Prep Rally

Brad is joined by James for this week's episode.

They look back at a couple of Week 2 football games, including Shannon's tough loss to perennial title contender Louisville (1:28). Saltillo, which has been explosive on offense, took down Lafayette (3:28).

Looking ahead, Tupelo plays its home opener Friday against Houston, a Tennessee school (4:39). The annual Crosstown Classic between Oxford and Lafayette is on the Week 3 schedule (5:34), and New Albany visits Itawamba AHS in what could be a shootout (6:36).

Also on this episode, Tupelo's Andrew Brown dominated in his first cross country race of the season (7:46).

Week 1 of high school football is in the books, and Brad is joined by Brendan to break things down.

Tupelo traveled to Brandon and ended up with a blowout win thanks to tailback Kylan Bobo and the defense (6:18). Pontotoc also won going away, knocking off Amory behind the running of Markavion Jones (10:00).

Looking ahead to Week 2, Tupelo hits the road again to take on Christ Presbyterian in Nashville (11:50). Shannon will host Class 4A power Louisville (14:18), and the West Point-Starkville rivalry is renewed (15:58).

Also on this episode, some volleyball: Tupelo picked up a much-needed win against Regents (2:26), and Oxford was impressive in a sweep of Germantown (4:30).

Be sure to vote for Athletes of the Week (17:24) by voting in our Twitter poll (@djournalsports).

Finally, it's game week. The 2025 high school football season kicks off this week, and so Brad is joined by James to preview some of the big matchups.

Tupelo is traveling to Brandon for a rematch of last year's Class 7A title game (3:57). The big question: What's the status of Tupelo QB Braylen Williams? Saltillo, meanwhile, travels to New Albany (6:41), while Amory visits Pontotoc (9:04).

The guys also talk Mooreville volleyball (2:01). Be sure to visit us on Twitter, @djournalsports, and vote for Athletes of the Week (10:26).

Oh, and big news: Prep Rally has a new sponsor in Vanelli's Bistro. It's located at 206 West Main Street in Tupelo.

Brad and Brendan have all kinds of good volleyball and football updates for you this week.

On the court, East Union flexed its muscle with a dominant win against rival West Union (2:16), while South Pontotoc took care of the Tupelo Titans (3:35).

As for football, the guys have an update on Smithville installing the Air Raid offense (4:41), as well as Amory trying to reload at key positions (6:00). Also, there are several football jamborees this weekend (7:58), and Brad's position rankings wrapped up last week with the area's top five quarterbacks (9:08).

Brad is joined by Brendan this week, and there's plenty of football to talk about.

Tupelo, the reigning Class 7A state champion, returns a load of talent, including defensive back Iverson McCoy (1:46). The Ole Miss commit leads a secondary that is breaking in some new starters. Over in New Albany, QB Braden Shettles is entering his fourth year as a starter (4:47), bringing invaluable production and experience to the table. The guys also take a quick look at Brad's position ranking series (7:04).

On the volleyball court, Walnut continued its hot start with a 3-2 win over Tupelo Christian on Tuesday (7:58). And on the baseball front, the Pontotoc Red Sox had a good run in the American Legion Mid-South Regional (10:16).

The football season is nearly upon us!

Preseason camps start Monday for area teams (4:14), and Brendan joins Brad this week to discuss Tupelo's quest to win a second straight Class 7A state championship (4:56). The offense looks to again be prolific, as J.J. Hill returns to the backfield and is joined by quarterback Braylen Williams.

In other football talk, Brad discusses his position rankings (9:56).

Also in this episode: Pontotoc won the American Legion State Tournament (1:05), and volleyball season begins this weekend (2:30).

After a hiatus of several weeks, Brad Locke is back for a new episode and is joined by James Murphy.

There have been some notable coaching moves this summer, including at Oxford, where Karen Yelverton has been hired as head volleyball coach (1:47). And Saltillo has hired Krista Donald to lead the girls basketball program (3:02).

On the baseball diamond, Tupelo is among the teams opening play in the Senior American Legion State Tournament on Friday in Clinton (4:08).

The 2025 volleyball season starts next week, and the guys have updates on a couple of teams. Ingomar, which has won three straight state titles, is learning about life after Macie Phifer (5:32). Tupelo, meanwhile, is entering Year 2 of the Laura Booth era (7:25).

Also today, Brad pimps his weekly football position rankings, which run each Friday (8:30).

Brad and James are back after a brief hiatus and have plenty to catch up on in this week's episode.

Summer basketball is in full swing, and Brad has an update on the Saltillo boys (1:43), who return nearly everyone from last season. And James talks about Ripley's boys (4:13), who are entering the second year of the Fred Stafford era.

The MHSAA football championships are returning to Starkville, and it will mark the first time Mississippi State has hosted since 2016 (5:45). On the football recruiting front, some area players recently committed to Division I programs (7:15), including Tupelo's JaReylan McCoy.

There have been some big coaching moves, including at Tishomingo County, which girls basketball coach Brian Middleton left for the head coaching job at Northeast Mississippi CC (9:08). His replacement is veteran John Strickland, an Iuka native. And East Union baseball has promoted Zane Treadaway to head baseball coach after Jamie Russell stepped down (10:38).

Brad is joined by James this week, and the guys put a bow on the softball and baseball seasons.

Two area teams won softball titles (1:34) – East Union its third straight, and Itawamba AHS its first ever. In baseball, four area squads brought home a championship. Saltillo staged two late rallies to claim the 6A crown (2:18); Lafayette won in 5A (4:56); West Union captured its first title in 1A (5:41); and East Union picked up another 2A title (6:24).

The guys also check in on the coaching carousel. The big news this week was Brian Middleton leaving Tishomingo County to be head women's basketball coach at Northeast CC (7:05). On the football front, Okolona promoted assistant Colbry Lathan to head coach (9:04). And in softball, longtime South Pontotoc coach Adam Patterson has resigned (9:58).

Brad is joined by James for this week's episode.

The baseball and softball playoffs have seen a lot of drama. Tupelo's baseball team pulled off another seventh-inning rally and earned a sweep of Clinton in the Class 7A quarterfinals (1:25). The Itawamba AHS softball team got a monkey off its back by beating West Lauderdale in three games in the 4A quarterfinals (2:42). Looking ahead at the semifinal round (4:21), Union County – known more for its collective basketball prowess – has six total teams still alive.

Also, Corinth's boys won a state title in track, as did the Tupelo Christian boys and girls (6:10).

The guys take a moment to remember Joel Gafford, the Ripley baseball coach who died unexpectedly on Sunday at the age of 40 (6:38).

Be sure to vote for Athletes of the Week (9:22) by visiting us on Twitter, @djournalsports.