Brookhaven Academy (1-5) vs. Salem (0-4)

R.M. “Red” Stuard Field, Brookhaven

For the first time in program history, the Brookhaven Academy football team will host an MHSAA program when the 1A Salem Wildcats make the trip up from Walthall County to play the Cougars to cap off Homecoming 2024 at BA.

The schools met for the first time ever last season, a game won 49-12 by the Cougars, as they recovered three straight onside kicks to go on a scoring run that broke the contest wide open.Brookhaven Academy and first year head coach Ryan Ross are coming off a 24-21 loss on the road at Cathedral School. The Cougars led their MAIS 5A-District 3 opponents from Cathedral in the third quarter, before the Green Wave used their ground game to grab the lead.

Salem, one of the smallest public schools in the state to field a football team, has now lost 51 straight games after suffering a 41-8 loss last week to the West Lincoln Bears. Facing other Lincoln County foes this season, Salem lost 62-6 at Loyd Star and 41-18 to Bogue Chitto at home.

Brookhaven Academy got rushing touchdowns by Trace Garrett, Walt Smith, and Braden Revere in the loss last week. John Tucker Pace recovered a fumble for the Cougar defense that led to one of those scores.

Expect the Cougars to roll in this one as they’ve faced a murderer’s row of MAIS 6A and 5A opponents this season and will look forward to hitting the field as favorites against the Wildcats.

Enterprise (3-1) at West Lincoln (1-3)

Perry Miller Field, Flea Hop

The Enterprise Yellow Jackets will make the short, uneventful drive all the way across Lincoln County via Highway 84 on Friday to invade West Lincoln for a non-region matchup with the Bears.

The Yellow Jackets are a little beaten up nearing the midpoint of their season, as they lost for the first time last week, 34-14 at home to Leake County.

West Lincoln is coming off their first win of the season, a 48-14 road victory at Salem. WL first year head coach Johnny Ball saw his team get two rushing scores from senior Chance Stewart in the win over Salem. Caden Seay, Brody Dillon and Brayden Hamm all had one rushing score each for the Bears on the ground.

EAC ran past West Lincoln 43-14 last year when the Jackets hosted the Bears. Enterprise and coach Trey Woodard will begin region play next week by hosting Lumberton (2-2). Enterprise holds a 19-7 advantage over West Lincoln all-time in head-to-head matchups between the Lincoln County schools.

Wesson (4-0) vs. Mize (3-1)

H.L. “Hook” Stone Stadium, Co-Lin CC
Wesson alums will be welcomed back for 2024 Homecoming this week against Mize, and for coach Jeremy Loy and his staff, it’s an especially welcomed return after winning two tough games on the road over the last couple weeks.

A week after going to Perry Central and winning 22-20, the Cobras took a 21-14 victory on Friday at Lumberton. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime. Cobra quarterback Cole Gibson went 11-of-20 passing for 153 yards. Wesson was led on the ground by senior running back CJ Jackson, who gained 82 yards on 14 carries and scored twice. Senior DeShawn Smith scored the other rushing touchdown for the Cobras.

Senior linebacker Hunter Meredith led the Wesson defense with 12 tackles in the win at Lumberton. Sophomore Samarion Smith and freshman Laiken Thomas each recorded an interception for WAC in the win.

Wesson beat Mize 19-13 last season on the road, which broke a three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs in the series between the schools. Mize has a 20-8 advantage all-time against the Cobras in a series that dates back to 1972.

Mize started the season with a 33-0 win over Taylorsville and a 49-0 blowout of Mount Olive. They then beat Enterprise-Clarke 35-14, before losing 21-14 last week to Raleigh (4-0).

Loyd Star (2-2) at Stringer (1-3)

Red Devil Field, Stringer

Coach Adam Smith and his Loyd Star Hornets are looking to win a third straight game on Friday when they head to Jasper County to play the Stringer Red Devils.

As the Hornets were getting ready in their pregame on Friday at home against Richton, the visiting Rebels were gathered at midfield to hear a pump-up speech from their coach. With no music playing, his words could be heard clearly and loudly by the Hornets that were on the field at that time.

