Northeast, Southwest kick off their seasons with rivalry game

Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree already has made the guarantee that his Patriots will make the playoffs this season.

And while Friday’s contest against cross-town rival Northeast doesn’t count toward any playoff seedings, it can still bring a team confidence going toward that goal.

“The first game of the season is always big because you want to get off on the right foot,” Dupree said. “It is so important to gain that confidence. And on top of that, this is huge because it is a county rivalry, and we already know it will be a hostile environment. That’s just the way it is set up. We have to be ready.”

Northeast head coach Bruce Mullen knows what to be ready for when facing Southwest. Athletes run two deep on the Southwest roster, but Mullen wants to see progress regardless of who his team plays.

Last season ended on a bitter note for the Raiders as they had a chance to make the playoffs if they could manage to pull out a win over Monticello in their final game of the regular season. The Raiders led 28-10 in the second quarter but were outscored 44-9 the rest of the way to fall short of a playoff bid.

“It has been a long summer and especially after a loss that way it has been an even longer summer,” Mullen said. “We’re finally here, and the guys are ready to hit somebody else in a regular-season game. We just have to show up ready to play.”

Northeast will have to contend with a two-quarterback system Southwest will roll out, with Jordan Slocum and Ardallis Hollingshed each taking snaps under center, but the Raiders will really have to focus their sights on the other skill position players Southwest has.

Running back Sederan Scott and wide receiver Justin Slocum, who moved from quarterback, are electric and will hope to balance the Southwest offense, while keeping the Northeast defense guessing all night.

“(Southwest) has a lot of very good athletes,” Mullen said. “We’re going to have our hands full trying to slow them down somehow. The big receivers on the outside are going to be tough for our small corners to deal with, but we’re going to have to just play tough. We have to control the football in order to help ourselves.”

Dupree said his team’s progress this summer has been easy to see, but now is the time to see if it pays off with a strong seaso.

“It is crunch time now,” Dupree said. “(Northeast) does a great job, and their coaching staff does a great job, so I know they’ll be ready. Now is the time all the hard work pays off, and we know we’re in for a good game.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Northeast, Southwest kick off their seasons with rivalry game ."