FIGHTING COLONEL’S FOOTBALL HITS THE ROAD

There’s a lot going on at the Missouri Military Academy right now. Not only did the school just suffer the loss of former Chairman of the Board and President Charles R. Stribling III, but Homecoming is just around the corner on Sept. 29. The Fighting Colonel’s also have varsity road football games coming up on Sept. 22 at Harrisburg before traveling to Maur Hills in Kansas a week later, meaning the squad will be out of town for the upcoming alumni golf tournament and lunch social, as well as the alumni barbecue. ?I think we’ve underperformed. We didn’t expect to be 0-5 at this point,” said coach Mitchell Jenkins. “Our opponents have played very well. We are improving every week, and our best football is ahead of us.” Despite what’s happening on-campus, MMA at least has the good fortune this Friday to face a team that’s 1-4 overall. This includes losing the season opener at home to Paris 38-7 on Aug. 18, the next week on Aug. 25 the squad was beat at Schuyler County 24-20 and, most recently, on Sept. 15 the Bulldogs were defeated at Knox County 32-18. While the team did win 34-12 at home over Salisbury on Sept. 1, it also was downed at Westran 57-15 on Sept. 8 according to maxpreps.com. ?(Harrisburg) fly’s to the ball well on defense,” Jenkins said. “Their wide receivers and running backs are good runners and explosive. One reason the Colonel’s have been getting better since week one is the play of new quarterback Pedro De Rosa, who took over for Francisco Fletes after a summer-long competition for the spot with Lucas Killion. The squad also has five different running backs it feels it can rely on, each of which brings something different to the field. ?Matt Thibedoux has really stepped up as a leader,” said Jenkins. “It’s not shown on the stat sheet, but he’s always our lead blocker and is helping an inexperienced quarterback with his adjustments.” If there were two things Jenkins could change about this squad he’d like to pass more and tackle better. Even though the offensive attack is predicated on the talent on-hand and every coach in the country is looking for better tackling on the prep level, the one part of that scenario he can control is the defensive one. That means the squad needs contributions on that side of the ball from its upperclassmen when it comes to teaching the underclassmen, and that’s true from the first spot on the roster to the last. “Copeland Gramman is having a solid senior year,” Jenkins said. “He’s playing every play like it’s his last, because it could be. Nothing is promised at the next level.”

FIGHTING COLONEL’S FOOTBALL HITS THE ROAD

Photo Credit: Missouri Military Academy

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