Ah! The post-season has finally arrived as many of our local football fans and players have worked hard to get to this point of the season and realize their dreams of capturing gold are within their clutches if they survive the playoff race and week 13 of the Friday Night Lights football frenzy.

Bogue Chitto and Brookhaven have joined the playoff ranks as Class 1A and Class 5A begin their march.

Bogue Chitto welcomes French Camp to Troy Smith Field for the opening round of the Class 1A state playoffs.

Brookhaven secured the No.4 seed in the Region 3-5A race and will have to travel to Pascagoula to begin their playoff march against the Pascagoula Panthers in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

Region 2A, 3A and 4A have already experienced their first week of the opening round of the playoffs as Hazlehurst was the only area school to advance to the second round. The Hazlehurst Indians will host the Forest Bearcats at Robert McDaniel Sr. Stadium.

In other area action, Bassfield entertains Union, East Marion visits Lake, Tylertown welcomes Collins, Purvis invades Quitman and Columbia hosts Forrest County AHS

Franklin County, Loyd Star, North Pike, McComb, Parklane Academy and Copiah Academy have concluded their football season and are all ready to start preparing for the upcoming season.

Brookhaven (8-3, 4-3),  coached by Tommy Clopton, is celebrating a four game win streak after running the tables in the last four games of the season to claim the final spot for the Class 5A playoffs by clipping the Pearl River Central Blue Devils 25-20 last Friday.

This week will start a new season for the Panthers as they prepare for a tough opening round road test against the Pascagoula Panthers in the Class 5A playoffs.

Pascagoula (10-1, 7-0), under the direction of Lewis Sims, is currently ranked No.3 in the Class 5A poll. They overpowered the Gautier Gators 24-7 last week.

Key players for Pascagoula are: senior quarterback Andrew Dunn, who has passed for 1,575 yards; senior running back Darryl Tart; senior receiver Matthew Eaton with 675 yards receiving; and junior Jalen Smith with 650 yards receiving.

Defensively, Marshean Joseph, Perria Taite, Jauan Collins, Tisdale Sims, Travarious Williams and Caleb Caston provide a huge impact for Pascagoula as hard hitters.

BHS’s top performers last week include:

Fred Trevillion sparked Ole Brooks charge with 241 yards rushing on 13 carries. He also completed six of 10 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Tre McDaniel contributed to BHS ground attack with 58 yards rushing on 16 carries. Javonte Trevillion was the top receiver with two catches for 64 yards.

Defensively, Ty Hill was the top hitter for Brookhaven with 12 tackles. Leo Lewis helped the Panthers with 10 tackles.

Bogue Chitto (9-2, 7-2),  coached by Gareth Sartin, is searching for a victory to end a two-game losing streak since falling to the Stringer Red Devils 52-24 last week in a Region 4-1A championship showdown.

This week, the Bobcats are eager to get back on the winning track in the Class 1A playoffs. BC will welcome the French Camp Academy Panthers to Troy Smith Field.

French Camp (7-5, 4-2), are coached by Nathan Wright, finished in third place in the Region 3-1A race. Last week, the Academy-based Panthers destroyed the Sebastopol Bobcats 49-8.

Key players for French Camp are: senior quarterback Jesse Hosket with 1,756 passing yards; senior running back Michael Erving, with 652 yards rushing; and senior fullback Hagan Box, with 432 yards rushing. Hosket has five primary targets in his aerial attack: Hunter McKnight, 492 yards, Corrie Witt, 296 yards; Cole Henson, 291 yards; Erving, 244 yards; and Box, 304 yards

Defensive, Daniel Hushes, Jevante McAdory, Nyang Wek, Box and Henson are French Camp Academy hard hitters.

A look at BC’s top performers last week:

Brock Roberts completed 11 of 28 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 14 times for 95 yards and one touchdown.

Dennis Rogers was the top receiver for BC with three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Jeremy Blackwell led Bogue Chitto with 14 tackles. Jermaine Blackwell had 10 stops.

 Hazlehurst (11-1, 5-0), coached by Randal Montgomery, continues in the state playoffs with high hopes of a repeat after hammering the West Marion Trojans 41-6 last week at Robert McDaniel Sr. Stadium.

This week, the Indians have sharpened their tomahawks in preparation to entertain the Forest Bearcats.

The Bearcats (9-3, 4-1), coached by Hamer Morgan, advanced to the second round of the playoffs after defeating the Prentiss Bulldogs 23-12 last Friday.

Key players for Forest are: senior quarterback Chris Mazique, with 925 yards passing and 754 yards rushing; junior running back Mikell Daniels with 862 yards rushing; senior Chad Kincaid, with 373 receiving yards; and senior Telandua Craft, with 345 yards receiving.

Hazlehurst’s top performers last week included:

Jarvis Warner directed the charge for the Indians, completing 10-of-19 passes for 90 yards.

Dycelious Reese paced the ground attack with six carries for 83 yards. Rockingham contributed 78 yards, rushing on nine carries.

Defensively, Michael Miller was the top hitter for Hazlehurst with 10 tackles. Cyrus Goodwin helped with eight stops and an interception. Bridge contributed six tackles and recovered a fumble.