MERIDIAN —     It’s hard to tell by the scores, but Kemper Academy hasn’t been flawless this season.

    The Rams may need that perfect performance when Calhoun Academy visits “The Hill” tonight in an early season showdown for MAIS 8-Man District 1 supremacy.

    “It’s going to be a lot bigger challenge than we’ve had so far,” Kemper coach Pete McCleskey said. “We’re going to have to step our game up to play with them. Our kids are looking forward to it and think they can handle it. So we’ll see.

    “We’re still a little rusty and a little rough on offense. We make a few mental mistakes and we don’t get our blocks occasionally or hit the holes. But all in all, we’re playing hard and they do what I ask them to do, and I know those mistakes will sooner or later correct themselves, it’s just playing through those things.”

    Despite those miscues in the early going, Kemper enters today’s battle 3-0 after outscoring Veritas, Calvary Christian and North Sunflower 136-30. Last week’s 54-14 romp against the Rebels made the Rams 1-0 in the division, half a game behind Calhoun.

    The Cougars, who are also 3-0 and have simply blown opponents away by a cumulative 114-18 score, are 2-0 in division play including last week’s 48-6 demolition of Marvell (Ark.) Academy.

    “It’s a big ballgame for us and it’s a big ballgame for Calhoun,” McCleskey said. “We’re all fighting for chance to make the playoffs.

    “I don’t know how challenged they’ve been, but of course, they probably don’t know how challenged we’ve been either.”

    One thing McCleskey does know is that Calhoun is talented and that both teams are likely to be tested tonight.

    “I know they are a pretty good football team and have pretty much everybody back from last year,” he added.

    That talent begins in the backfield with senior running backs Danny Joe Norman and Kyle Carter. Norman rushed for more than 1,500 yards last season and has provided big runs for the Cougars again this season. However, it was Carter that stole the show against Marvell a week ago. While Norman scored on a 50-yard run early, Carter churned out more than 260 yards rushing and five touchdowns in the blowout.

    While those players return to an experienced Calhoun lineup, Kemper’s fast start has been constructed behind a host of new faces as the Rams have relied on youth. Still, their progress is something McCleskey has been proud of.

    “We’ve got some young kids that have stepped up and played well this season,” he said.

    Nowhere has that been more evident than at quarterback where Dustin Davis has stepped in for state champion quarterback Clint Quinn and the Rams have rolled right along offensively. Two weeks ago, Davis threw for 171 yards on 8 of 10passing against Calvary. In all, Davis has tossed five touchdown passes already.

    “We’ve tried to not put a lot of pressure on him to make big-play throws,” McCleskey said. “But when we’ve asked him to help get us out of a bind, he’s stepped up and made some big throws.”

    And along with Davis’ maturation, the Rams have also benefitted from the return of Austin McAdory to the lineup. McAdory, who started on the 2010 state champion Rams before transferring to Noxapater and helped the Tigers win a MHSAA Class A crown, is back and has shaken off a handful of injuries to provide a defensive enforcer for KA.

    “He’s been hurt most of the way, he’s got a broken elbow and a cracked radius and a dadgum pulled muscle but he’s played in all three ballgames and won’t let them cast his arm,” McCleskey said. “He’s been a big leader for us on defense.

    “He’s a headhunter on defense. He will hunt you up and put a lick on you.”

    And with those young playmakers on offense and McAdory leading the way defensively, KA is hopeful to turn around last year’s 36-14 setback. That was the Cougars’ first win in four tries against Kemper in 8-man and snapped a 12-game Rams winning streak in the series. Calhoun’s last win previously was a 22-14 win in 1985.

    “We just didn’t do a good job against them last year and most of that was my fault, I didn’t have them prepared,” McCleskey said. “Plus, we had a lot of turnovers.

    “Not making excuses, but I’m anxious to see what we can do if we don’t put the ball on the ground so much.”