By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN —
What makes a rivalry?
According to Northeast Lauderdale coach Steve Nelson, being just on the other side of Meridian from Southeast Lauderdale makes the two schools natural rivals, as does the series between the Trojans and Tigers that dates back to 1962.
Boo Smith, his counterpart at Southeast, though, has a much different look at the "rivalry" which is renewed Friday at Northeast.
"Everybody says this is our rival, but I keep telling everybody that's not our rival," Smith said. "A rival is when two teams play and you don't know who is going to win. You beat someone 10 years in a row, that's just a buttwhipping.
"It ain't a rival until we beat them one time. After we beat them one time, then I'll come them a rival."
Ah yes! The streak. Starting in 2000, Northeast has rattled off 10 straight wins against their cross-county "rival", including last year's 27-13 win on the road.
For his part, though, Nelson doesn't buy what Smith is preaching. Rather, he insists for all of Northeast's recent success, it hasn't come easy. Even if the scores have been mostly lopsided.
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"We know Southeast is going to be gunning for us because of the streak. We've beaten them 10 times in a row right now and, hopefully, after Friday it'll become 11. But it will take our best effort of the year to get that done."
That said, Nelson admits to using the streak as a way of keeping the Trojans focused heading into Friday's night tilt.
"I'm preaching to our seniors that you don't want to be the first group to lose to them in your four years of playing," Nelson added. "You use every psychological edge that you can during games like this.
"It is a rivalry game. The schools aren't very far apart. Yeah, we've had some success against them, but every year we've had to play pretty well to get that 'W' against them. We've been fortunate to win the eight previous meetings since I've been here but it's not like they just lay down and say 'Here you go Northeast, you can score this touchdown.' We've had to earn it and I hope the kids realize how hard Southeast will play against them."
That isn't the only motivational ploy at Nelson's disposal, though. Northeast enters the game 2-0 and that perfect mark is another talking point for the Trojans this week. It also means another mark is within reach, one that Nelson is eager to grasp: 3-0.
"There's not going to be too many teams in the state that are going to be 3-0 after Friday night," he said. "That's what I'm preaching to them. I'll have to recollect, but I don't think me as a coach, in my 11 years, this is my 12th as a head coach, that I've ever been 3-0 either, from a personal side. That's what I'm preaching to our kids that you can't win them all unless you win the first three. We've won the first two so now we're onto the third one.
"We've played OK but I don't think we've played to our potential, either. We've left points on the board in both (games) and this coming Friday night, when we get an opportunity to score, we better score just to try and keep their offense off the field. Our best defense may be a good solid offense."
For the Trojans to get there, though, they first must deal with a Southeast team that is at full-strength, or close to it, for the first time this year. And that could be bad news for the Trojans considering the talent the Tigers possess.
"We've only got one person that won't play and he's out with injury, but has been out the whole year," Smith said about Shelby Moseley and Nathan Freeze being slowed by injury in Southeast's opener and the suspensions of three players last week against Newton County. "Other than that, we'll be at full strength.
"That should be a plus for us."
Added Nelson: "We know they are as athletic as athletic can be and, hopefully, we'll be in the right position and not run ourselves out of proper lines on defense, especially.
"(Ladarious) Clark is an exceptional athlete and I feel like they will get the ball in his hands at some point. But at the same time you go to worrying about Clark, they have Freeze, who is a 6-5 receiver and presents a problem when you're at 5-6 to 5-10 at your DBs. They've got a lot of weapons."
Despite those limitations, Southeast just barely missed entering the week 2-0 as well. Following a 33-10 rout of Scott Central in the opener, the Tigers led Newton County most of the way last week before a late score allowed the Cougars to escape with a 7-6 win.
That close call has given the Tigers some confidence heading into their second straight game against a Class 4A foe.
"To just be in the game, and really to have controlled the game, we feel good about ourselves," Smith said. "We proved we can play with anybody."
Still, that confidence won't mean much if the Tigers can't break the streak.
"That's our focus this week," Smith added about ending the dreaded streak. "That would be big for our program."
