. I just don’t think it will be on the field with all the talent they have anytime soon.

Raleigh 14-7 over Seminary. Halftime

I am in agreeance on that. Simmons is pretty good defensively as well though. Definitely gonna be the best defensive team Taylorsville has played since early in the season. It should be a low scoring game. I think Taylorsville is 1-2 TD’s better, but it’s hard to win up there in the Delta. If anyone can beat Simmons on their field though it’s Taylorsville. They did it two years ago, and I think they have a good shot to do it again.

Taylorsville at Simmons should be a very good game

Laurel kicks game winning FG as time expires to beat Stone 24-21 and advance to the 5A South State championship

Simmons 20 Nanih Waiya 8 Final. Taylorsville vs Simmons for 1A South State Championship.

14-3 Mize over East Marion at half

14-0 Simmons over Nanih Waiya HT

Not really. Just another issue to add to the pile I guess.

MAIS handbook says more than 50 males grades 8-11 disqualifies a team from playing in an 8 man championship. I just don’t really agree with schools that have the numbers to play 11 man playing 8 man. Yes they won a championship, but you played teams with half the numbers and resources you have. There’s probably several 11 man teams that have smaller numbers than them. Seems like a flawed system to me personally.

As long as Mize focuses on beating East Marion and not themselves, they should win this game and be in South State vs Heidelberg. I think when they put it all together they are a top 3 team in 2A.

I know this is not related to scores and updates, but how do you feel about River Oaks having 35-40 players and 6 coaches playing 8 man football? Even played an 11 man game against Canton Academy and won 41-11. Humphreys only has between 20-25 according to Maxpreps (which is not really reliable), but I would say it could even be possibly less than 20. Should the MAIS be regulating this better?

Do you think there’s a chance Biggersville can compete? Calhoun City looks to be on a whole different level than everyone else in 1A right now. Me personally I think Biggersville may have a better chance of giving them a close game than anyone in the south.

Don’t know how accurate this website is but it says Carter made 70k in 2024. https://govsalaries.com/carter-darryl-202140080

That’s true. Not taking away from Simmons because they are a really good team. I think they have a good chance at a South State championship repeat. I’m just curious to see how they perform going on the road 2 and a half hours to Nanih Waiya. They came out of Lumberton victorious last season after a long road trip. Can they do it again? Should be interesting