RAYMOND – Finally, the Hinds Community College Eagles will get to play some football tonight when they kick off the 2005 season against Southwest at Joe Renfroe Stadium.

Hinds was originally scheduled to open its season on Sept. 1 against East Mississippi, but Hurricane Katrina forced the postponement of that game and backed up the junior college schedule more than two weeks.

Hinds’ game at Mississippi Delta and the East Mississippi game were canceled by the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges. Every junior college in the state will play seven games instead of nine.

Hinds coach J. Michael Smith said he understands the MACJC’s decision in cutting the season.

“It was the fairest thing to do since there was no way Pearl River or Gulf Coast could play until this week,” Smith said. “(Katrina) tore up Pearl River’s campus pretty good and Gulf Coast was nearly as bad.”

Ironically, PRCC has been Hinds’ biggest rival for the past two seasons. The two schools have played for the MACJC title the last two years with PRCC winning both times, including a 24-13 decision last November.

Hinds, 9-2 last season, hopes to get back to the title game this year but will need a win against the Southwest Bears, a South Division opponent.

“My biggest concern through all of this is that we’re having to open the season with a division opponent. The value of those first two games allows you to see what you’re made up of,” Smith said. “Southwest was a club that had a lot of freshmen last year and now they’re a sophomore team. It’s a very athletic group, especially offensively.”

Still, Smith is just glad the Eagles will get to play somebody.

“We’ve been hitting on each other for seven weeks, minus the 10 days we lost to the storm. It’s hard to tell how good we are. We basically had to start over after the storm, but now, our guys are just ready to play.”

Hinds will count heavily on two Vicksburg sophomores to be key playmakers.

Linebacker Rory Johnson (6-1, 245) is considered by Smith to be the Eagles’ leader on defense.

“While we may have gotten Louis Ellis from (Mississippi) State, Rory Johnson has proven himself to be a great player and he’s our leader,” Smith said.

On offense, sophomore Ben Shelton of Vicksburg heads an experienced group of wide receivers.

“Ben Shelton and Chris Johnson help make our receiving corps a big strength. We’ve been able to add to it with some out of state kids coming in,” Smith said.

The Eagles will have a new quarterback leading the offense in Seth Adams, who transferred from Delta State. Clinton’s Paul Cavett is the team’s featured back.

The one area Smith feels a bit hesitant about is the offensive line.

“I’m still a little concerned about our offensive line,” Smith said. “We’ll find out soon, if we need to be.”