Jonesboro-Hodge High School makes their longest regular season road trip of the year this Friday to take on Delhi Charter beginning at 7:00 pm. For Tiger head coach Terrance Blankenship, while the trip will be somewhat of a lengthy one, it will be welcome.
“We are looking forward to this contest as it marks the first one this year that we will be playing a school that is similar to us in numbers,” said Blankenship.
JHHS has opened the season with games against Division III, Winnfield, and Division II, West Ouachita, who had two and three times the number of players on the roster respectively more than the Tigers.
This week’s contest pits against each other two schools who have lived “on the bubble” when it comes to the cutline of classification numbers the past couple of years. This year both have changed classes with JHHS moving down to Class A and Delhi Charter moving up to Class 2A.
While the numbers on the team are similar, the fortunes to date for both teams stand in stark opposite directions. JHHS enters the contest at 0-2, having lost to Winnfield 27-0 and West Ouachita 47-0 while Delhi Charter brings a 2-0 record into the contest with a 40-0 victory over Cedar Creek and a 44-0 beatdown of Lakeview to their credit.
Regardless of not yet having scored this season and playing against a team that hasn’t give up a point to date, Coach “Blank”, is optimistic about the Tigers chances despite what looks like “on paper” as being at a distinct disadvantage,
“We have played two very good teams this year, including one (West Ouachita) who has probably the best team in their school history,” reflected Blankenship. “When you play against that level of competition it makes you better and I expect our guys to be prepared for what we will face this Friday.”
The contest marks the third time in JHHS history that the two school will have played and the first contest since 2010. The all-time record stands at 1-1 with JHHS winning 19-8 in 2009 and Delhi Charter taking a 33-7 decision in 2010.
HOW TO GET THERE
According to Google Maps, the drive to Delhi Charter should take approximately 1 hour and 26 minutes. The school is located at 6940 LA-17 in Delhi and accessed by taking I-20 East to Delhi, going south on LA 17 and turning on to Barfield Road.