Tornadoes facing Noxubee County on the gridiron

The Philadelphia Tornadoes will open their 2021 football season on the road Friday when they visit Noxubee County in Macon.

The Tigers will be a tough opponent for the Tornadoes, having played in the Class 3A state football finals last year. They finished the season with a 10-2 record. In their last meeting, Noxubee defeated Philadelphia 33-13. The Tornadoes finished last year with a 4-5 record.

“They played Starkville in the jamboree last week,” head coach David Frey said. “Their defense is very good. They are young on offense and we have to slow them down. We are going to have to score some points.”

The Tornadoes warmed up for the Tigers last week by taking two wins on the Noxapater jamboree. The Tornadoes defeated J.Z. George 21-0 and Noxapater 26-0.

“We got better with our route running,” Coach Frey said. “In practice, our routes haven’t been spaced out enough. We were all on top of each other. In the jamboree, our kids saw what they needed to do. It helped. Our running game was pretty good. That’s something we needed to work on. It’s different going against another team than your second-team defense. We got a lot out of that.

“J.Z. George gave our defense some challenges. We had to think about things and adjust.”

Frey said the Tornadoes will be a running team this year but added they can throw the ball.

“We are going to try to run the ball,” Frey said. “That’s the first thing I want to do. We are going to run a two-tight end set.”