Ripley Hits the Road for Week 1 Test at Mooreville

The Tigers are on the prowl to start the 2025 football season.

Coach Rico McDonald and Ripley are set to take on the Mooreville Troopers to kick of the regular season. The Tigers fell to North Pontotoc in a loss last week that saw the team also lose starting quarterback Skylar Barkley for the season.

Ripley has had success when facing Mooreville, although the two teams do not have a lot of history. The Tigers won 53-20 in their last matchup in 2008 and they are 4-0 all time in the series.

Mooreville was 6-5 a season ago and made it to the 1st round of the playoffs, a loss to Booneville. The Troppers have a new coach in Jacob Massey and they have moved up from 3A to 4A this year. They are also installing a new offense and replacing multiple playmakers from a season ago.

For the Tigers, step 1 will be filling the QB void left by Barkley. The good news is that Ripley has multiple players capable of doing do, including Freshman Kyran McDonald who played well at the QB position against North Pontotoc in jamboree action. Sophmore Trace James is also a candidate to get some snaps under center.

On paper, this looks like a potentially low scoring matchup with Mooreville looking to run and the Tigers being strong against the run.

If Ripley can get a big play or two and hold the Troopers in check they might be able to start the year off in the W column.