Clarksdale High School is on the road for the second round of the postseason when it travels to Louisville at 7 p.m. Friday.
For the Clarksdale Wildcats (7-4, 3-1), they are coming off of a 21-16 home in in the first round of the playoffs against Itawamba Agricultural High School.
Senior defensive back Aikee Matthews had one interception and one fumble recovery in the win, while senior quarterback Cameron Matthews ran for all three touchdowns.
Senior safety Demetric Strong also had an interception.
The Clarksdale Wildcats were the No. 2 team in Region 3-4A with their only district loss coming at Greenwood.
The Louisville Wildcats have just one loss on the season and are coming off of a 41-0 home win in the first round of the playoffs against Byhalia.
It was the Clarksdale Wildcats first postseason win since joining Class 4A under head coach Henry Johnson.
However, Clarksdale has been a playoff team for all six years and advanced to the semifinals in Class 5A twice during Johnson’s tenure.
To win at Louisville on Friday night, the Clarksdale Wildcats have their work cut out for them.
Johnson said Louisville has a strong defense and runs the ball well, which is similar to Clarksdale’s strength. He said the team that executes better should be able to win.
“We’ve got to come on with it,” Johnson said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state and we have to go on the road.”
While Johnson was pleased with the win against Itawamba, he said Clarksdale must play even better at Louisville.
“We’ve got to be better tacklers,” he said. “We’ve got to move the ball on offense better. We’ve got to get better.”
The Indians blocked two of sophomore punter Josh Hollins’ kicks last week.
Johnson does not feel his team will be able to get away with that at Louisville.
“We’ve definitely got to correct our punt team,” Johnson said after the win last week. “Our punt team was awful tonight. They brought everything up the middle. They were going to block it.”
