Raiders will clash with familiar foe

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Nov. 20, 2003
There are few things a high school coach generally hates worse than having to play a team it has already beaten soundly once during a season.
Lamar School head coach Mac Barnes doesn't think that will be a problem for his Raiders when they take on Madison-Ridgeland Academy for the MPSA Class AAA Division 2 championship Friday afternoon. Kickoff at Mississippi College's Robinson-Hale Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
Lamar whipped MRA 35-7 at Madison on Sept. 19.
MRA head coach Skip Moore is singing a different tune.
Backing up Moore is MRA senior quarterback Chad Crosswhite, who recently signed a baseball scholarship with Mississippi State.
Lamar has struggled the last two weeks, losing 30-14 to Hillcrest Christian before nipping Lee Academy 8-7 last week.
MRA played for the AAA Division 2 championship a year ago, losing 31-24 to Magnolia Heights.
Barnes agrees having been in that situation last year is an edge for the Patriots.
Not that the Raiders don't have a little inspiration as well.
Moffett recalled Lamar's three-year journey to get to this point.
Both teams and coaches have high regards for their opponent.
MRA senior receiver Phillip Harrison won a Class A state championship as a freshman at Winston Academy in 2000.