KINGDOM CITY - The North Callaway Thunderbirds' self-esteem is in much better shape, elevated by their first win of the season.
North Callaway (1-3) will now lean on the confidence drawn from last week's 37-12 victory at Hallsville when it returns home tonight for a demanding test against the unbeaten and state-ranked Tipton Cardinals. Kickoff is at 7.
"We're happy to get that monkey off our back," Thunderbirds head coach Mike Emmons said Wednesday afternoon. "You work for wins; of course, you want that to happen and then it doesn't.
"We had a couple of tough games, so it feels good to be rewarded for your hard work. Our kids have never stopped working hard. It's nice to be on the other side of the ball (in the win column)."
North Callaway is faced with the task of trying to knock off a high-scoring Tipton squad (4-0) that is ranked No. 3 in Class 1 and has not lost a regular-season game since the 2006 opener. The Cardinals - averaging an extraordinary 50 points per game - are coming off a 49-0 throttling of Scotland County last Saturday at Tipton.