The Friday Night Look-Ahead is your weekly preview of who’s playing where in local high school football action this week. All games are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Enterprise (2-0) at Bogue Chitto (1-1)

Troy Smith Field, Highway 51

The Enterprise Yellow Jackets are trying to start the season with three straight wins for the first time since 2015. The Bogue Chitto Bobcats want to add to a winning streak over their rivals from EAC, as BC has captured the last six games between the schools, dating back to 2017.

Last season, Bogue Chitto went up in the second half and held off a comeback attempt from the Yellow Jackets to win 42-40 in a game that was filled with emotions.

Bogue Chitto gave new head coach BJ Smithhart his first win as a Bobcat last week with a 41-18 mauling of the Salem Wildcats. Sophomore quarterback Alex-Michael Roberts had an extremely efficient night throwing the ball for the Bobcats. The first year starting signal caller went 5-of-6 for 111 yards and four touchdowns against a Salem program that’s now creeping towards 50 straight losses on the field.

BC senior wideout Noah Magee hauled in two of those scoring passes while Jayden Poole and Timothy Kirkland had one touchdown grab apiece. Poole rushed for 157 yards on the ground, averaging 22.4 yards per carry and scoring once with his legs.Defensively, BC got two sacks from senior leader Isaiah Collins while Tyler Pruden and Ethan Bales each recovered a fumble for the Bobcats against Salem. Warren Wallace and Hayden Avants had five tackles apiece to lead the BC defense. Kayson Magee had two sacks as well in the win.

Coach Trey Woodard and the Jackets are coming off a 44-7 blowout over St. Andrew’s Episcopal last week. EAC got four touchdowns from senior Landon McNickles to pace them in the win. Johnathan McNickles, Payton Kyzar, Michael Magee and Marquez Yarborough had one interception apiece for the Enterprise defense last week in the win.

The 37-point win over SAE is the largest margin of victory on the field for Enterprise since a 45-6 blowout of McLaurin in 2016.

Brookhaven High (2-0) vs. Pearl High (1-1)

King Field, Brookhaven

The 5A Brookhaven High Panthers will host the 7A Pearl Pirates Friday in a good early season test for an Ole Brook team that’s cruised to wins over smaller foes in 4A Lawrence County and 3A Franklin County.

Pearl and BHS played a tight game last season, one won 27-20 by the Pirates in Rankin County. Following the season, former Pearl head coach Justin Hunter stepped down following an 8-4 year.

Hunter was replaced by former Neshoba Central head coach Patrick Schoolar. Schoolar and his new school beat his old school, Neshoba Central, 26-20 to start the season. Last week the Pirates fell 21-0 in a loss to an always toughWarren Central program.

BHS is coming off a 42-7 win in Meadville over Franklin County. The homestanding Bulldogs didn’t get on the scoreboard until the final play of the game.

The Panthers got 89 yards rushing and one touchdown from junior running back Caiden Quarles in the win. Sophomore quarterback Jaden Allen picked up 138 yards on the ground via nine carries. Allen rushed for three scores and passed for two more.

The Ole Brook passing offense showed depth for a second straight week. Junior Dreamus Harron Jr. caught two passes for 55 yards and one touchdown, junior EJ Ratliff had one catch for 14 yards and senior Samarion Buckley hauled in one pass for 25 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, junior linebacker DJ Washington led the Panthers with eight stops at Franklin County. Defensive linemen Derwin Fields and Christian Jones had one sack each and senior Jamaal Brown recovered a fumble for the Panthers.

Lately the Panthers have started out every season with a matchup against a larger foe like Pearl in the early going. The last time BHS started 3-0 to start the year was 2013, when former head coach Tommy Clopton led the Panthers to a 4-0 start with wins over Franklin County, Lawrence County, North Pike and McComb.

Pearl is 7-1 all-time against BHS, with the first matchup coming in 1982. The only win for the Panthers over the Pirates was a 35-28 victory in 2012. In 2018, Pearl won 36-7 and in 2017, Pearl triumphed 23-3 on King Field.

Loyd Star (0-2) vs. Salem (0-2)

Hornet Field, Highway 550

It’s homecoming week in Hornetville as Loyd Star hosts the 1A Salem Wildcats from Walthall County, a program that knows a thing or two about being a homecoming opponent.

The Wildcats went 0-10 last season and 0-11 the year before. They went 0-9 in 2021 and 1-9 in 2020, though that victory came via forfeit. The last on-field victory for Salem was a 26-19 triumph over Sacred Heart in 2019.

A young Loyd Star team, led by second year head coach Adam Smith, is coming off two different kinds of losses. In their opener, the Hornets lost a back-and-forth ball game to their county rivals from Enterprise.

