The James McFarland era kicks off officially tonight as Ferriday High visits Peabody in the season opener for both teams.

McFarland, a longtime assistant coach at Ferriday, replaces Cordell Bailey, who left Ferriday to accept an assistant coaching job at the the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

&uot;I’ve kind of got mixed feelings,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;There’s not really a lot of time to think about it when you are preparing.&uot;

Peabody is a Class 4A team, while Ferriday moved down to Class 2A this year.

&uot;Peabody is big and they have some speed,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;They don’t throw the ball, they just run it out of the wishbone. They have one big running back and the other is a little smaller. They have a lot of seniors on the team.&uot;

Ferriday won both games it played in the Vidalia Jamboree last Saturday.

&uot;We looked pretty good in spots,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;Against Sicily Island we started out well and then got a little sloppy. We were consistent on offense in both games, but our defense didn’t do a good job against the option when we played Vidalia. We have to do a better job against Peabody.&uot;

McFarland said staying focused and proper execution is the key.

&uot;I think we’ll be all right,&uot; he said. &uot;We need to play well and if we do that, we’ll come out of the game OK.&uot;

&160;