The West Point High football team didn't let the prospects of a trip to Florida scheduled for this week get in the way of its Week 1 preparations.

The Daily Journal's top-ranked large school blew out third-ranked Shannon 39-14 in its season opener at home on Friday night.

On Thursday morning, the Wave will drive to Daytona Beach, Fla., where it will take on Mainland High the next night in a Gridiron Challenge Foundation Game.

"No, not really," Wave head coach Chris Chambless said last week when asked if his players seemed to be talking a lot about the trip to Florida. "All our focus has been on Shannon. I'm sure it will shift after this game."

Meanwhile, New Albany, the Daily Journal's fourth-ranked large school, has shifted its attention to trying to beat its archrival, Ripley, for the second consecutive year. That game will kick off at 7:30 Friday night in New Albany.

"They are our archrivals," said New Albany senior quarterback Tyler Basil, whose team defeated Ripley 33-28 last year. "We want to beat them just as bad as anybody - just as bad as (Division 1-4A rivals) Itawamba or Shannon."

After a one-year absence, the annual Joe Bowl - a regular-season game played between Falkner High and Walnut High - will be held on Thursday night at 7:30 in Walnut. The game is named after the late Joe Horton, who coached at both schools.

Last year's Joe Bowl was canceled due to a swine flu outbreak at Falkner.

Thursday night lights

Also on Thursday night, Mike Mattox will be looking for his first win as a head coach when his Booneville High (0-1) team travels to Baldwyn (1-0) to take on the Daily Journal's new top-ranked small school. Mattox replaced Mississippi's winningest high school coach, Jim Drewry, at the Booneville helm when Drewry stepped down in May due to health concerns.

"It's about like how I expected it," a disappointed Mattox said of his first game as coach, a 27-11 home loss to fourth-ranked New Albany. "It's a little faster and I had a lot more to watch ... and trying to get plays ready and everything. It was tough, but once the ballgame starts, coaching's coaching.

"We just gotta figure out a way to get these guys to step it up next week."

Contact John Wilbert at 678-1572 or john.wilbert@djournal.com