Playoff seedings hang in the balance for several local and area schools while others will be looking to improve on their teams’ fundamentals for the upcoming season in week 11 of the Friday Night Lights football frenzy.

Local football fans will be searching for some victories as some folks prepare to travel to support their favorite schools, while other fans have a choice of four home games to choose from this Friday.

The defending MAIS AA State Champion Brookhaven Academy Cougars begin their march in the first round of the playoffs on the road. They visit Mendenhall to battle the Simpson County Cougars.

West Lincoln welcomes their Lincoln County and new region rivals, the Loyd Star Hornets, to Perry Miller Field. Brookhaven entertains Wingfield on King Field, Bogue Chitto hosts Salem on Troy Smith Field and Lawrence County welcome Purvis to Monticello.

Several local schools will be on the road facing region opponents. Enterprise invades Liberty to tangle with Amite County, Wesson visits Wilkinson County and Jefferson County hosts Franklin County.

In other area action, Crystal Springs entertains Hazlehurst, McComb welcomes Columbia, North Pike travels to South Pike, Copiah Academy invades East Rankin and Parklane visits Lamar.

Brookhaven (6-3, 2-3),  coached by Tommy Clopton, cruised past the Natchez Bulldogs 62-36 last Friday to stay in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the Region 3-5A race.

This week, the Panthers return home after a two-week road tour to celebrate senior night against their long-time rivals, the Winfield Falcons.

The Falcons (3-7, 1-4), under the direction of Jeff Gibson, were clobbered 55-22 by the Pearl River Central Blue Devils last week.

BHS’s top performers last week:

Senior running back Tre McDaniel was the offensive leader for the Panthers with 26 carries for 193 yards.

Fred Trevillion led the aerial attack for BHS, completing five-of-six passes for 62 yards. Javontae Trevillion was the top receiver with three catches for 48 yards.

Defensively, Ty Hill directed Ole Brook with 12 tackles. Kardale Clark contributed six stops.

Brookhaven Academy (4-6, 2-1),  coached by Tripp McCarty, suffered a heart-breaking 14-8 loss to the Adams County Christian School Rebels last Friday ending their reign of seven-consecutive district championships.

This week, BA faces a familiar adversary as they begin their first round of the playoffs on the road against the Simpson Academy Cougars.

Simpson Academy (9-1, 3-0), coached by Winston Mullins, shut out Central Hinds Academy 42-0 last week.

Earlier in the season, Simpson crushed BA 47-6.

Starting in BA’s offensive line are Cody Thornhill at center, Travis Thornton at right tackle, John Ethan Coleman at right guard, Wyatt Pepper at left guard and Garrett Pace at left tackle. Brock Ezell and Carter Culbertson are the tight ends.

BA’s top performers last week:

Nettles paced the Cougars on offense with 22 carries for 104 yards on the ground.

Hickman completed nine-of-17 passes for 89 yards and rushed for 26 yards on 11 carries. Caleb Brown was the top receiver with six catches for 60 yards.

Defensively, Nettles was the leader for BA with seven tackles. Garrett Pace contributed six tackles. Michael Fiorella and Collin Hall had fives and a fumble recovery each.

Bogue Chitto (9-0, 7-0),  coached by Gareth Sartin, relied on their strong defense to remain undefeated on the season after escaping Utica with a 9-0 win over Hinds AHS.

This week, the Bobcats are home after a four-week road tour to enjoy some home cooking against the Salem Wildcats.

The Wildcats (5-3, 4-3), under the direction of coach Kenneth Murphy, plugged the Green Wave of Natchez Cathedral 42-26 last week.

BC’s top performers last week:

Senior quarterback Brock Roberts led the Bobcats, completing nine passes out of 20 attempts for 184 yards. He also rushed 16 times for 22 yards.

Jermaine Blackwell paced the ground attack with eight carries for 41 yards.

Eli Holmes was the top receiver for BC with four catches for 122 yards. Dennis Rogers had four catches for 44 yards.

Defensively, Jeremy Blackwell led the team with 16 tackles, and his brother Jermaine Blackwell had 15 tackles. Seth Hodges contributed 12 stops, and Devaris Bullock had 10 tackles. Kayin Perkins contributed seven tackles and a sack. Eli Holmes had an interception.

Loyd Star (2-7, 1-3) , under the direction of the Hornets’ assistant coaches, witnessed a tough Bassfield squad after falling to the Yellowjackets 56-8 last Friday.

This week, the Hornets visit Perry Miller Field to tangle with the West Lincoln Bears for the final playoff spot in Region 7-2A action in a win-or-stay home contest.

