The regular season is wrapping up with MAIS programs starting the postseason next week around the state and the same will be true for the smaller MHSAA schools soon. Here’s a look at who’ll play where in the upcoming slate of high school football action.

 

Brookhaven (6-1) vs. South Jones (6-2)

King Field, Brookhaven

Panther Park should be packed with fans and alums of Brookhaven High as 2024 homecoming comes to Ole Brook this Friday. If you get a chance, get tickets to the homecoming production put on by students on Tuesday and Thursday. The Friday afternoon show is reserved for alums only and is a nice lead into the tailgating that’ll take place across the street in the park.

Longtime BHS head coach Tucker Peavey doesn’t want his team too focused on having a good time after the game ends, as the Panthers will face a much-improved region foe in the South Jones Braves.

The only losses for SJ this season were close setbacks to their county rivals West Jones (28-21) and Northeast Jones (24-21). The Braves are 2-0 in region play with wins over Provine (42-6) and a 29-14 victory last week against Natchez.

Second year head coach Casey Herrington has his team at 6-2 on the year with three games remaining after South Jones went 3-8 last season. Junior quarterback Collin Flowers has thrown for over 900 yards and 12 touchdowns this season for the Braves. SJ sophomore running back Anquan Jackson has rushed for 707 yards and is averaging 8.0 yards per carry to lead the Braves on the ground.

The Panthers are coming off a 48-0 win over Provine. They’re also 2-0 in Region 3-5A after beating Florence 32-14 earlier this month. Sophomore quarterback Jaden Allen passed for two touchdowns in the win over Provine. Junior Timmothy Smith caught one of those scores and he also ran for another touchdown. Junior Jeremy Bibbs caught the other touchdown for Ole Brook.

Junior defensive back EJ Ratliff returned an interception for 60 yards and a touchdown to lead the Panthers against Provine.

Brookhaven High is 12-4 all-time against South Jones and has won eight in a row in the series, including a 33-7 win last season in Ellisville.

 

Enterprise (6-2) vs. East Marion (2-6)

Harry Cole Field, Hwy. 583

There probably isn’t a better 2-6 team in the state than the East Marion Eagles, something Enterprise coach Trey Woodard has been reminding his team ahead of a huge Region 8-1A game for his Yellow Jackets.

East Marion has a 6-foot-2, 170-pound freshman quarterback named Caiden Belton who holds offers from Miami, Tennessee, Michigan, and Florida among others. Belton picked up many of those offers before he ever threw a varsity pass, as he was a hot commodity on the elite camp and 7-on-7 circuit last summer.

Both EM and EAC have losses this season to region leader Lumberton. Enterprise lost 36-25 to the Panthers at home earlier this season and the Eagles went down 32-28 at Lumberton earlier this month. East Marion blew out Resurrection Catholic 36-0 last week while the Yellow Jackets cruised to a 41-22 win at Resurrection two weeks ago.

Woodard and his crew know they’ve got a pretty good quarterback themselves in senior signal caller Landon McNickles. McNickles rushed for four touchdowns last week in a 49-20 win over Salem.

East Marion is 3-0 all-time against the Yellow Jackets. They won 42-0 in 2013, 43-0 in 2014 and 28-21 last year when the school met in Marion County.

Lumberton (6-2) is 3-0 in the region. Both EM and EAC are 2-1 and Sacred Heart is 1-2 as the Crusaders from Hattiesburg lost 39-35 to Lumberton and 8-7 to East Marion this season.

Enterprise will close the regular season on Oct. 31 with a trip to Hattiesburg to take on Sacred Heart.

 

Wesson (7-0) vs. South Pike (7-1)

Colee Field, Magnolia

The unbeaten Wesson Cobras will face their stiffest test of the 2024 season when they head to Magnolia to face the South Pike Eagles in a game that’ll go a long way in deciding the finishing order of Region 7-3A.

South Pike picked up its first loss of the season last week, 20-8 at Jefferson County. Wesson will host Jefferson County next week in the regular season finale for both teams.

SP junior quarterback Dondra Turner Jr. has thrown for 833 yards and eight scores this season. On the ground, the Eagles are led by freshman Douglas Wansley, who’s picked up 929 yards on 90 carries, averaging 10.3 yards per carry in 2024.

South Pike started the season 7-0, but those wins were against teams with a combined record of 11-38. Jefferson County (6-2) was the first team the Eagles faced this season with a record above .500.

Wesson is coming off a 48-0 demolition of Franklin County. WAC quarterback Cole Gibson threw for 229 yards and four touchdowns. DeShawn Smith caught two touchdowns from Gibson while Kemari Brown and Wesley Loy had one touchdown catch each.

Senior linebacker Cotton Westbrook led the Cobra defense with 10 tackles in the win.

Wesson beat South Pike 42-20 last year at home, a game that resumed the series between the schools that had not played since 1964 before that meeting.

 

Lawrence County (3-4) vs. Columbia High (5-3)

Cougar Field, Monticello

Columbia High was built into a MHSAA 4A power by former head coach Chip Bilderback, who left after last season to coach in Louisiana, where his wife Missy is the head women’s basketball coach at UL-Monroe.

Bilderback was replaced by former South Panola state championship winning coach Lance Pogue. There are probably some anxious nerves among the Columbia fan base about having three regular season losses thus far in 2024, as Bilderback never lost more than two games in a regular season during his six years at the school where he finished with a 69-12 overall record, one state 4A state title and one season as runners-up.

Though they might not be as dominant as they’ve been in the past, this is still a strong Columbia team that sits atop the Region 7-4A standings at the halfway point of division play. CHS beat Forrest County AHS 24-6 two weeks ago and Sumrall 45-14 last Friday.

Lawrence County and coach Jesse Anderson got back on the winning track last week with a 32-21 win over Purvis High on the road.

Columbia has won five in a row in the series, including a 41-14 victory last season in Marion County.

 

Loyd Star (6-2) vs. West Lincoln (1-7)

Hornet Field, Hwy. 550

Coach Adam Smith and his Hornets want to keep their winning streak alive as the team has bounced back nicely after starting the season 0-2. The young Hornets picked up a 38-14 win in the Possum Bowl last week over Bogue Chitto and will wrap up Region 7-2A play on Friday with a matchup against the West Lincoln Bears.

West Lincoln lost 34-14 at home last week to Wilkinson County. The Bears and coach Johnny Ball close out the season next week by traveling to Amite County to face the Trojans on Thursday. LS will also play on Thursday next week, hosting Franklin County in a non-region regular season finale.

 

Brookhaven Academy (2-8) at Amite School Center (1-8)

Rebel Field, Liberty

Year one for Brookhaven Academy head football coach Ryan Ross and his program wraps up with a trip to Liberty to face the Amite School Center Rebels in a non-district game.

The Cougars have played a loaded schedule with only one loss coming to a team with a sub-.500 record in a close road defeat at Cathedral School.

BA will be favored this week against an ASC team that just broke through for its first win of the season last week, 26-12 over Christian Home Educators Fellowship (CHEF) out of Baton Rouge.

Brookhaven Academy is 15-14 all-time against the Rebels, including a 48-26 win last season. The Cougars have won six in a row in the series. The game Friday will be the finale of a BA senior class that includes Braden Revere, Jon Mark Beasley, Austin Tanskley, Nathan Poole, Asher Newman, Will Thomas Calcote, and CJ Chevralier.