The Bogue Chitto Bobcats and the West Lincoln Bears get a jumpon local football action with a pair of Region 4-1A games tonight.Bogue Chitto entertains Salem and West Lincoln visits Dexter. Thegames were scheduled for tonight due to the Franklinton-LouisianaFair going on this week. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Friday night football games involving Lincoln County teamsincludes South Pike at Brookhaven, Porter’s Chapel at BrookhavenAcademy for homecoming, Loyd Star at St. Andrew’s and Enterprise atSt. Aloysius.

In area football action, Wesson entertains McLaurin forhomecoming, Crystal Springs is at Franklin County, Terry visitsLawrence County for homecoming, Simpson County travels to CopiahAcademy, North Pike is at Hazlehurst, Parklane visits SillimanInstitute and Port Gibson travels to McComb.

Bogue Chitto (6-1, 4-1) is third in the Region 4-1A standingsand hosts region foe Salem (2-4, 2-3) tonight. Last week, CoachCarl Cole’s Bobcats stunned powerful region nemesis Dexter 18-12for a major win. Bogue Chitto is ranked No. 8 in this week’s APLittle 10 Poll.

Dexter fell to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in region play. Enterpriseand Mize are tied for first place in the region with 5-0records.

Salem is coming off a 48-14 win over West Lincoln lastFriday.

Senior tailback Denard Ferguson directed the Bobcat ground gamewith 24 rushes for 131 yards and a touchdown against Dexter.

On defense, Todd Davis sparked Bogue Chitto with ninetackles.

Last season, Bogue Chitto handed Salem a 34-14 whipping.

West Lincoln (0-7, 0-5) is still looking for its first win butwill find it tough going against region titan Dexter tonight.

In last Friday’s loss to Salem, West Lincoln was led on theground by quarterback Cody Mitchell with 16 carries for 133 yardsand one touchdown. Stacy Fells scored one touchdown and rushed for66 yards on 15 carries.

The Bear defense got 10 tackles from Mitchell.

In last year’s matchup, Dexter thumped West Lincoln 52-12.

Brookhaven Academy (6-1, 1-1) is coming off a tough 27-18District 4-AA loss at the hands of leader Oak Forest. Coached byRay Ishee, the Cougars are preparing for District 7-A Porter’sChapel (3-4, 0-3) for homecoming Friday night.

“Homecoming can be a distraction,” said Ishee. “We are trying tokeep our kids focused. They have a job to do Friday night.”

Ishee feels Porter’s Chapel is a better team than their recordshows.

“They have a pretty good football team,” Ishee said. “They are3-4. They have enough talent to beat you if you don’t play. We’llprepare for them like anyone else.”

Andrew Embry is the quarterback for the Porter’s Chapel Eagles.Embry has completed 17 of 37 passes for 315 yards and twotouchdowns. He has thrown two interceptions. Also working atquarterback is eighth grader Gerald Mims.

The Eagles’ runningback is T.J. Smith with 106 rushes for 684yards and five touchdowns. Smith has also caught 10 passes for 161yards. Top receiver is Chris Sims with 14 catches for 286 yards andone TD.

Coaching Porter’s Chapel is Bubba Mims.

Ishee said he hopes his Cougars won’t make the same mistakesagain that cost them their game with Oak Forest last Friday.

“We got beat last week,” stated Ishee. “They (Oak Forest) playedhard and we made some mistakes we don’t usually make. We’ve got toget back on the winning track.”

Directing the Brookhaven Academy offense with seven rushes for47 yards was senior quarterback Ben Davis. Adam Smith rushed seventimes for 40 yards.

Defensively, Jonathan Watts sparked the Cougars with 14stops.

Loyd Star (5-2, 1-1) is coming off a tough Region 6-2A loss toWesson last Friday. This week, Coach Anthony Hart’s Hornets are onthe road at Ridgeland to battle region foe St. Andrew’s Fridaynight.