Last week at Wesson, without their leading rusher Jordyn Kees, the Hornets were down 44-0 at half to the Cobras. The passing game, led by sophomore quarterback Phillip Ross Spencer, produced a pair of touchdown passes to sophomore Tristan Fortenberry in an eventual 44-12 win for Wesson.Expect Spencer, a healthy Kees, and Fortenberry to all have big games in a happy homecoming win for Loyd Star. The Hornets will be at home again the following week too, facing Richton High (0-2).

West Lincoln (0-2) vs. Puckett (2-0)

Perry Miller Field, Flea Hop

The 2A West Lincoln Bears went on the road last week and faced a Sacred Heart squad that will make the MHSAA 1A playoffs this season, losing 42-8 to the Crusaders in Hattiesburg.First year head coach Johnny Ball is still hunting up win number one in his time at the school and the Bears want to put together a four-quarter effort against the visiting Puckett High Wolves.

There was a time when Puckett reigned as one of the kings of small school football in Mississippi, but the Wolves have not won a state championship since 2008 nor a district title since 2015.

The Wolves are 2-0 this season for second year head coach Brandon Cutrer with wins over Mount Olive (37-0) and McLaurin (14-6) thus far. And yes, Puckett is 8-1 all-time against West Lincoln, but some of those losses have been close.The Wolves won 43-7 over West Lincoln last season in Rankin County.The Bears led 8-7 at halftime of their season opener, an eventual 27-8 loss to St. Andrew’s. If WL can control the pace of the game and make this a low scoring brawl, they’ll have a fighting chance to get their first win of the season.

Brody Dillon scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown for West Lincoln last week at Sacred Heart.

Brookhaven Academy (1-3) vs. Adams County Christian School (2-1)

R.M. “Red” Stuart Field, Brookhaven

Brookhaven Academy faced a tough MAIS 5A district opponent last week in Oak Forest Academy and they’ll be right back in a similar place this week against the visiting Adams County Christian School Rebels.

ACCS and longtime head coach David King are 2-1 on the season. The Rebs beat St. Aloysius 41-14 in their opener, lost 37-7 to Jackson Prep the next week and beat Simpson Academy 28-14 last week.

OFA defeated BA 42-0 last week in Brookhaven. MAIS District 3-5A was won last year by Parklane Academy as ACCS finished second but got a measure of revenge by eliminating PA in the playoffs.Parklane Academy is coming off a 20-0 dismantling of MHSAA 5A North Pike last week and are expected to again be at the top of the district along with ACCS and OFA.

King made the move from the now closed Trinity Episcopal to ACCS in 2012. BA beat the Rebels 35-19 that season, but ACCS has since won nine straight over the Cougars, including a 40-8 final last season.

Adams County Christian is the defending MAIS 5A state champion and facing Simpson Academy last week was a rematch of the 2023 title game. ACCS junior quarterback Coleman Carter, a UL-Lafayette commit, threw three touchdown passes in the second half to push the Rebels past Simpson.

Wesson (2-0) at Perry Central (1-1)

Bulldog Field, New Augusta

The 3A Perry Central Bulldogs and the 3A Wesson Cobras began a series last season with PC making the long trip up to Copiah County from New Augusta. Wesson prevailed 42-7 as Perry Central finished the season 3-7.It would appear that second year head coach Nick Griffin, a standout at Perry Central and Mississippi State, has an improved team in 2024.

Last week the Bulldogs whipped Amite County 39-6, which was revenge after the Trojans defeated PC last season.

Wesson showed off a deep stable of skills-talent, toughness, and size last week in marching through Loyd Star by a 44-12 final. The Cobras are on the road again next week, playing at Lumberton (1-1).

Lawrence County (0-2) at East Central (0-2)

Shirley Stadium, Hurley

As expected, Lawrence County and Jefferson Davis County were two closely matched teams last week in their annual matchup. In the end, the Jaguars from JDC made a few more plays in earning a 34-30 win over coach Jesse Anderson and his Cougars.

LC picked up 326 yards rushing on the ground, led by junior Devon McDuffey with 195 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Wesley Harris and Lauria McDuffey also rushed for scores on the ground for the Cougars.

Ja’Bra Mcgee led the Cougar defense with eight tackles in the loss as LC trailed 14-12 at halftime.Anderson and his squad head south this week to face East Central High in Jackson County, outside Moss Point in the small community of Hurley. Last season EC came to Monticello and left with a 42-35 win.

The first ever meeting between the school was a 2015 second round playoff game, won 26-20 by the Cougars.

The 5A Hornets of East Central finished 3-7 last season and are winless on the year after losses to George County (33-7) and Pascagoula (27-14).