Can you believe that it’s time for high school football?
I, for one, cannot wait – even though I also know for a fact that I will be one of the loudest whiners at our opening jamboree of games on Friday, August 23 – if the weather is as hot as it usually is.
Just go ahead and forgive me now, because I really do love high school football. I just wish it felt more like football weather here in the upper corner of Mississippi. Actually, I detest this weather almost as much as I enjoy watching my hometown boys play football.
Of course, I am not alone in this love-hate relationship. There are plenty of people who share my love of the local gird iron games – and my dread of the first few hot, humid Friday nights of football season here in Mississippi. (And I know, game-time temperatures will go from frying to freezing before it’s all over.)
So ready or not, football season is here.
According to the Mississippi High School Football History website (ahsfhs.org/mississippi/), Mississippians have been ready for football for almost 120 years. In fact, the first high school game in this state took place on December 5, 1905, between Yazoo City and Winona. For the record, that was a Tuesday, and it was probably not a hot Tuesday either. It definitely was not a night game because the first Mississippi high school field to have lights (as far as I can determine) was R.H. Watkins Stadium in Laurel, Mississippi, way back in 1930.
As more and more high schools built similar facilities, Friday evening games became a rite of passage for most high school football players – and their adoring, raucous fans. And over the years, a few Mississippi high school teams became icons of those Friday Night Lights.
Up here in the northern half of Mississippi, one of those iconic squads, Weir Attendance Center, no longer exists. (Technically, they still exist in the form of Choctaw County High School, after consolidating with Ackerman High School in 2013.)
But go ahead and do yourself a favor by researching some of the football history of the Weir Lions; It’s a Mississippi story that needs to be remembered. Start with the articles and blogs housed online at the Mississippi sports Hall of Fame and Museum, including this especially poignant article entitled “Weir Lions are no more, but they were kings”: msfame.com/2777/
Now, you might wonder how an old lady like me knows anything about Weir’s football kingdom. Well, that’s easy! Those Weir boys were not beloved in my hometown of Vardaman. Yep, the red and white Lions were often a proverbial thorn in the side of my mighty Vardaman Rams. If the truth be told, Weir was a potential thorn in the side for lots of teams over the years.
As six-time 1A State Champions and close to 20 District Championships, the Weir Lions built a smalltown dynasty that was hard to match, and Coach Joe Lynn Gant was responsible for five of those state titles (1985, ’86, ’94, ’96 and ’97).
With an overall high school record of 495 wins, 195 losses, and 8 ties, the Weir Lions carved out a big piece of Mississippi high school football history. A history that deserves to be honored – even by their old foes.
Accordingly, this Friday night, when I head out to watch my beloved Urchins of East Union Attendance Center start their 2024 season over in Smithville, I will remember those mighty Lions and all the other Mississippi high school teams of the past (from as far back as 1905) that have forged a lasting love of the gird iron here in our state.
So … hot or cold, rain or shine … it’s time for those Friday Night Lights to shine here in Mississippi!
