Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Man’s George A. Queen Memorial Field.
It will also be the annual Hall of Fame Game for the Hillbillies.
Man took it on the chin last Friday night in the season opener at county rival and Class AAA Logan as the Billies were blitzed 55-18.
Man was outgained 531-222 in total yards in the game by a much-improved Wildcats’ team.
Logan had 335 yards passing and rushed 25 times for another 196 yards.
Man was held to 165 yards rushing on 40 carries, while Billies’ quarterback Shane Browning was 5-of-16 passing for 57 yards and three interceptions.
Man is taking on a Mount View team which has fallen on hard times in recent years. The Golden Knights, coached by Leon Gravely, were just 1-9 last season.
The Billies have won the last two meetings, including last year’s 56-0 blowout win at Welch. Man had hammered the Golden Knights, 54-6, in the 2008 meeting. Previously, Mount View had beaten Man the last nine meetings dating back to 1999.
Mount View opened the season last week with a 50-18 loss at home to new school Riverview, which is made up of the former Big Creek and Iaeger high schools.
Man coach Harvey Arms said the Billies must regroup this week on both sides of the ball.
“Like all games we thought that there are a lot of things that we need to improve on,” Arms said. “We thought that we did some things decently but we didn’t play well overall. We have to regroup this week and we’re working hard to try to get it right this Friday night.”
Mount View lost four seniors from last year’s team, including the quarterback and three starting offensive linemen.
Sophomore Tashawn Vineyard, junior DeShawn Hedden and senior Rahim Pounds are all vying for the starting quarterback job.
Gravely said his Golden Knights are looking for improvement this fall.
“Last year was kind of a disappointing season,” he said. “We had a lot of inexperience in a lot of skilled positions. Coming into this year we feel we have a lot more talent on the team. We’ve been known at Mount View High School for defense but in the last three years it just hasn’t happened. Our focus through the off-season has been defense. The offense will come.”
Arms said Mount View has some good athletes.
“They are dangerous like a Mount View team always is,” he said. “They have speed and you have to be ready for the big play. Their game with Riverview was comparable to ours. They got a slow start and it kind of snowballed on them. I think that they are a better team than the final score would indicate.”
Senior tailback Derek Lomax led Man last week as he rushed 19 times for 70 yards. Jimmy Duba ran 11 times for 46 yards and a touchdownm while Browning had seven carries for 36 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown run late in the game.
Cody Owens, Man’s MVP in its Super Six game at Wheeling last December, had two catches for 24 yards. Duba had one catch for 18 yards, while Blake Adkins and Ryan Crawford each had one grab for seven yards.
Owens also led Man’s defense last week against Logan as he recorded seven tackles. Duba and Cody Frye had six tackles each. Frye also returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to get the Billies on the board.
Kaleb Spurlock had five tackles, Lomax had four and Jordan Murphy three. Shane Almodovar, Brent Ferrell, Jeremy Tipton and Zack Underwood had two stops each. Adkins, Zack Asbury, Crawford, Coty Crum, Corey Earnest, Josh Parsons and Roy Walker all had one tackle.
Duba had one fumble recovery, while Crawford had an interception.
Crawford punted twice for a 40-yard average.
Arms said his team is injury free heading into Friday’s game.
“We’re OK. No one was banged up enough that they won’t play,” he said.
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