The Wildcats arrive with an explosive freshman and a record-setting coach. The Cardinals counter with a veteran line, a proven workhorse and five straight wins in the series.
Game: Walnut (1-0) at Belmont (0-1) Kickoff: Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, 7 p.m. Site: Belmont High School Classification: Walnut Class 2A; Belmont Class 3A
BELMONT — The records entering Friday night point in opposite directions, but neither tells the full story.
Walnut opened with a 31-18 victory over First Assembly Christian of Tennessee. Belmont returned from Selmer with a 21-16 loss to McNairy Central. The Wildcats bring the sharper early momentum; the Cardinals bring home field, an imposing ground game and a series they have controlled for years.
The result will say plenty about whether Walnut’s opening-night energy can withstand Belmont’s size and experience.
Walnut has options everywhere
Walnut generated 215 rushing yards and 97 passing yards in its opener, according to MaxPreps, but the more revealing detail was how widely the production traveled.
Freshman Jaylen Cox announced himself with four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown, added 19 yards on four carries and returned a kickoff 75 yards for another score. Senior Dylan Rider rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on only five attempts. Senior Jarvis Poplar ran for 61 yards, caught a touchdown pass and intercepted a pass. Wit Wright supplied another rushing score.
That distribution gives Belmont a complicated assignment. Cox can change a possession as a receiver or returner. Rider offers immediate acceleration in the running game. Poplar affects all three phases, and quarterback Sawyer Cardwell does not have to manufacture the offense alone. Sophomore Cade Jones added a 37-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt against First Assembly, another wrinkle Belmont’s secondary must respect.
Walnut also created disruptive plays on defense. Rider recorded a sack, Carson Weeks had two and Jones shared another. When First Assembly tried to answer, the Wildcats showed they could end drives through pressure or a takeaway rather than waiting for an opponent to make a mistake.
The victory carried historical weight, too. It was John Meeks’ 89th career win, all at Walnut, making him the winningest high school football coach in Tippah County history. Meeks has led the Wildcats since 2012, and Friday gives him a chance to add another milestone against the county opponent that has frustrated Walnut most consistently in recent years.
Belmont’s ground game remains the test
Belmont showed a different offensive profile in its opener. MaxPreps credits the Cardinals with 278 rushing yards but only 20 passing yards against McNairy Central. The Cardinals moved the ball, yet 278 yards on the ground produced only 16 points in a five-point defeat.
There is every reason to expect coach Michael Dean Jackson to lean on that phase again.
Senior Kylei Estes is a proven workhorse. MaxPreps’ public 2025 log credited him with 990 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns through nine reported games before the page stopped updating in late October; Mississippi Gridiron’s full-season preview total was 1,380 yards. In last week’s opener, Estes led Belmont with 137 yards. Junior Aaden Rojas added 94 rushing yards and accounted for two touchdowns. Together they give the Cardinals both power and variety behind a line with unusual senior size.
The current Belmont roster lists Hunter Watson at 265 pounds, Nathan Johnson at 280 and center Ryan Slayton at 290. That trio offers a direct path to control: keep the offense ahead of the chains, make Walnut’s defenders repeatedly defeat blocks and keep Cox and the Wildcats’ other explosive players on the sideline.
Miller Searcy is one of the game’s most interesting variables. He caught 23 passes for 330 yards as a junior, but Belmont’s preseason outlook identified him as the new starting quarterback. In last season’s 40-12 win over Walnut, Searcy caught four passes for 107 yards and a touchdown while Peyton Pharr threw for 259 yards. Now Searcy is charged with directing the offense rather than simply finishing plays downfield.
Belmont threw for only 20 yards at McNairy Central. If Walnut can create second- and third-and-long, Searcy may have to supply a different kind of production in his second start.
History favors the Cardinals
AHSFHS.org’s Mississippi database lists Belmont with an 11-6 advantage in the series. The Cardinals have won the past five meetings: 34-13 in 2021, 32-26 in 2022, 26-20 in 2023, 40-18 in 2024 and 40-12 last year.
That run includes two close finishes and three increasingly decisive Belmont victories. Walnut’s most recent win in the matchup was a 20-7 road victory in 2008, the only 10-win season in Wildcats history.
Recent program trajectories also lean toward the home team. Belmont went 8-4 in 2025, averaged 27 points, won a first-round playoff game at North Panola and reached Round 2. Under Jackson, the Cardinals have improved from 5-5 in 2023 to 6-4 in 2024 and then eight wins last season.
Walnut finished 3-8 in 2025, scoring 17.7 points and allowing 27.5 per game. But the Wildcats won seven games in 2024, and the range of playmakers displayed last week makes it dangerous to treat the 2025 record as a ceiling.
There is broader history on each sideline. AHSFHS traces Belmont football to 1959 and Walnut’s program to 1963. The database credits Belmont with 345 all-time victories, 23 playoff appearances and a district championship in 2010. Walnut is listed with 317 wins and 16 playoff appearances. Neither school has won a state championship, which makes the sustained local meaning of this series all the more important.
What decides it
The central matchup is Belmont’s power running game against Walnut’s ability to create negative plays.
If Estes and Rojas consistently reach the second level, the Cardinals can compress the game and steadily wear on a smaller-classification opponent. If Rider, Weeks, Poplar and the rest of Walnut’s defense force long-yardage situations, Belmont will need more from its passing game than it showed in Week 1.
Special teams may carry unusual weight. Cox’s 75-yard kickoff return changed Walnut’s opener without requiring an offensive snap. Against a team designed to own possession, one return that steals field position — or six points — can reshape the entire night.
Turnovers matter for the same reason. Walnut had an interception last week. Belmont’s Miller Searcy also intercepted a pass from his defensive-back spot against McNairy Central. In a matchup likely to feature a running clock and fewer possessions, one takeaway could be worth far more than its place in the box score.
Belmont owns the deeper recent résumé, the veteran offensive front, home field and a five-game series streak. Walnut brings a record-setting coach, the early win and several players capable of flipping the field in one snap.
This is not simply a test of whether Belmont can extend its grip. It is a chance to learn whether Walnut’s opening-night surge represents something durable — and whether a freshman spark can help the Wildcats change a rivalry that has belonged to the Cardinals for a long time.
