Game of the Week: Laurel at Petal

PETAL, Miss. (WDAM) -Both Laurel and Petal look to get back on track Friday after suffering their first loss of the season.

“We definitely want to put it behind us but you know anytime the scoreboard is on, we want to win,” Petal head coach Allen Glenn said.

“Whether that’s in dominos, checkers, whatever it is, we want to win a football game. I wanted our guys to be disappointed. They should be disappointed. Hopefully, remember the taste that they got from that defeat on Friday and remember what that taste like because it doesn’t taste very good.”

But there’s a fine line between using the loss as motivation and dwelling on it.

“You want to win them all but when you don’t play well enough to win, that’s what happens,” Laurel head coach Ryan Earnest said.

“One of the things I told the team last week was we can’t allow Mendenhall to beat us twice. That game is over with. There’s nothing we can do about it. We got to focus all our attention on Petal because they’re every bit as talented, every bit as explosive so we’re going to have to play a lot better than we did last week.”

A win won’t come easy for either team with a battle brewing at the line of scrimmage.

“I feel like it’s going to be a great game. Their D-line is pretty good. They come off the ball well. We’re gonna have to come off the ball well too,” Laurel offensive lineman Malik Ellis said.

”This is probably one of the most physical games of the year because like I said earlier they got a great offensive line, we got a great defensive line so it’s really going to be played in the trenches,” Petal defensive lineman Mason Clinton said.

Petal’s defensive line brings size and speed but the Tornadoes’ offensive line is equipped with two D-1 players.

“They’ve got really good players at the skill positions and their offensive line [has] very good players so that’s kind of a recipe for success for them,” Glenn said. “From the defensive side, we feel like our defensive line is a strength for us so definitely think the line of scrimmage is something that will be very important Friday night.”

“I think it’s going to be a battle of wills. For people who like the old school grown man football, I think they’ll enjoy this game because it’s going to be a team with a really good offensive line versus a team with a really good defensive line and it’ll really come down to which one of those units plays the best,” Earnest said.

“A lot of respect on both sides. I really do think whoever wins the battle of the trenches is gonna win the ball game.”

Kickoff is Friday for 7:30 pm at Petal.

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