RIPLEY, Miss. — Homecoming week at Tiger Stadium is supposed to feel like a celebration. This year it also feels like a reset.
Ripley hosts Booneville on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in a non-district rivalry that stretches back decades. The Tigers are 1-3 and coming off a 34-0 home shutout. The Blue Devils are 3-0 and just dropped 62 points on Biggersville. The series belongs to Ripley all-time, 37-29-2, including a 21-3 win in Booneville last September. Friday will not look like last September unless Ripley finds the version of itself that showed up in Week 1.
Results: W 34-23 Mooreville; L 8-50 Grenada; L 7-42 at Lewisburg; L 0-34 East Webster Against Mooreville, Ripley ran for 317 yards and scored five touchdowns. Against Grenada the ground game collapsed to 31 rushing yards. The last three games have produced 15 total points. MaxPreps has the Tigers around No. 196 in Mississippi. Region 3 opens Oct. 2 against Clarksdale.
Booneville Blue Devils (3A, Region 1) — 4-0
Coach: Scott Brown
Known results: W 33-21 North Pontotoc; W 44-12 Baldwyn; W 34-14 at North Panola; W 62-12 Biggersville In the Biggersville game Booneville posted 278 rushing yards and 122 passing yards. Early-season MaxPreps splits showed a balanced attack: roughly 117 rushing yards per game from Tony Ogden alone through the first two weeks, plus a vertical passing piece. The Blue Devils sit in the top handful of Class 3A in some MaxPreps splits after the 62-12 win.
Players to watch — Ripley
Kyran McDonald, So., RB/DB
The one Tiger who looked like a featured back in Week 1. McDonald ran for 211 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries against Mooreville, added a fifth score in the early stat dump, and picked off a pass. The Daily Journal flagged him as the reason Ripley had a chance to keep rolling. Opponents have loaded the box since. If homecoming turns, it starts with him getting downhill again.
Aking Richard, So., RB/LB
The complementary runner (47 rushing yards per game in the early MaxPreps split). Ripley needed a second back after McDonald’s explosion; Richard is the most likely candidate.
Trace James, Jr., QB (6-3, 185) and Skylar Barkley, Jr./Sr., QB (6-4)
James showed up as a runner (44 rush Y/G after Week 1). Barkley has been the listed passer in the early completion-percentage split. Ripley threw for 80 yards in the opener and 135 against Grenada. Neither number will beat a 3-0 Booneville team by itself; they need play-action off McDonald.
Cole Rakestraw, Jr., WR/DE (6-3/6-4, ~200)
The biggest skill player on the roster. Size on the edge and in the passing game if Ripley can protect long enough to use it.
Cohen Wright, Jr., CB/WR and Hayden Hopper, Sr., LB/DB
Secondary and tackling will be on trial. Booneville’s skill players will test the edges all night.
Players to watch — Booneville
Tony Ogden, Sr., RB (5-11, 186)
The headliner. Through the first two games MaxPreps had him at 117 rushing yards per game, 82.5 receiving yards per game, six total TDs (five rushing). He is a complete back — inside, outside, and out of the backfield. Ripley’s front seven has to tackle him in space or Friday becomes a long night.
Kydon Smith, Sr., WR/FS (6-0, 155)
88.5 receiving yards per game and two scores in the early split. Last year he was a volume receiver (67 catches, 969 yards, six TDs in 2025). He is the vertical answer if Ripley overcommits to Ogden.
Tj Nunn, Sr., RB/OLB (5-8, 163)
78 rushing yards per game early. The change-of-pace back who keeps Ripley’s linebackers from keying only on Ogden. Rick Copeland (Jr., RB) is the third piece.
Cinquaveous Bell, Sr., WR/QB
Listed as a receiver on the roster but the early passing leader: 59.5 percent, three TD passes, 102.9 rating after the first snapshot. Whether he is under center or in the slot, he is the connector in Scott Brown’s offense.
Knox Houston, Sr., TE (6-5, 245)
Mismatch piece. If Booneville wants to bully Ripley after three straight physical losses, Houston is the player they throw to on third-and-medium and in the red zone. Kayson Smith (Jr., WR/SS) is the other Smith who showed up in the receiving-yards split (43.0 Y/G).
Parker Pounders, Sr., K (6-3)
Worth a mention on a night when field position and extra points can swing a rivalry game that has been decided by a field goal or a score more than once (18-15 in 2024, 10-7 in 2023).
How the matchup breaks
Ripley’s only complete game was a ground-and-pound 317-yard rushing night. Booneville’s identity right now is the same thing, except they have done it four weeks in a row and they have a proven receiver to punish single coverage.
If McDonald gets 20-plus touches and Ripley stays on schedule, homecoming can still become a defensive, low-scoring scrap like the last three meetings. If Ogden and Kydon Smith hit explosive plays early, the Tigers’ three-game slump gets another chapter in front of the home crowd.
Kickoff is Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m., Tiger Stadium. Black and gold vs. blue and gold. The records say one thing. The series history says it will be closer than 1-3 vs. 3-0 looks on paper.
