The first full Friday of high school football action is going to be a fun one as it features a Highway 84 battle between Brookhaven High and Lawrence County, Bogue Chitto heading up Highway 51 to face Wesson and a Saturday night matchup at Co-Lin between Lincoln County rivals Enterprise and Loyd Star.

 

Thursday, Aug. 24

Loyd Star vs. Enterprise (at Co-Lin)

7:30 p.m., H.L. “Hook” Stone Stadium, Wesson

The first night of the KDMC Kickoff Classic will feature a Sting Bowl matchup between the Loyd Star Hornets and the Enterprise Yellow Jackets.

Hornets prefer to make their nests up high, while Yellow Jackets are known for building nests in the ground. That has nothing to do with the game, that’s just a fun fact.

The game will be the first for Loyd Star head coach Adam Smith, an alum of the school who was hired in spring to replace Brian Ford.

Smith has installed a new offense and has a mostly veteran line with a deep stable of skill players to lean on in the single-wing formation.

Enterprise will counter with a team that’s led by a large junior class. Many of those players have had to start since their freshman season while playing in the toughest 1A region in the state.

EAC head coach Trey Woodard will try to get players such as quarterback Landon McNickles and wide receiver Daylan Barden into open space where they can show off their speed.

 

Friday, Aug. 25

Brookhaven High vs. Lawrence County

7 p.m., King Field, Brookhaven

This should be an old-fashioned slobber knocker as the 5A BHS Panthers and the 4A LCHS Cougars always play in a physical style of game in front of a large crowd.

Lawrence County runs a double-wing offense that requires the opposing defense to play a disciplined style and to be sure tacklers.

Last year these two teams met in a game played at Co-Lin for the KDMC Kickoff Classic. BHS led 16-14 at halftime, but a third quarter score by Lawrence County ended up being the deciding factor in a 21-16 victory for coach Jesse Anderson and his team.

The game is a matchup of the two best running backs in southwest Mississippi. BHS will be led by senior running back Xavier Gayten while Lawrence County counters with senior bruiser Ahmad Hardy. The pair shared All-Area Offensive MVP honors last season.

Brookhaven High and coach Tucker Peavey want to win a second straight game on King Field after closing the 2022 regular season with a win over South Jones.

Lawrence County has an explosive player at quarterback in senior Cannon Kato and the Brookhaven High defense will look to spy him with senior linebacker Jimmy Johns Jr.

 

Brookhaven Academy vs. Centreville Academy

7:30 p.m., R.M. “Red” Stuard Field, Brookhaven

Brookhaven Academy and coach Reggie Lea knew they’d be facing some giants last week when they played a MAIS 6A program in Hartfield Academy that’s loaded with Division I talent.

Hartfield won 56-0 as BA having three starters out with illness didn’t help matters.

The Cougars have to flush that game from memory and prepare to meet a Centreville Academy team that’s 1-0 after beating Riverfield Academy 21-7.

Centreville head coach Bill Hurst is in year no. 47 leading the football program of the Tigers. At 420-149, Hurst is the winningest coach in Mississippi High School football history.

CA has been up and down over the last decade as they last won a MAIS state title in 2014. The win over Riverfield might be a sign that Centreville has improved as the RA Raiders went 7-6 last season and eliminated Brookhaven Academy from the postseason.

The Cougars will hope to continue a trend of playing well at home as the team is a combined 8-4 on R.M. “Red” Stuard Field over the last two seasons.

 

Bogue Chitto at Wesson

7:30 p.m., H.L. “Hook” Stone Stadium, Wesson

It’ll be a matchup of two crafty play callers as Wesson head coach Jeremy Loy and his team meet up with a visiting bunch of Bogue Chitto Bobcats led by longtime head coach Gareth Sartin.

Both teams are replacing multi-year starters at the always important quarterback position. For Wesson, they’re moving into the post Will Loy era as he started nearly every game in a 4-year varsity career while piling up touchdowns, individual accolades and wins.

For Bogue Chitto, they’re moving on from the graduated Colton Frith, a gutsy type of player who got things done offensively with his legs and his arm.

The 3A Cobras have won eight in a row over the 2A Bobcats, but both teams will come into the game with lots of new players in new positions.

Wesson will try to get the ball into the hands of a dynamic group of skills players and the game might be decided by Bogue Chitto’s ability to limit explosive plays.

The matchup is part of the KDMC Kickoff Classic, a showcase event that’s played annually in Stone Stadium during the opening week of the season.

 

West Lincoln at St. Andrew’s Episcopal

8 p.m., Roger W. Stribling Field, Ridgeland

St. Andrew’s will be debuting a new artificial playing surface when it hosts West Lincoln in Ridgeland.

West Lincoln is 2-2 all-time against SAE after winning two straight from 2019-2020 and then losing the last two including a 35-14 loss last season in Ridgeland.

St. Andrew’s can put the ball in the air as they return an experience quarterback in Friend Walker.

For West Lincoln and coach Brad Bland, the key to winning will be limiting turnovers and to not have any self-inflicted mistakes on special teams.

West Lincoln is the most experienced along the line as they return seniors Zackary Taylor and Baylor Sills. The plan for the Bears will be to control possession and put together long drives while avoiding pre-snap penalties and long yardages on third down.