Working in the Hornets’ offensive line are: Dustin Hart and Cole Moak at guard. Mitchell Thornton at center and Clifton Barlow and Nicholas Smith at tackle. La’Treall Smith at tight end.

Loyd Star’s top performers last week:

Junior running back Peyton Flowers was the offensive leader for the Hornets with 33 yards rushing on 12 carries. Arnold contributed four rushes for 22 yards. La’Treall Smith had three carries for 31 yards.

Defensively, Flowers directed Loyd Star’s charge with 10 tackles. Tevin Lackland provided seven stops. Dustin Hart helped with eight tackles.

West Lincoln (2-7, 1-3),  coached by Willie Brumfield, captured a huge 26-14 win over the Enterprise Yellow Jackets last Friday to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.

This week, the Bears will be looking to make history by making the playoffs for the first time in the school’s football history as they prepare to host the Loyd Star Hornets.

Working in the WLHS offensive line are right guard Tyler Moak, right tackle Nicholas Burns, center Austin Patt, left guard Anthony Ferrell and left tackle Nathaniel Fauver.

West Lincoln’s top performers last week:

Offensively, Junior running back Bryce Temple had a game-high performance for West Lincoln as he rushed for 117 yards on 16 carries.

Javian MacKabee was the second leading rusher for the Bears with 12 carries for 88 yards. King paced West Lincoln’s aerial attack, completing two-of-three passes for 40 yards. He also rushed for 22 yards on five carries

Jade Use helped the ground attack with two rushes for 31 yards.

Defensively, Thomas Weeks powered the Bears with 14 tackles and caused two fumbles. Jamin Conrad helped with 11 stops and recovered the two fumbles. Tyler Moak and Use contributed 10 tackles apiece.

Enterprise (0-9, 0-4),  coached by Brooks Burns, will be looking to conclude their season on a successful note as they prepare to invade Liberty to battle the Amite County Trojans.

The Trojans (5-5, 2-2), coached by Robert Raines, were hammered 55-0 by the East Marion Eagles last week.

Working in Enterprise’s offensive line are James King, Colton Welch, Dylan Nelton, Adam Magee, Jacob Thames, Drake Allen, Landon Parson and Wayne Lambert.

Enterprise’s top performers last week:

Jackson Cole was the offensive leader for the Jackets with 278 yards rushing on 20 carries. He also caught two passes for 16 yards.

Jake Case contributed 23 yards on the ground on seven rushing attempts

Defensively, Case paced Enterprise with 10 tackles. Cole had nine stops and Devin Kirtfield provided eight tackles.

Wesson (1-8, 1-3),  coached by Ronald Greer, suffered a tough 34-6 loss to Franklin County last Friday.

The Cobras are looking to build on the upcoming season as they visit Woodville to battle the Wilkinson County Wildcats.

The Wildcats (7-3, 3-1), led by coach Kenneth Brown, destroyed Crystal Springs 47-6 last week.

Working in the trenches for the Cobras’ offensive line are Kendrick Brown at tight end, Chase Twiner and Mitchell Hughes at tackle, Matthew Craft and Justin Boone at guard and Josh Francois at center

Wesson’s top performers last week:

Otis Smith paced the Cobras with 18 rushes for 50 yards. Michael Hauer had nine carries for 69 yards.

Tyler Christmas directed the passing game for Wesson completing 6-of-10 passing for 41 yards.

Defensively, Corneius Barlow was the top hitters for the Cobras with three tackles.

Franklin County (5-4, 2-2),  coached by first-year head coach Chris Calcote, is eager to claim the third seed in the Region 7-3A race as they visit Fayette to take on their long time rivals, the Jefferson County Tigers.

The Tigers (3-5-1, 2-2), coached by James Herrington, were skinned 46-6 by the Indians of Hazlehurst last week.

Franklin County’s top performer last week:

Offensively, Chris Robinson’s lightning speed made the difference for the Bulldogs. He rushed for 135 yards on seven carries.

Defensively, Darin Wiley played solid on both sides of the ball by aiding in a block punt on defense and collecting a game-high nine tackles.

Lawrence County (4-6, 1-3),  coached by first-year coach Herbert Davis, were plagued by turnovers as the Columbia Wildcats drilled the LCHS Cougars 27-8 last Friday.

This week, Lawrence County entertains the Purvis Tornadoes for their final regular season contest.

The Tornadoes (7-2, 3-1), coached by Perry Wheat, destroyed South Pike 42-7 last week.

LCHS’s top performers last week:

Tex Cole paced the Cougars offense with 45 yards rushing on six carries. Gabraun Smith helped with nine rushes for 31 yards.

Will Jackson completed five-of-22 passes for 77 yards and five interceptions. Tony Maye was the top receiver with three catches for 36 yards.