A battle between unbeaten football teams takes place Fridaynight at William E. “Sambo” Smith Field when the Loyd Star Hornetshost the Franklin County Bulldogs. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

In other area football action, Richland visits Wesson, LawrenceCounty travels to Millsaps to face Ridgeland, North Pike is at WestMarion, McComb travels to Wayne County, South Pike visits WarrenCentral and Magee is at Crystal Springs.

Hazlehurst has an open date this week.

Loyd Star, coached by Wade Henderson,and Franklin County puttheir 2-0 records on the line tomorrow night.

Franklin County head coach Anthony Hart formerly served as LoydStar head coach from 2000-01 before he took the head coachingposition at Franklin. Hart served as an assistant at Loyd Starunder Roe Burns before Burns stepped down. Hart is a graduate ofLoyd Star and played football for the Hornets.

In the last five years, Franklin County has beaten Loyd Staronly once.

“We felt like Coach Henderson and his staff have done a realgood job with these kids,” said Hart. “The kids know what they aredoing. They’re plaything extremely hard. They have good skilledpeople, running backs, quarterbacks, receivers. It’s going be avery tough game for us.”

Hart is impressed with the Hornet defense.

“Their defense has only give up 14 points this season,” statedHart. “They are aggressive on defense. It’s going to be a challengefor us to score against them.”

End Marcus Tillman is one of the Bulldog leaders on defense.Tillman had 8 tackles and 2 sacks last week.

Powering Franklin County over Terry last Friday was quarterbackJasper O’Quinn, The DAILY LEADER’S Offensive Player of the Week.O’Quinn carried the football 15 times for 146 yards and twotouchdowns. DeAndrea Cameron rushed 19 times for 112 yards and apair of TDs.

“We have played well in spots,” added Hart. “We need to getbetter at what we are doing. That’s normal for this time of theyear for any club. Our track record against Loyd Star hasn’t beenvery good. We have won one out of five games against LoydStar.”

Henderson said he expects a tough game with Franklin County.”They are real good. They have a great coaching staff. They havegreat talent. Good speed at quarterback. They are big up front,Solid up front. They are confident and steady. Their scheme is notcomplicated but they do it very well.”

Henderson is impressed with Franklin’s O’Quinn. “O’Quinn isvery, very good. He is a legit 4.5 or 4.4,”in the 40-yard dash.

Henderson feels his Hornets have to play their best game yet tobeat the Bulldogs.

“This week, we need to play our best game to this point,”explained Henderson. “We have a young, inexperienced team. I have alot of young kids who are working hard. We can be competitive. Ihope to get a win and no injuries.”

In the win over Enterprise last Friday, Justin Whatley led LoydStar’s offense with 13 rushes for 68 yards. Michael Britt carried12 times for 52 yards. Britt was named The DAILY LEADER’s DefensivePlayer of the Week.

The Hornet defense was led by Jared Rogers and Britt with 10tackles. Making eight stops and intercepting a pass was GaryJohnson. Britt and John Smith also intercepted passes.

Last season, Franklin County fell to Loyd Star 22-19 in overtimeon a field goal by Whatley.

Wesson, coached by Tommy Clopton, put away WestLincoln 22-0 last Friday for the Cobras first win of the season.Richland (1-1) shut out Florence 29-0 last Friday.

Powering the 1-1 Cobras in the win over the Bears was BrianChannell with 16 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown. CoreyPuckett caught two big passes for 101 yards and two TDs.

On defense, Tuffy Thompson and Andy Highfill led the Cobras withnine tackles apiece.

In last year’s game, Wesson clipped Richland 20-13.

Lawrence County, coached by Mike Davis, visitsthe Millsaps campus Friday to play Ridgeland. The Monticello-basedCougars (1-1) put away Mendenhall 15-0 last Friday.

Ridgeland (1-1) held off Yazoo County for a 10-0 victory lastFriday.

In the win over Mendenhall last Friday, Taebyus Smith rushed thefootball 23 times for 119 yards and scored two touchdowns forLawrence.

Defensively, the Cougars got eight tackles from KenterioHardy.

Last season, Lawrence County whipped Ridgeland 37-7.

North Pike, coached by Adam Barron, washammered 52-6 by Tylertown last Friday. Barron’s Summit-basedJaguars (0-2) hit the road to Foxworth to face winless WestMarion.

West Marion (0-2) was whipped 34-0 by Forrest County AHS lastFriday.

In a close contest last year, West Marion slipped past NorthPike 7-0.

McComb, coached by Ted Milton, faces anothertough foe Friday with Wayne County in Waynesboro. The Tigers (0-2)fell to Warren Central 29-0 last Friday.

Wayne County (2-0) held off Madison Central 20-8 for a big winlast Friday.

McComb fell to Wayne County 28-13 in last season’s contest.

South Pike, coached by Randall Huffman, facesthe Warren Central Vikings in Vicksburg Friday in a battle ofunbeaten teams. The Magnolia-based Eagles, tied for No. 12 spotwith Gulfport in the AP Prep Poll, thrashed Natchez 54-18 lastFriday.

South Pike and Warren Central are 2-0 on the season.

Last year, South Pike clobbered Warren Central 33-9.

Crystal Springs, coached by David Virgil,remains winless in two outings and hosts Magee Friday night inRegion 6-3A action. Last Friday, Crystal Springs fell to Hinds AHS20-7.

West Jones shut out Magee 31-0 last Friday.

In last season’s game, Magee whipped Crystal Springs 35-0.