Amory takes on Saltillo at Tupelo High tonight
Aug. 31—Amory will be playing its first "home" game in its temporary digs at Tupelo High tonight when it faces Saltillo.
The Panthers' home field was destroyed during the tornado that ripped through Amory in late March. Amory opened the season with a 17-0 road win over Pontotoc last week. The Panthers previously played at Renasant Field for their jamboree game against Tupelo two weeks ago.
"We're looking forward to it," Amory head coach Brooks Dampeer said. "It's a great surface, great stadium, so we're looking forward to getting there and having plenty of space. ... Our kids enjoyed playing there two weeks ago, so we look forward to being there and calling it home Thursday."
The mayors of Tupelo, Amory and Saltillo will be on hand tonight to take part in the pregame coin toss and other activities. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and Tupelo fans are invited to don Amory gold and black.
But when the focus shifts back to football, the Panthers will be looking for a more complete performance. Despite having a stellar outing on the defensive side of the ball, Amory led just 3-0 entering the fourth quarter against Pontotoc last week.
"You hope your biggest improvement comes from Game 1 to Game 2," Dampeer said. "We didn't do some things that we could control as well as we could have the other night. We knew Pontotoc's defense was really good. Played really solid on defense, we've just got to do the little things right."
The Panthers did have some bright spots offensively. They had nearly 240 yards on the ground, with junior Emmanuel Randle accounting for 121 yards and both of Amory's touchdowns on 18 carries. Amory is looking to do a better job of taking care of the ball on Thursday.
"Game 1 for the first three years, for whatever reason, we turn the ball over a little bit," Dampeer said. "Seems like after that, we kind of, for whatever reason, click and take care of the ball better. Hopefully, that will be this year as well."