Loyd Star heard Richton talking about how they planned to shut down the Hornet’s ground game and took that to heart, as head coach Adam Smith led a focused group of players out onto the field in what ended up being a dominating win 38-6 for the home team.

Sophomore running back Jordyn Kees, who’s been battling injury and illness during the early part of this season, returned to form with a big effort. Kees ran for 177 yards on 23 carries. Kees scored three touchdowns and junior Brayden Richardson also scored on the ground for LS. Junior Anthony Humphrey caught one pass, which was a 55-yard touchdown thrown by Kees.Cooper Creel had an interception for the LS defense and Carson Cunningham recovered a fumble as senior linebacker Zack Cotten led the way with 12 tackles in the win. Senior Luke Cotten also chipped in 12 stops and Cunningham had 13 total tackles as well.

Loyd Star has a three-game winning streak over Stringer, as the Hornets walloped the Red Devils 49-8 last year at home. Stringer has losses this season to Seminary, Pelahatchie, and Nanih Waiya. The Devils got in the win column last week with a 38-17 victory over Puckett.

Brookhaven High (4-0) at Northwest Rankin (2-2)

Cougar Stadium, Flowood

The MHSAA 5A Brookhaven High Panthers want to knock off another 7A opponent to end non-region play as they’ll face one of the five largest schools in the state, the Northwest Rankin Cougars.

NWR had an enrollment of over 1,400 students in 9-11 during the last round of MHSAA reclassifications, compared to BHS with around 650 students in the same grades during that time period.This will be the eighth meeting all-time between the schools, with BHS winning in 1989,1990,1993, and 1994. The series didn’t return until 2015, a 21-14 win for NWR. The Cougars won 41-13 over BHS in 2016 and beat the Panthers 41-19 last season on King Field.

BHS was led by an outstanding defensive effort and a solid ground game last week in a 24-14 win over their rivals from McComb High.The Panther only gave up one score to the MHS offense and that came on a short field early in the game after an Ole Brook turnover. Junior running back Caiden Quarles led the way on the ground by rushing 24 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

Northwest Rankin is 2-2 after losing 28-3 last week at Madison Central. The Cougars also started the season off with another loss in Madison County, that one a 46-21 setback at Germantown. Between the losses, NWR beat Clinton 35-34 and Ocean Springs 29-28 in overtime.

Bogue Chitto (2-2) at Puckett (3-1)

Wolves Field, Puckett

A band of Bogue Chitto Bobcat fans will head to Rankin County on Friday to support their team against the Puckett Wolves.

The Bobcats are riding high after a 34-20 homecoming win last week against visiting Ethel. Sophomore quarterback Alex-Michael Roberts and the BC offense opened up the passing game in the win, as Roberts finished with 139 yards through the air on 10-of-12 passing. One of his touchdowns went to big senior receiver Noah Magee, who finished with 68 yards on four catches.  Aaden Kirkland hauled in the other touchdown pass.

Isaiah Collins scored on the ground for the Bobcats as the defense generated two interceptions, one by Tyler Pruden and once by Jayden Poole. Ethen Bales had eight tackles for the Bobcats while Hayden Avants and Javis Gibson chipped in seven stops each.

Puckett beat Mount Olive, McLaurin, and West Lincoln before losing last week to Stringer. The Bobcats have a three-game win streak going against the Wolves from Puckett, including a 35-29 win for BC last season at home. Puckett leads the all-time series 11-8.

Lawrence County (1-3) at Tylertown (2-1)

Chiefs Field, Tylertown

The Lawrence County Cougars are on the road for a third straight week and will make the short trip to Walthall County to take on the Tylertown Chiefs.

Magee bested the Cougars 26-16 last week in Simpson County. Tylertown was off last week. The Chiefs have wins over Clarkdale (34-0) and Jim Hill (29-0). Scott Central beat THS 21-18 earlier this season.

The Cougars and coach Jesse Anderson beat the Chiefs 42-18 last season in Monticello. LC has a two-game winning streak over the Chiefs and have a 10-9 advantage all time in head to head matchups with Tylertown.