St. Andrew’s (2-5, 2-0) is tied in the region with Wesson forfirst place. St. Andrew’s got past Hinds AHS 13-6 last Friday.

Pacing the Hornets in the loss to Wesson was senior tailbackDerrick Johnson with 20 rushes for 123 yards. Also breaking 100yards was Demarcus Barnes with 17 carries for 101 yards and atouchdown.

Senior linebacker Cody Covington led the Loyd Star defense with13 tackles.

Last year, Loyd Star handed St. Andrew’s a 51-14 defeat.

Enterprise (6-1, 3-0) is in contention for first place in theRegion 4-1A with Mize (7-0, 5-0) who the Yellow Jackets will faceon the road on Friday, Oct. 26.

Coach Rickey Deere’s Jackets will line up in Vicksburg Friday toface the St. Aloysius Flashes (4-3, 2-3). Enterprise knocked offregion foe Natchez Cathedral 21-20 last Friday while St. Aloysiuswas whipped 25-0 by Mize.

Powering St. Aloysius with 105 rushes and 658 yards and fivetouchdowns this season is fullback Justin Williams. Michael Headhas rushed 70 times for 324 yards and a TD.

At linebacker, Michael Strickland leads St. Aloysius with 80tackles. Aaron George has 78 tackles.

Senior runningback Shermaine Vaughn directed the Enterpriserunning game, rushing 17 times for 131 yards and a touchdownagainst Cathedral.

The Jacket defense got 16 tackles and a quarterback sack fromDaily Leader Defensive Player of the Week Josh Pruden.

Wesson (6-1, 2-0) is tied with St. Andrew’s for first placein Region 6-2A. Cobra head coach Ronald Greer is hoping to bringhis players back to earth after beating rival Loyd Star 28-7 lastFriday and dealing with homecoming activities.

“That is a coaches nightmare,” said Greer about homecoming.”It presents a lot of distractions. We have the task of getting ourguys back down to earth after last week’s big win. This will giveus a chance to see if we are serious.”

Daily Leader Offensive Player of the Week senior runningbackBilly Ray Miller sparked the Cobras with 13 rushes for 163 yardsand two touchdowns. On defense, Miller and Ryan Williams led with17 tackles apiece.

“They have some good looking skill people,” Greer explainedof McLaurin. “Their quarterback is 195 pounds and throws the ballreal well. Their tailback was injured and didn’t play last week.They have a big offensive guard. They run a lot of options, run thetoss. We really don’t know what to expect defensively. At this timeof the year, there are few things you haven’t seen.”

Franklin County (4-3, 2-1) is in a three-way tie with NorthPike and Amite County for second place in the Region 6-3A.Wilkinson County is first with a 4-0 region record and 6-0 on theseason.

Coach Michael Goff’s Bulldogs posted a big 14-6 region winover the Hazlehurst Indians last Friday. This week, Franklin Countyentertains struggling region rival Crystal Springs (1-6,0-3).

Crystal Springs was whipped by Wilkinson County 52-6 lastFriday.

Franklin County’s Tommie Smith rushed the football 17 timesfor 158 yards and a touchdown in last Friday’s win over theIndians.

On defense, Franklin County got 11 tackles apiece fromDonald Ray Smith and Jason Wyatt.

Lawrence County (6-1, 2-1) holds third place in the Region6-4A. South Pike (6-1, 3-0) is on top in the region followed byBrookhaven (5-2, 3-1) and McComb (4-3, 3-1) who are deadlocked insecond place. Lawrence County smashed Amite County 47-8 last Fridayin a non-region game.

The Monticello-based Cougars, coached by Trent Hammond, willhost region foe Terry (3-3, 0-3) Friday night for homecoming. Terrywas gunned down 20-6 by Brookhaven last Friday.

Leading Lawrence County’s running game against Amite Countywith five rushes for 107 yards and two touchdowns was seniorrunningback Wayne Hardy.

In last year’s game, Lawrence County tripped up Terry29-24.