While some teams are entering the third week of their region schedules, other teams like Water Valley are just beginning their region slate this week.

It is a new era in Water Valley with the Blue Devils moving up to Region 1-3A after spending many seasons in 2-3A. After a week off due to their scheduled open date, the Blue Devils (3-2) host Mantachie to begin their four-game region slate.

After edging out Calhoun City by one point then taking a tough loss at Winona, the Blue Devils needed the open date to rest, regroup and prepare for a new opponent.

“I was concerned about that in the offseason and summer, how to handle it, and I even thought about with COVID there might be a chance to find a game,” said Water Valley head coach Brad Embry. “But it turned out to be a good thing. We’ve got some bumps and bruises like a lot of teams and it was a chance to kind of heal those, maybe fix some of our issues that we’ve been dealing with as far as just playing to our potential.”

This season marks the first year for the Mustangs (5-1, 1-0 1-3A) back in Class 3A, who moved back up after spending the last two seasons in Class 2A due to realignment. Mantachie got their region schedule started last week, defeating Alcorn Central 48-12 at home.

Friday’s game marks the first time the two teams have met on the football field in nine years. The Blue Devils own a 2-0 record over Mantachie, defeating them in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.