Home sweet home.

After spending its last four contests on the road, the Natchez High School football team is back at home today for an MHSAA showdown against Region 3-5A rival Laurel High School.

“We’re excited to get off the road,” Natchez coach Roy Rigsby said. “Our guys feed off our supporters and the Natchez community, the players’ parents and supporters. Our assistants have done a great job coaching, and the players are thankful to be back at home.”

The road has been unkind to the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-1) since their last home game, a 26-14 win over Wilkinson County High School on Aug. 19.

Although Natchez has scuffled on the road, Rigsby said his squad’s record is not indicative of how well they’ve played. “We’re growing as a team,” Rigsby said. “It’s a new system, so it takes time to get everything down, and we’re just progressing. We’ve let some opportunities slip by, but we’re progressing.”

Laurel (4-1, 1-0) enters tonight matchup winners of three straight, including a pair of marquee wins over
MHSAA 6A foes Oak Grove and Petal high schools.

“They’re a fast, aggressive team,” Rigsby said. “They’re a great football team with a good quarterback and a lot of athletes.”

The Tornadoes offense is led by quarterback and Ole Miss commit Tyquan Ulmer.

The rangy 6-foot-1, 180-pound athlete has thrown for 1,030 yards with 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Ulmer has 16 total scores for the year.

Rigsby said the key to tonight’s tilt is to limit Laurel’s big play capability.

“We have to protect against the deep ball and contain the quarterback,” he said.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.